Incorporating Supported Education (SEd) into your
Supported Employment Program
 2008 IPS Medicaid code- Oregon is the only state that
has an IPS supported employment Medicaid code
 2016 Oregon created a modifier to allow education
services to be offered in existing IPS SE programs
 The supported education modifier for the supported
employment code is approved for use for Supported
Employment programs who have met the minimum
fidelity score of 100 for IPS Supported Employment
and already offer supported education services as part
of their overall IPS Supported Employment Program.
 OSECE provided a training to Qualified IPS Supported
Employment programs interested in incorporating
Supported Education into their cadre of services.
 IPS Supported Employment programs planning to
integrate Supported Education into their program
were required to attend the OSECE training held in
Troutdale Oregon April 19th and 20th.
 Dr. Trevor Manthey and Dr. Karen Unger national and
international researchers in Supported Education
(SEd) provided the SEd training.
 This presentation is a summary of the SEd conference
 IPS Supported Employment programs that attended
the SEd training in April were expected to submit a
notification letter of intent to provide Supported
Education to Wendy Chavez at HSD via email at
[email protected] no later than May 31, 2016.
 OSECE will conduct fidelity reviews based on an
integrated SE and SEd model starting November 1,
2016.
 Providing Supported Education Services as part of an
IPS Supported Employment Program is voluntary.
However, if a Qualified IPS Supported Employment
Services provider chooses to encounter the Medicaid
Code (H2032 with a TG modifier) for SEd services,
then the IPS program must adhere to the integrated
fidelity model and use the integrated fidelity scale
developed by OSECE in collaboration with Karen
Unger and Trevor Manthy.
 Helping people with mental illness participate in an
education programs so they may receive the education
and training they need to achieve their learning and
recovery goals and become gainfully employed in the
job or career of their choice.
 Not a lot of research dollars have been available to conduct
studies of effectiveness of SEd programs – so rely on
anecdotal evidence of effectiveness- personal success
stories speak a thousand words.
 SEd services help provide a vision of what is possible
 Help individuals to reach educational goals and improve
quality of life (e.g. attain livable wage job).
 SEd providers guide the journey- education attainment
takes a long time. Individuals can’t often see the end- the
destination- but have to have faith that if you follow the
step by step road map- it will lead to success.
SEd services
SE services
 Eligibility is based on client
 Every person who wants to work
choice
 Services begin as soon as person
expresses interest
 Supported education is
integrated with services
 Individual preferences guide
services
 Individualized focus along
supports are ongoing
 Services are community based
 Supported education is strength
bases supporting hope and
recovery







is eligible
Competitive jobs are the goal
IPS SE is integrated with mental
health treatment
Personalized benefits
counseling is provided
Rapid job search
Systematic job development
Individualized follow along
supports are time unlimited
Individual preferences are
honored
 SEd specialist will work in tandem with SE staff and
the treatment team
 Specialist will carry a caseload of 20 or fewer clients
 Staffing numbers will reflect program capacity
 Goals will be to develop capacity to provide SEd
services to expanding numbers of individuals over
time- maybe eventually over time the program will
have a dedicated SEd specialist as needed by people
served
 What is important:
 Knowledge of both programs (SEd and SE program
models)
 Share ideas and how the two programs overlap and can
support both education and employment/career goals
 Close physical proximity of SEd specialist and SE
specialist- so can collaborate and coordinate
 How to solve problems related to accessing SEd services
(resolving past education debt, working with education
institutions)
 Each supported education unit will have a supervisor
who will
 Provide individual and group supervision for SEd unit or




combined SEd and SE unit for smaller agencies
Review client situations and identify new strategies
Communicate with mental health supervisors to assure
integrated services
Accompany education specialist in the field for on-site
training
Tracking client outcomes- if you don’t track outcomes
you don’t know how best to help staff accomplish client
goals and celebrate program successes
 Both the SEd service provider and SE specialist must share




a supervisor and attend weekly IPS SE team meetings;
The weekly team meeting is used to discuss client
situations with work and school;
Clients are shared across the employment and education
programs with coordination occurring weekly;
The education specialist follows most if not all the same
principles of IPS SE model;
SEd services are integrated with the larger mental health
treatment team.
 Educational opportunities are expansive: include not
only GED, but also community college and 4 year
college degree
 On-line education opportunities and certification
programs
 Trade schools
 Code Oregon- website after finish certification- there
are job opportunities waiting
 Developing key relationships with all the academic






institutions (student support services, financial aid,
tutoring services, etc.) in your service delivery area
Recruitment/intake
Education assessment
Placement in education settings
Link to educational resources
Facilitate achieving educational goals
Provide follow-along services as long as needed
 Address financial issues (previous default and dealing with






student loans, reinstating financial aid, academic testing,
and paying for all other education expenses)
Dealing with felony charges that affect eligibility for
financial aid
How to support individuals dealing with symptoms, focus
and attention, social anxiety
Encouragement for long term nature of education
Help setting goals and meeting small action steps
Feeling comfortable in college environment (feel like I
belong here)
How to support students overcome multiple dropouts,
failing course- provide encouragement to going on
 How school is possible
 Pros and cons of returning to school
 Possible education goals
 Discuss benefits of student role
 Tie education to employment
 Intake- as soon as a person expresses interest in school they
are provide SEd services – zero exclusion
 Engagement – meet with the SE specialist right away- build
relationship of trust and exploring possibilities providing
support
 Educational assessment – identify strengths and barriers,
identify barriers to learning, financial barriers, extra
supports needed
 Define educational goal
 Develop resources to support goal
 Develop individual service plan to support educational goal
 The individual service plan includes the goal
statement and describes a plan for enrollment
including:
Financial aid
Applying for accommodations
Learning the college environment
Taking placement tests
Enrolling in classes
Skill and resource needs
Interventions to address other needs or problems
identified in the education assessment
 Follow-along schedule or plan







 Helping students complete a Free Application for







Federal Student aid (FAFSA) to receive federal grants
Student loans
Grants and scholarships
Federal work study
SSA benefits, VA benefits
Medical benefits, medication subsidies
Housing subsidies
Food stamps
 Changes in educational tasks, requirements, or
environmental access, which allows people with
disabilities to have the same chance of success as
people without disabilities
 Legal right to accommodations
 Eligibility for accommodations and types of
accommodations available
 Documenting the psychiatric disability
 Disclosure
 Sometimes students don’t want to disclose their
mental health issues with student services
 Sometimes students don’t want to talk with instructor
about needed accommodations
 Explore pros and cons of disclosure
 SEd specialists need to know the ins and outs of the
laws around accommodations disability rights of
Oregon can help negotiate a school’s failure to follow
the law when working with students around
accommodations.
 Follow along supports are not time limited
 Personal support and coaching
 Linking to natural community resources and supports to
get help they need (tutoring, financial literacy through
financial aid program, study groups, etc)
 Monitor and support academic achievement
 Assertive engagement and outreach to maintain
participation and ongoing achievement
 If a student needs to withdraw from a course or from an




education program it is very important that the student
follow the proper procedure to ensure they can return or
ease ability to resume education
If a student stops going to class without the proper drop
procedure they can fail the class and lose access to financial
aid and be required to repay
If student drops out of school without proper procedure,
the same may happen. Medical leave is available for
mental health issues.
With failing grades or dropping out they became ineligible
for financial aid the next term .
Understanding and complying with withdrawal policies are
a key factor in student success.
 Supported Education Modifier to Supported Employment Code (H2023





with the TG modifier)
To use the TG modifier for Supported Education the Supported
Education must be integrated into a IPS Supported Employment
Program that meets fidelity to the IPS model.
The IPS program needs to inform Wendy Chavez at OHA 30 days
before intending to begin providing Supported Education component
and encountering the HE modified Medicaid Code
The IPS program will provide Supported Education services for 6
months and then the IPS program will receive a fidelity review for the
integrated SE and SEd model at that time.
Fidelity reviews for programs that have integrated SE and SEd services
will use a modified Dartmouth IPS Supported Employment Fidelity
Scale that measures components of SE and SEd in an integrated way.
ACT programs that are utilizing the IPS model and providing SE only
or SE and SEd services- they bill the ACT code not SE code
 OSECE.org OSECE website has lots of resources for
Supported Education- defining the model, a training
manual, assessment and individual service plan and links
to other SEd resources
 Contact Crystal McMahon, Director OSECE
 541-621-8875
 [email protected]
 Other helpful links




Hhtp://nslds.ed.gov
http://CFED.org
IDA
Dictionary of occupational titles