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June 12, 2007

TOPICS:
Empire Development Zone Testimony
Employment Conference
Reorganization at OMH

MHANYS Empire Zone Testimony and Follow Up Announcement about the Upcoming MHANYS/NYAPRS/OMH sponsored Conference on Employment on June 19th

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to present testimony on an Assembly hearing on Empire Development Zones. As the Assemblyman Economic Development Chair Robin Schimminger said, ‘why is a mental health person talking about Empire Development Zones?” The reason was because Empire Development Zones provide us with a great opportunity for hiring people with disabilities including people with psychiatric disabilities. They provide both a state targeted tax credit of $3000 and eligibility for a federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit.

This forum also gave me the opportunity to talk about employment issues for people with psychiatric disabilities. It was also a forum to talk about the MHANYS Consumer and Business Outreach Program and the effectiveness of the programs run by our seven participating affiliates. As was made clear throughout the testimony, our objective was not to comment on the efficacy of Empire Development Zones, our objective was to identify strategies for increasing the visibility to employers in Empire Zones about the tax credits. Judging from the reaction and questions from the legislators, we were successful in bringing more attention to the employment needs of people with psychiatric disabilities.

This is also a great segway to talk about the employment conference we are holding on June 19th in partnership with NYAPRS and the New York State Office of Mental Health. The MHANYS Assembly testimony and a copy of the flyer advertising the conference are both attached.

Testimony:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony at today’s hearing. We appreciate the Assembly holding hearings on the issues surrounding Empire Development Zones.

My name is Glenn Liebman and I am the CEO of the Mental Health Association in New York State. Our organization is dedicated to helping advocate for the positive transformation of the mental health system. We have thirty affiliates across New York State representing 54 different counties. Most of our affiliates provide community mental health services, advocate for changes in the mental health system and educate the public about mental health.

You may ask why an organization such as ours would be testifying today. We are certainly not experts on the efficacy of Empire Zones in New York State.

However, we are here because Empire Zones in their current format provide an opportunity for people with disabilities, including individuals with mental illness, to be provided with employment opportunities.

Over the last twenty years, the numbers of people with mental illness who are unemployed has remained both consistent and staggering. Over 85% of people with mental illness are unemployed.

Yet, most people with psychiatric disabilities want to work. According to a 1999 study from the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, close to 70% of people with psychiatric disabilities want to be employed.

The recent Recipient White Paper in New York State was culled from hundreds of interviews and meetings with recipients of mental health services. The White Paper listed employment as one of their top priorities.

Another staggering statistic on the positive side is the recovery rate for people with mental illness. Over 80% of people who suffer from clinical depression recover and live productive lives in the community. The number of people with bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia also recover in numbers well over 60%.

However, when people recover what are they recovering to? Unfortunately, for many reasons including models of care that are not often integrated and are vastly under funded, many people do not get the support that would help in the recovery process.

We have a mental health system that is clearly not person centered. On one hand, you have people who are recovering and list employment as their priority and on the other hand, our system of care rarely accommodates the employment needs of these individuals.

Employment is integral to the life of someone with a psychiatric disability. It motivates an individual to change; it offers dignity, self respect, hope for the future as well as more money.

It also plays a role in providing linkages with the community. We at the Mental Health Association know this first hand through a very successful program that we run---The Consumer Business Outreach Program. The main component of this program is Business Advisory Councils. The councils bring together providers, recipients of mental health services and employers to develop collaborations between state and locally funded employment programs, business representatives and state agencies to identify competitive and integrated employment opportunities for job seekers. This model which has been established in seven different counties in New York has been successful in showing community businesses that people with mental illness can and want to go back to work. There have been hundreds of people who have gained successful employment including links with supported employment programs through the regional Business Advisory Councils.

By hiring someone with a psychiatric disability you also dramatically decrease the stigma and misconceptions of mental illness by proving that these individual are capable of working.

There are many barriers in place to employment for people with psychiatric disabilities including stigma related to the illness, loss of entitlements due to increased income, fear of failure and lack of job training.

We have to reduce these barriers and create greater opportunities. That is why we are here today because we believe that Empire Zones can play an integral role in employment for people with disabilities including mental illness. A virtually unknown aspect of Empire Zones is that employers in these zones can receive a State tax credit of up to $3000 for hiring someone with a disability. In addition, they could also likely receive a Federal Work Opportunity tax credit as well.

Whether we come at this problem from a human service end or from an economic development perspective, one piece we can all relate to is the individual savings an employer in an Empire Development Zone can have by hiring someone with a disability. Adding a state and federal tax credit to the hiring of someone with a disability can add tax credits to an employer in excess of $5000.

This is a win/win for everyone. Employers save money and get a work force that is loyal and comes with no cost supports such as job coaches and other technical assistance. Employees with psychiatric disabilities have the ability to make more money, have greater self respect, gain more confidence and greater hope for the future. Taxpayers win when people who have been part of the public mental health system are gainfully employed and are receiving more limited government benefits.

Recommendations

The problem we have is not with the existing law---it is with the process. If we as advocates had worked with the Legislature and Executive and fought for and added the ability for employers to be provide with work tax credits for people with disabilities, this would have been hailed as a great step in moving the process forward. However, this has been the law for many years but very few people knew about this including, in all likelihood, most employers in Empire Zones.

We are here to say today that Empire Zones can be used effectively for hiring people with disabilities and we must do everything in our power to provide as much information to employers as possible about the tax credits for hiring people with psychiatric disabilities.

The Department of Labor has worked with employers on this issue and that is greatly appreciated. Information about this program should be provided on a much larger scale as well.

Among our recommendations are:

  • We should have legislation in place that would insure that all employers in Empire Zones have received mandated trainings on the tax credits available for hiring people with disabilities as well as receiving trainings on the advantages of hiring individuals with disabilities.
  • Administrative letters should be sent out from The Office of Economic Development to all employers in Empire Zones that highlight the state’s commitment to hiring people with disabilities in Empire Zones as well as highlight the advantages of the tax credits. These tax credits should also be highlighted on agency web pages and publications.
  • The Office of Economic Development should identify employers in economic zones that hire individuals with disabilities and utilize them as a best practice for other employers around the state as well as provide them with greater incentives through additional trainings and greater technical assistance.
  • A Cabinet Level Position should be developed for employment programs for people with disabilities.
  • Separate from the Empire Zones discussion, there must be additional funding in place to provide community mental health agencies with additional resources for development of employment skills for people with psychiatric disabilities. This should be highlighted by providing funding for Supported Employment programs, regarded as an evidenced based best practice in the field.

In sum, we have long had a crisis in employment for people with mental illness. We have to identify strategies to help people with psychiatric disabilities and other disabilities receive additional employment opportunities. Empire Zones provide such an opportunity but unfortunately for several reasons they have been underutilized.

With the implementation of these recommendations, we can help provide greater employment opportunities and outreach to the community about the personal, financial and cost saving advantages of hiring individuals with disabilities. This is a win/win for all New Yorkers.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

The NYS Partnership for Employment is very pleased to Announce

THE COMPETITIVE EDGE OF RECRUITING
JOB-SEEKERS WITH PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITIES
a dynamic opportunity for businesses, jobseekers, government agencies and
providers to strategize & utilize private and public resources to access
an untapped workforce of individuals with psychiatric disabilities

Columbia-Greene Community College
Hudson, New York
June 19, 2007

Sponsored By the NYS Partnership for Employment
Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc.
New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services
New York State Office of Mental Health Career Development Initiative

Featuring Keynote Speaker Denise Bissonnette
a nationally renowned speaker and advocate for workforce inclusion of individuals with varying abilities. Her insight from professional and general life experiences serve as a sound foundation for her inspirational messages.

Ms. Bissonnette has been a keynote speaker for numerous national, state and local businesses, human resources, vocational rehabilitation, human service and job-seeker audiences.

PROGRAM

8:00-8:30 Registration and continental breakfast

8:30-8:45 Welcome & Opening Remarks

8:45-10:00 Keynote: Denise Bissonnette - “Beyond Barriers to Passion and Possibility”

10:10-11:35 Panel Discussion: Employer/Employee Testimony with Overview of Department of Labor and VESID Initiatives. Facilitator: Steve Miccio, PEOPLe, Inc.

11:35-11:45 Break - Transition to Professional Academic Center

11:45-12:45 “Creating a Dialogue on Employment”. Facilitators: Carol Blessing, Cornell University Employment and Disability Institute; John Allegretti-Freeman, NYS-OMH; Scott Ebner, NYAPRS

This session will utilize a special forum to gather together people who are interested in learning from and contributing to a focused learning community on employment and recovery. The first half of the session will utilize a think tank World Cafe approach to gathering information and engaging in structured conversations around this topic.

12:45-1:30 Lunch

1:30-3:00 Concurrent Workshops

A Innovations in Inclusive Work Place Culture
Presenter: Jamie Mitus, Ph.D. WORX – Workplace Socialization Model

B “Blue Skies: Ideas for Moving Beyond Barriers to Possibilities”
Facilitators: Denise Bissonnette, Carol Blessing, and John Allegretti-Freeman

Using her poem, “Blue Skies” as a launching pad, Denise will facilitate a dialogue and lead us into a brainstorming session on simple, practical steps we can take in our day to day work to help people (and ourselves) look beyond barriers and limitations in order to envision new possibilities based on dreams, strengths, and potential, and for us to ultimately be of genuine service to those we serve.

3:00-3:15 Break

3:15-4:45 “Creating a Dialogue on Employment II: Building Consensus and Closing Remarks”
The remainder of the session will focus on feeding information back to participants from part 1 and creating opportunities to build commitment to engage in next steps.

For more information, contact:

Samantha Phillips (MHANYS) at (518) 434-0439 ext. 224

Lisa Koop (NYAPRS) at (631) 369-0022 ext. 1207

Changes at OMH
Yesterday, Bruce Feig, started as the Executive Deputy Commissioner for the New York State Office of Mental Health. He formerly served as the Executive Deputy Commissioner under Richard Surles. He has a reputation of being very knowledgeable about mental health related issues from both a fiscal and programmatic perspective. We wish him luck and look forward to working with him.

Also, a good friend of MHANYS, Joe Reilly, the Director of the OMH Regional Field Office in the Hudson River Region is retiring at the end of this week. I had the pleasure of working closely with Joe over the years and it would be hard to find a more dedicated, committed or harder working individual. Plus, he is a wonderful person as well. We will miss him but know that our paths will cross down the road.

Attached is a press release from OMH announcing the agencies’ reorganization.

Commissioner Hogan Announces Organizational Realignments

With the appointments of Lloyd I. Sederer, M.D. as Medical Director and Bruce Feig as Executive Deputy Commissioner of the NYS Office of Mental Health, Commissioner Michael F. Hogan has announced several realignments in reporting relationships of offices and senior staff at OMH.

These changes include consolidating Quality Management with other clinical functions under the Office of the Medical Director, creating a distinct office to lead Cultural Competence efforts (also in the Office of the Medical Director), elevating the Field Offices to report directly to the Executive Deputy Commissioner and consolidating the Planning Office with other operational offices under the Executive Deputy.

Reporting directly to Commissioner Hogan, in addition to Mr. Feig and Dr. Sederer, will be Deputy Commissioner and Counsel, John Tauriello; Director of Intergovernmental Relations, Leesa Rademacher; Public Information Officer, Jill Daniels; and the Office of Consumer Affairs (John Allen).

Reporting to Dr. Sederer will be the Office of Quality Management (Jayne Van Bramer) and the Office of Cultural Competence (Cathy Cave). The Medical Directors of the Adult, Children and Family and Forensic Divisions will continue to report to their respective Division Directors, with clinical guidance from Dr. Sederer. Dr. Sederer will also provide policy leadership for the OMH research facilities.

Reporting to Mr. Feig will be the OMH Field Office Directors, the Office of Financial Management (Martha Schaefer Hayes), Adult Services (Robert Myers and Al Holmes), Children and Family Services (David Woodlock), Forensic Services (Rich Maraglia), The Center for Information Technology and Evaluation Research (Chip Felton), Planning (Keith Simons), Human Resource Management (Deb Wagoner), Internal Audit (Ken Lawrence), and Investigations (vacant).

These changes are effective immediately.