WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, today announced an important step forward in putting $725,000 in the federal checkbook for a statewide effort to help hundreds of Marylanders with mental illnesses prepare for and keep jobs. The Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee today approved Senator Mikulski’s funding request.

The Workforce Development Initiative for the Mentally Ill will use evidenced-based practices to give individuals with mental illness the knowledge and skills they need to increase employment and decrease symptoms of mental illness. This will result in significant savings in health care and unemployment costs to taxpayers.

Sheppard Pratt Health System, a 150-year old non-profit mental health organization known for its outstanding psychiatric services, will run the initiative at eight vocational rehabilitation sites throughout Maryland: Frederick, Hagerstown, Columbia, Timonium, Westminster, Catonsville, Baltimore, and Gaithersburg, Md.

Senator Mikulski recently visited Way Station, a comprehensive mental health facility located in Frederick, Maryland to hear about the initiative’s early success. Senator Mikulski promised to fight to put this funding in the federal checkbook.

“For a number of years, I have known about the good work done at Way Station and our Sheppard Pratt Health System, and what they have done for those with mental and intellectual challenges to have a way to a better life,” Senator Mikulski said. “Now they have a new cutting-edge approach to help people move into the workplace and find success there. The result is good for individuals receiving these services, good for employers, and good for Maryland’s economy. I promised I would fight for a federal investment in this initiative, and my promises made are promises kept.”

The $725,000 in federal funding Senator Mikulski requested will complete the public-private partnership to fund the workforce initiative, which is slated to receive 72 percent of its funding from the State of Maryland, and 20 percent from a challenge grant awarded by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. The Weinberg grant was conditioned upon securing the final 8 percent, or $725,000, in funding from another source.

Approximately 10 to 15 percent of individuals with severe mental illness are employed, even though data suggests that 60 to 70 percent of those individuals want to work. Research shows that when these individuals receive evidence-based supported employment services 60 percent become competitively employed.

Employment, in and of itself, has been shown to be an effective form of treatment, producing greater stability and decreased mental illness symptoms among these individuals. This helps reduce the need for more expensive publicly- funded mental health care, netting substantial savings for taxpayers. The initiative also includes technical assistance to state and private healthcare agencies with the goal of project replication in other areas of the state and across the country.

In the next step of the Appropriations process, the full Appropriations Committee will review the bill. Once approved, it will go to the Senate for a vote that has not yet been scheduled.