Individual Placement and Support (IPS) provides a full range of employment services and supports to assist people with serious mental illnesses to achieve competitive integrated employment. IPS services emphasize a rapid search for jobs consistent with the individual's goals, interests and experience. IPS is available to anyone who wants to work regardless of diagnosis, past work history or assessment of work readiness.
Visit the IPS Employment Center.
Supported employment is for people who have not had success in integrated competitive employment or whose access to competitive employment is limited because of disability. IPS differs from other types of supported employment because employment services and supports are embedded within mental health treatment services.
Integrated servicesIPS program staff are integrated with mental health treatment services and teams.
Competitive employmentIPS services are committed to regular competitive employment for job seekers with behavioral health conditions.
Zero exclusionPeople are not excluded on the basis of readiness, diagnoses, symptoms, substance use history, psychiatric hospitalizations, homelessness, level of disability or legal system involvement.
Individual preferencesServices are based on each person's preferences and choices, rather than a mental health or employment providers' judgments.
Personalized benefits counselingEmployment specialists proactively help people obtain personalized, understandable, and accurate information about their Social Security, Medicaid, and other governmental entitlements.
Rapid job searchIPS programs use a rapid job search approach to help job seekers obtain jobs directly, rather than providing pre-employment assessment, job training and counseling. Employer contact begins rapidly after participants enter the program.
Systematic job developmentEmployment specialists systematically visit employers, who are selected based on job seeker preference to learn about their business needs and hiring preferences.
Time-unlimited supportsJob supports are individualized and continue for as long as each worker wants and needs.
IPS in Minnesota is provided in partnership with the DEED Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Department of Human Services - Homelessness, Housing and Support Services Administration (HHSSA) and a network of community providers.
A 10-year follow-up study of people with co-occurring serious mental illness and substance use disorder found an average annual savings of more than $16,000 per person in treatment costs for steady workers, compared to clients who remained out of the labor force.
For more information, contact Lori Thorpe, Lori.Thorpe@state.mn.us.
Blue Earth, Nicollet, Le Sueur, Sibley and Brown County Adult Mental Health/Case ManagementJob seekers receiving mental health services through one of the programs listed above they should ask their provider, case manager or clinician to make a referral to IPS or request contact information for self-referral.
