FY23 IPS Program Highlights

IPS/Williams and Colbert Unit staff:

Conducted in collaboration with expert staff from the Division of Mental Health (DMH) 34 two-day IPS fidelity reviews of community IPS teams using a scientifically validated IPS fidelity scale and set of review protocols.
Responded to reviews by providing ongoing targeted technical assistance and training to those teams and the IDHS-DRS local and regional offices with which they partner.
Developed, scheduled, and conducted, in collaboration with DMH, three statewide IPS training programs. One of those three-hour sessions was devoted to the employment services component of the Williams and Colbert Consent Decree (W/C) state mandate. IPS is the core employment service model for W/C.
Presented a webinar on Illinois IPS services for case managers and others involved in W/C. The webinar was recorded and remains on the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing W/C website.
Assisted the Jane Adams School of Social Work in conducting a study of the W/C employment services, including sharing earlier interviews with IPS providers to Williams and Colbert Class Members conducted by IPS/Williams and Colbert Unit and DMH staff.
Consulted with the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery, the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR), the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, the International IPS Learning Community, and a number of states and several countries on incorporating or expanding IPS services and providing IPS services and affiliated resources to new disability populations.
Assisted the International IPS Learning Community to establish Illinois as the permanent site of the Learning Community annual conference. The conference draws participants from the 28 US states and 12 countries that are official members of that organization. IPS/Williams and Colbert Unit staff have been designated as a founding member of the Learning Community.
Provided substantial technical consultation and assistance to research and academic programs and institutions conducting high level research projects in Illinois pertaining to IPS on topics including:
- development and accessible use of sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) based training and support technologies in IPS practice for adults and transition age youth with disabilities,
- making IPS accessible to SNAP/TANF recipients with disabilities,
- persons with disabilities residing in or exiting correctional facilities,
- incorporating IPS services into primary healthcare settings including Federally Qualified Health Care Centers (FQHC) and Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers (CCBHC),
- Substance Use Disorder treatment systems,
- services for persons on the Autism Spectrum, with IDD including Downs Syndrome, and
- making IPS and employment related Supported Education accessible and available to transition-age youth with multiple disabilities.
IPS Services/Williams and Colbert Unit staff were listed as authors on published research articles pertaining to research on incorporating AI technologies into IPS services. One of the articles was featured on the cover and in a special section of the American Psychiatric Association Journal: Psychiatric Services.
Served on boards and committees pertaining to IPS services in Illinois including the W/C employment services workgroup, the DMH Youth Academy, and the Committee on Rehabilitation and Employment advisory panel. IPS/Williams and Colbert Unit staff were appointed by the IDHS Secretary to a two-year term on the Illinois Advisory Council on Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorder Impacts on Employment Opportunities within Minority Communities.