COLUMBIANA COUNTY Program helps find jobs for mentally ill

The program supplies a basic human need, a mental health official says.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Maureen Boals and Shonda Causey really, really, really want to work.
They describe working as empowering and enriching, words not often heard about the daily grind.
"You're going to work and doing the job. You're making a difference. It gives me a sense of purpose," Causey said.
When no one needs you, Causey said, "It really kills your spirit."
The women got jobs through a program at the Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board designed to help people with severe and persistent mental illnesses get work.
The board has created a video it is showing to business groups to help its mental-health consumers get jobs. One of every five people at any given time, the board notes, is dealing with a mental illness.
Fulfills a need
Kathleen Chaffee, the board's director of adult services, says the jobs help the program participants.
"People need to feel they are needed. This is a basic human need," Chaffee said.
The program is called Supported Employment, in which people are placed quickly in jobs that match their interests and capabilities, and support is given to the person to ensure success.
In the video, "Work Works ... Take the Next Step," one man said he could either sit at home and think about his illness or go back to work.
Boals, 42, of East Rochester, is a recovery assistant for the board in Lisbon. She has atypical bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder.
Causey, 36, of Kensington, is a recovery specialist at Shining Reflections, which provides support and work opportunities for the mentally ill in East Liverpool. She has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She's also a Kent State University student working toward a degree in human services.
Boals pointed that her illness was nothing that she asked for and nothing she did wrong.
And Boals and Causey said that they spent years dealing with their illnesses after being treated in other counties in other states.
Faced problems
Boals recalled that when she got in touch with the board in Lisbon, she was on 19 medications, and had been told by the medical community she could not work. At the center, Boals' medication was greatly reduced.
Boals and Causey credit the board's wellness program, which helped them toward recovery with action plans, education and support.
They also said that in addition to the isolating stigma of mental illness, they faced the tedium of isolation.
They also faced a practical problem.
Medicaid paid for hundred of dollars of medication monthly. If they got jobs, they would have to wait three months before their health insurance kicked in. During that time, the lack of medications could have hurt their ability to function on the job, or made them ill again.
The center helped them financially, and Chaffee said that the federal regulations may be changed to cover medications for new workers.
Pleased with results
Boals, feeling reborn, said she called people with the good news the day she was no longer on disability.
A former food service worker, Boals started at a janitorial job.
"I wanted to be working," she said. Her first pay was small, but she said it was her money.
Causey said a job "brought a whole new feeling of self worth." She looks forward to waking up and working with people.
Both Boals and Causey have begun to reach out to help others.
Chaffee said that reaction is common with many program participants. "They are driven to give back," she said.
As a group, those in the program are also reliable and are not limited in what they can do. The center's program also provides employment screening and a variety of support services.
Boals said, "All mental health consumers want is to be treated equally. They're not asking for special privileges. They're asking for equal privileges."
Like any job, there are good days and bad days. Boals said, "The good outnumber the bad by far."
wilkinson@vindy.com
XFor more information on the employment program, call (330) 424-0195.