Overcoming Barriers for Hiring and Retaining Consumer Employees

Although hiring consumers as employees is an age old practice in the field of substance abuse treatment, it is still relatively new to the field of mental health.  Crossroads will provide training and technical assistance on the strategies we utilize to effectively recruit, train, and retain consumer employees for our agency, the County, the State, community employers, and other non-profit organizations.

A significant part of the recovery process involves assisting both the individual and their mental health support system/employer in shifting from "mental health consumer" to the more positive role of "worker." 

The training discusses the positive impact community employers and the mental health system can experience by hiring mental health consumers, the positive impact employment has on consumers, the role of management in preparing their organization for increasing their commitment to hiring consumers, strategies for developing a healthy workplace, legal issues including accommodations, disclosure of disability, acceptable and unacceptable employment inquires and guidelines for addressing an individual's criminal background.

Participants will receive a copy of the CA Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH) booklet titled "Disability under the Fair Employment & Housing Act:  What you should know about the law," and learn the differences between California DFEH and Federal guidelines under the ADA and Equal Employment Opportunity commission (EEOC).