About Us

Consumer & Family Employment (Workforce Development)

Successful employment is critical to the empowerment of people with lived experiences of mental health issues. People with lived experience have learned through their experiences how to help ourselves and others to recover and reconnect with life. Clients’ mental health and overall well-being are improved when they are able to engage in meaningful employment. Change must take place in the mental health workplace to improve the ability of clients to be employed there.

In order to bring about needed change, the community should explore increasing and expanding the practice of hiring, supporting and retaining new, diverse, and underused consumer employees. Making greater use of the consumer workforce will bring about more effective services as well as better understanding and acceptance in reducing stigma and discrimination in mental health systems and the larger community.

· California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies Psychosocial Rehabilitation Curriculum

· Consumer and Family Member Employment Development Assessment Tool

· Consumer and Family Member Employment in Public Mental Health

· Consumer Employment Summit 2008: Summit Report

· DACUM Competency Profile for a Behavioral Health Peer Specialist

· Inspired at Work

· Institute for Community Inclusion – Consumer and Family Perspectives on the Meaning of Work

· Planning and Preparing for Consumer and Family Member Employment

· RAND Corporation – Mental Health Consumer Providers: A Guide For Clinical Staff

· STEPPING UP: Innovations in Career Development for California Mental Health Consumers

· Working Well Together

County Jobs Training Resources Educational Assistance Information