The Parker Foundation is committed to the betterment of life for all people of San Diego County, California. With a net endowment of $40 million, the Foundation has granted over $46 million since inception. 
A recent grant from the Parker Foundation will enable CSH to enhance our current efforts through the San Diego area Work Well Initiative to connect more vulnerable people to part-time or full time employment. CSH is undertaking a multi-pronged approach to combat stigma surrounding mental illness and increase employment opportunities for individuals with lived experience of mental illness using evidence-based employment strategies. With this valuable resource, CSH is planning to:
- Provide six Supported Employment trainings to county-funded behavioral health services managers representing 12 to 15 The trainings will cover the principles and practices of the Supported Employment model, including participant assessment, job search and development, follow-along support, documentation /data collection and fidelity to the model.
- Present our CSH-designed curriculum to six In 2015, CSH designed a curriculum on mental health, employment and stigma, which we presented three times to the Hum an Resources Department at San Diego State University as well as to local Service Clubs (Rotary) and San Diego offices of America’s Job Centers of California. CSH will tailor this curriculum and present it to six employers (e.g. San Diego campuses, hospitals) to help pave the way for opportunities for job placement.
- Create an employment workbook targeted to jobseekers living with mental illness and other disabling conditions designed to help these clients navigate from thinking about securing a job to actually doing so, and beyond to maintaining Sections of the workbook would include personal and professional assessment, job readiness, techniques for managing job searches, face-to-face meetings with employers, expanding job skills, resume building, interviewing, maintaining employment, and managing stress. The workbook will eventually be available to all San Diego County Behavioral Health Services clients in both online and hard copy formats.
CSH is excited to have this new support from the Parker Foundation to get more people on the road to employment.
