IPS Fidelity Newsletter Vol. 1

Welcome to Maine Medical Center’s (MMC) Department of Vocational Services (DVS), Community Employment Services newsletter. This newsletter will be distributed monthly and will provide resources and information pertaining to the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model of supported employment for people living with psychiatric disability. The purpose is to educate stakeholders on how to adapt their agencies to reach and maintain high fidelity to the model. The secondary purpose of this newsletter is to inform stakeholders of valuable employment-related resources in order to enculturate vocational conversations within mental health agencies and with the people served by those agencies.

Disability Employment has been a focus of Maine Medical Center’s Department of Vocational Services (DVS) for over 40 years. DVS serves both job seekers and businesses, while also offering vocational rehabilitation services through ACT teams and mental health agencies. The DVS mission is to bridge the gap between employment and people with disabilities.

The most recent iteration of the CES grant (2022) introduces the IPS Fidelity Scale, the role of IPS Trainer and Liaison, and technical assistance and training to agencies as they learn to implement the principles and evidence-based practices of IPS. DVS would like to recognize our partnership with DHHS Employment and Workforce Development, and DOL Vocational Rehabilitation for their work in making this grant possible.

To reach Nancy Litrocapes, IPS Trainer and Liaison, please email: nancy.litrocapes@mainehealth.org.

What is Individualized Placement and Support (IPS)?

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is a model of supported employment for people with serious mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia spectrum disorder, bipolar, depression). IPS supported employment helps people living with behavioral health conditions work at regular jobs of their choosing. Although variations of supported employment exist, IPS refers to the evidence-based practice of supported employment. Mainstream education and technical training are included as ways to advance career paths. 

IPS is the most researched model of supported employment and has been implemented in 26 states and seven countries.

Work = Hope

"Recently, my boss said he would get rid of the whole laundry department before he ever got rid of me! Before I got this job, I hadn't worked in 25 years and I never had a job that lasted more than two weeks. Sometimes I got so depressed that it never even occurred to me to leave my house. But now I work full time and I've had this job for three years. Working helps me. I enjoy talking to the residents in the nursing home -- they all have stories to tell and those stories are a part of our history."



-Eleanor, IPS Supported Employee

The Role of Mental Health Practitioners in IPS:

"When practitioners and family members stop talking about employment, clients may interpret that as a sign that they are not capable of working a job. Practitioners should talk to every person about employment."

-IPS Supported Employment Manual, 2022

Initiating low-risk conversations about employment:

How might these questions shift the "check in" conversations you have with clients?

• What is your typical day like? Is that how you want to spend your time?
• On a scale from 1-10, how confident are you that you could work? Let's talk more about that...
• What do you want your life to look like in five years from now? What will you be doing?
• What activity makes you lose track of time?
• Why do you think people work? What would make you decide to work?
• What did you enjoy most as a child/student?

Recommended Learnings:

IPS for Non-Employment Practitioners

ADA: Executive Functioning Deficits