A social work role: Promoting employment equity for people with serious and persistent mental illness

The common wisdom in the treatment community is that most people with serio us and persistent mental illness are not candidates for employment. This ar ticle reports on a research project that contests that conclusion with rese arch evidence that supports the potential for a successful work outcome for people with serious and persistent mental illness. The authors describe a model intervention at the workplace that has been used effectively to suppo rt that outcome. Training in implementation of the model, offered to social workers who are engaged with treatment programs for this population, uncov ered evidence that the provider community plays an important and negative r ole in the high unemployment rate for this group of people with disability. The authors conclude that achieving equity in employment opportunity for p eople with serious and persistent mental illness requires a significant cha nge in the education, behavior, and attitudes of social workers and suggest the measures that can help accomplish that end.