Hearth Connection Productivity Model

Hearth Connection Productivity Model

Kelby Grovender, Director of ProgramsBen Van Hunnik, Director of Information Research and Evaluation

Who are we serving?

• MI• CD• TBI• Other physical disabilities• Chronic health conditions• Age• History of Institutionalization and no work or

productivity expectation

Hearth Connection

We do great with:• Housing• Income supports • Health Care• Recovery

Our service model has not traditionally emphasized employment or productivity

Vast majority of our participants do not have consistent employment histories or marketable skills. Less than 21% of our participants achieve either part- or full-time employment.

Some people believe this is because our participants are too scarred by histories of trauma, domestic violence, childhood abuse, mental illness, addictions and chronic health conditions.

Why focus on Productivity and Employment?

• HUD focusing more on earned income• Employment is one of the Strategies from the

Minnesota Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness• Employment is one of the Topic-Specific Plans of

the Minnesota Olmstead Plan

But the most important reason for us to focus on this issue is…

…it is good for the participant!

What does the research say?

Participants do not want to be idle(Developing Community Employment Pathways for Homeless Job Seekers in

King County and Washington State, 2007)

• Clients are extremely motivated to work. Financial rewards from work are rarely the primary motivation, yet they are often the deal breaker (Work it out: Barriers to Employment for Homeless People, New Economics Foundation 2008)

citation

Human Nature

• Allows for creativity, an essential part of being human

• Gives meaning to life

• Involves a personal value: bringing dignity to the

individual

• Forms the foundation of community life

• Programs that serve this population may best benefit their client by ensuring that the emphasis places on productivity and employment is equal to that placed on housing and symptom reduction

Vocational Outcomes Among Formerly Homeless Persons with Severe Mental Illness in the ACCESS Program Psychiatr Serv. 2001 Aug;52(8):1075-80

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11474054

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11474054

So what should we do?

We currently emphasize• Housing• Healthcare• Income supports• Client specific goals (sometimes includes

employment goals)

So what should we do different?

• Housing• Healthcare• Income supports• Client specific goals • Productivity and Employment

Productivity whiteboardWhat Are People Doing?

People are involved in a variety of productive activities that are not employment:

• Volunteering• Hobbies• Cash jobs• Arts

Initial Input from Provider NetworkLearning Session

1. Education/Skill Building -Including life skills, relationships, etc.

2. Health- Physical, Mental, Spiritual

3. Repairing the Past a. Family

i. Court ordered activities – Includes child protection meetings, parenting classes ii. Participant driven activities – includes reaching out to and/or meeting with

estranged family members in an effort to strengthen relationships. b. Legal

i. Court ordered activities - Includes meeting with probation officer, attending mental or chemical health court, or anger management for legal issues.

ii. Participant driven activities – Includes expungement of criminal record.

4. Work a. Gaining employment – Includes looking, applying and/or interviewing for jobs. b. Employment –full-time or part-time job, steady or temporary. c. Volunteering

How do we get started?Primary focus of the initial program :

• Vocationalizing current programingo Short interventionso Script for discussing movement towards

productivity and employment

Vocationalizing

Creating opportunities for employment begins on day one of staff interaction with a tenant, involves building systems of engagement that start with a tenant’s individualized needs,and extends to the everyday culture of work promoted in the supportive housing environment. Such strategies support “vocationalizing” the housing environment, infusing the housing environment with the expectations and norms of employment.

CSHToolkit for Connecting Supportive Housing Tenants to Employment

Vocationalizing

• Participants are asked about their job-related skills and productivity goals at intake

• Participants are informed, verbally and in writing, of the productivity and employment resources and opportunities available to them

• Support groups and other activities around productivity and employment issues are attended by Participants.

Educating teams• On the importance of productivity and

employment Health status improves just by being

employed* Participants want to work

National Health Care for the Homeless Council Webcast:Integrating Employment Strategies into Supportive Housing Programs

July, 2012

Productivity

“The pieces needed for employment and job retention – like self-esteem and life skills development - are usually the same pieces needed for recovery, and that measuring success based purely on job placement is therefore counterproductive”

Corporation for Supportive Housing:A Coordinated Approach to Services and Employment June 2008

Self-Sufficiency MatrixMeasuring productivity and employment

Fill in the space between 1 and 2

Domain 1 2 3 4 5 Scor

e

Participant goal?

()

Employment

No job.Temporary, part-time or seasonal; inadequate pay, no benefits.

Employed full time; inadequate pay; few or no benefits.

Employed full time with adequate pay and benefits.

Maintains permanent employment with adequate income and benefits.

Hearth Connection Productivity Tool

• Objective: To provide case managers with a structured way of discussing productivity and employment with participants

• Goal: Increase participants productivity and employment

Hearth Connection Productivity Tool

Domain

1

Pre-contemplation

2

Contemplation

3

Preparation

4

Action

5

Maintenance

Score

Productivity Participant is not even considering producing legal goods or services(Not even thinking about it)

Participant is considering producing legal services or goods(Thinking about it)

Participant has decided to produce legal services or goods and has a plan to take action(Planning)

Participant is sporadically engaged in producing legal services or goods (Implementing plan)

Participant regularly produces legal services or goods(Achieved goal and maintenance)

Employment Motivation

Participant is not even considering getting a job (Not even thinking about it)

Participant is considering getting a job(Thinking about it)

Participant has decided to get a job and has a plan to take action (Planning)

Participant is taking action to get a job(Implementing plan)

Participant is receiving official income from employment(Achieved goal and maintenance)

Objective: To provide case managers with a structured way of discussing productivity and employment with participantsGoal: Increase participants productivity and employmentGuidelines for filling out this form are located on the back/second pageParticipant Name: _______________ Date: __

• Administer Productivity tool at intake and at least every six months

•Focus on the most prominent “productive” activity for the participant.

• Note the activity they are engaged in if applicable

• Use this form to initiate further conversations with the participant

• If participant shows interest add productivity to their goal plan.

• If further conversations about productivity and employment occurred make notation.

Guiding Principles

Productivity• Focus on activities that have an effect on

someone else, not just life skills.Examples: Producing Art and showing it to others; knitting and giving away or selling the product; volunteering at food shelves, school, humane society etc.

Guiding Principles

Productivity• Productivity can include “under the table” work,

but not illegal work. In other words if they were doing the same activity as an employee the activity would be legal.

Examples: House Painting, Snow Shoveling, making and selling jewelry

Guiding Principles

Employment• Reportable income (Will receive a W2)

Anita

Anita has some artistic abilities. In the past she did a lot of drawing and some painting. She has not done either in many years due to her MI/CD and unstable housing. She sometimes talks about getting back into doing her artwork.

Anita

Domain

1

Pre-contemplation

2

Contemplation

3

Preparation

4

Action

5

Maintenance

Score













Anita

Domain

1

Pre-contemplation

2

Contemplation

3

Preparation

4

Action

5

Maintenance

Score













James

• James lives in an apartment complex and gets along well with the landlord. He sometimes helps with yard work or shoveling and the landlord pays him cash.

James

Domain

1

Pre-contemplation

2

Contemplation

3

Preparation

4

Action

5

Maintenance

Score













James

Domain

1

Pre-contemplation

2

Contemplation

3

Preparation

4

Action

5

Maintenance

Score













Harvey

Harvey is significantly impaired by his mental illness. He does not often leave his apartment and has little interaction with others. His conversation is usually focused around his own needs and symptoms.

Harvey

Domain

1

Pre-contemplation

2

Contemplation

3

Preparation

4

Action

5

Maintenance

Score













Harvey

Domain

1

Pre-contemplation

2

Contemplation

3

Preparation

4

Action

5

Maintenance

Score













June

June has several medical conditions that require her to make regular appointments with her doctor. In the past she was often a no-show. Through working with her case manager she is now attending her appointments on a regular basis.

June

Domain

1

Pre-contemplation

2

Contemplation

3

Preparation

4

Action

5

Maintenance

Score













June

Domain

1

Pre-contemplation

2

Contemplation

3

Preparation

4

Action

5

Maintenance

Score













Benny

Benny has been working cash jobs around the community for some time. He has now applied for a job at Home Depot.

Benny

Domain

1

Pre-contemplation

2

Contemplation

3

Preparation

4

Action

5

Maintenance

Score













Benny

Domain

1

Pre-contemplation

2

Contemplation

3

Preparation

4

Action

5

Maintenance

Score













Next Steps

Our mission is to build relationships, resources,

infrastructure and understanding so that no one in Minnesota

remains homeless, and people who were homeless can prosper.

Hearth Connection Productivity Model

Documents

employment goals

employmentadding employment

emphasized employment

fulltime employment

homeless people

participants face

primary focus

homeless persons