ASPIRE

Studies have consistently found low rates of employment for people with mental health conditions. Though many people with mental health conditions want to work, they lack access to effective employment services.

The Purpose of the ASPIRE Initiative

To support and expand competitive integrated employment (CIE) for people with mental health conditions, ODEP launched the Advancing State Policy Integration for Recovery and Employment (ASPIRE) initiative. From 2021 – 2024, ASPIRE provided tailored and targeted technical assistance to selected states to integrate state policy, program and funding infrastructures to expand evidence-based employment services for people with a disability resulting from mental health conditions. Particular emphasis was placed on expanding best practices such as the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model of supported employment. Lessons from ASPIRE will help other states, federal agencies and service providers adopt proven methods to increase gainful employment for people with mental health conditions.

Overview of IPS & Technical Assistance Resources

IPS is an evidence-based supported employment model for people with serious mental health conditions. IPS supported employment helps people living with behavioral health conditions work at regular jobs of their choosing. Mainstream education and technical training are included as ways to advance career paths. To learn more, review the below resources:

  • IPS for People with Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorder — This issue brief examines challenges and effective strategies for helping jobseekers with mental health conditions and co-occurring substance use disorders.
  • Cost-Effectiveness of IPS — This issue brief explores whether the benefits of IPS are worth its costs. The brief provides a nontechnical description of several types of economic analyses, statistics on the direct costs of IPS services, a summary of published economic analyses of IPS and a discussion of key areas of IPS impact on costs.
  • Recovery-Ready Workplace Resource Hub — Developed in collaboration with various federal agencies, this resource hub provides employers, individuals and service providers with information and tools to foster an environment that supports recovery within the workplace.
  • State-level Barriers and Facilitators to IPS  Implementation — This issue brief uses findings from a 2019 national survey of state mental health and vocational rehabilitation (VR) leaders to help state leaders identify common barriers and facilitators to implementing IPS supported employment and strategies to overcome the barriers leading to successful implementation, maintenance and growth of IPS programs.
     

Participating ASPIRE States

 

 

State Selection Factors

From 2021 – 2024, ASPIRE helped a total of ten states strengthen and scale evidence-based practices for people with mental health conditions. These states included Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin. ODEP selected these ten states because of their state agencies' commitment to advancing CIE for persons with mental health conditions. Though selected states did not receive direct funding from the ASPIRE initiative, ASPIRE states received between 100 and 300 subject matter expert (SME) hours of support.

Consultation, Technical Assistance and Support to ASPIRE States

ODEP contracted with Westat, a private research firm, to implement the ASPIRE initiative. Westat worked with its SMEs to provide support and ongoing policy consultation to state agencies, community mental health sites and local providers in each of the selected ASPIRE states.

Technical Working Group

ASPIRE convened a Technical Working Group (TWG) that provided information and expertise, and updates on respective and prospective agency-led initiatives and policies that support the goals of ASPIRE. The TWG included representatives from national mental health stakeholder organizations, experts in the field and key federal partners. Federal partner agencies included:

  • Department of Education — Rehabilitation Services Administration
  • Department of Health and Human Services — Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Administration for Community Living, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
  • Department of Veterans Affairs — Veterans Health Administration
  • Social Security Administration

National mental health organization partners include:

  • Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
  • Council on State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation
  • Mental Health America
  • National Governors Association
  • National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors

ASPIRE Learning Community

Strong learning communities share results and metrics to determine what works best. They are also a highly targeted and effective way to expand evidence-based practices to a larger audience. The ASPIRE learning community involved collaboration between many partners, including ODEP, Westat, the TWG, states, providers and other key stakeholders. Their goal was to expand evidence-based employment services like IPS and increase CIE for people with mental health conditions.