Individual Placement and Support--Williams and Colbert Unit

IPS Services

Illinois has for over 15 years been recognized as one of if not the leading state for best practice IPS services and for research and innovation in IPS. The Division of Rehabilitation Services (IDHS-DRS ) established the standard funding model for IPS services by state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) in the United States, developed a set of standards and practices for IPS services for state Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors (VRC) that became a model for other states, was the first to show through research that IPS was a good fit for persons with IDD and other developmental disabilities, and assisted in the formation of and continues to support the only IPS team in the United States focused on serving persons who have severe mental illness and who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, late deafened, or deaf blind.

IDHS-DRS is the primary funder of IPS services in Illinois. In FY23, 2,467 persons received IDHS-DRS funded IPS services. Of those, 338 were Class Members as defined under the Williams and Colbert Consent Decree.

Individual Placement and Support supported employment (IPS) is the only evidence-based practice model of vocational rehabilitation. Over 30 randomized controlled trials of IPS in the United States and Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand have consistently shown multiple times higher employment outcomes for IPS when compared to any other vocational model. Long term studies of up to ten years have shown that persons who received IPS services have quadruple the sustained employment rate, including higher incomes and growth in work careers, when compared to those who received traditional vocational rehabilitation services.

Most of the studies of IPS have focused on persons with severe mental illness commonly co-occurring with other disabilities such as Substance Use Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (IDD), and learning disabilities. IPS services exist in all Veterans Administration hospitals for veterans with mental illness and, because of the research findings and record of success with these populations, are being expanded in these facilities to veterans with spinal cord injuries and with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

IDHS-DRS staff develop and administer the contracts for IPS services and determine eligibility and develop rehabilitation plans for IPS customers. VRCs are assigned as liaisons to each of the over 60 IPS teams in our state to

• collaborate with the community IPS providers to monitor customer progress,
• develop and share job leads,
• develop plans and assist customers in accessing resources for accommodations for co-occurring disabilities, and
• assist in accessing other resources necessary for persons with severe and often multiple disabilities to acquire and sustain competitive employment.

IPS/Williams and Colbert Unit staff provide mentor-level consultation and technical assistance on IPS and related practices and resources to:

• IDHS-DRS administration,
• Regional IDHS-DRS staff,
• local IDHS-DRS office staff,
• community agencies who field the IPS teams,
• disability advocacy organizations,
• other state agencies,
• other state's VR and mental health authorities,
• federal agencies,
• research and academic institutions, and
• other countries who have or wish to establish IPS programs.