This view supports what the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is doing to assist veterans with serious mental illness to gain employment, achieve greater independence and lead more satisfying lives.

What is Supported Employment?
In 2004, VA established 21 sites across the United States that offer the Supported Employment (SE) program, employment services designed for veterans with mental illness. VA Hudson Valley Health Care System in Montrose is the SE mentor site for VISN 3, which includes the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. The Montrose SE staff is responsible for training and assisting the four other VISN 3 facilities. VA Hudson Valley's SE program started in September 2005.

How SE works
The SE program model is based on extensive research into what services patients need to enable them to become productive workers. The model is defined by six principles.

Client preference or choice, the first principle, encourages SE staff to consider the kind of work a veteran wants to do. Susan, who hadn't worked for 10 years and has a bipolar disorder, wanted to work at a department store. After three weeks she was hired at a department store as a cashier.

The second principle says that SE staff should work with the veteran's medical treatment teams. John's a veteran with schizophrenia who hasn't worked for seven years. He's involved with three teams, which assures that all his clinical needs are met so he can face job search challenges.

The third principle is veterans with an interest in employment cannot be excluded from the program. Harry's determination in spite of his multiple hospitali-zations has resulted in a job interview at a local movie theater.

The fourth principle promises follow-up services for as long as the veterans need it. Bill has stayed employed despite being fearful of losing his job because of bipolar disorder. He attributes his success to continuous job coaching SE provides.

The fifth principle is to ensure that the veteran is employed in his or her community to increase social interaction for the veteran. However, the job must pay at least minimum wage.

The sixth principle, rapid employment, eliminates prevocational work or testing. Research has shown that successful employment can be reached without pre-employment activities.

The SE staff is confident that the principles of the SE model and the support of VA will provide Susan, John, Harry and Bill satisfying employment experiences. Through SE, other veterans with mental illness have the chance to explore competitive employment based on their needs and preferences. The SE team looks forward to the challenge. To find out more, call Marek Bienkowski at (914) 737-4400, ext. 2573 or 3537.