AB 459

This bill requires the Department of Health Services (DHS) to create five

regional centers for individual placement and support (IPS) for employment of

individual experiencing mental illness. DHS must ensure that each of the state's

counties is served by one of the regional centers. DHS is allowed to contract with

existing organizations or consortiums to create a regional center. DHS and the

regional centers must provide or arrange for work incentive benefits counseling for

individuals who are not receiving vocational rehabilitation services from the

Department of Workforce Development. DHS is required to award grants to

employment sites that are implementing IPS services or regional centers for certain

activities. The allocation for the moneys and grant awards for IPS programs for the

2013-2015 biennium is specified in the bill.

Under the bill, DHS must ensure that each regional center has access to the

services of an IPS trainer or mentor and an IPS supervisor. A trainer or mentor has

the responsibility to monitor infrastructure grants, coordinate training with DHS,

train employers on IPS practices, conduct visits twice per month to supervisors of

employees hired under IPS to assist with implementation of effective practices, and

review IPS programs every six months until the programs achieve good fidelity to the

evidence-based model. An IPS supervisor has responsibilities that include

developing training for employment specialists at work sites, creating a vocational

unit that includes employment specialists, and providing supervision of program

outcomes in accordance with the evidence-based model.