{"id":7087,"date":"2020-08-27T14:51:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T18:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/?page_id=7087"},"modified":"2026-06-10T10:16:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T14:16:55","slug":"individual-placement-and-support-ips","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/","title":{"rendered":"Individual Placement and Support (IPS)"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"thumbnail wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 2010px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2025\/10\/josh-hammond-unsplash-IPS-Description_op.png\" alt=\"image of a flock of birds near a pier in Ocean Isle Beach, NC\" width=\"2000\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"caption wp-caption-text\">Josh Hammond\/ Ocean Isle Beach, NC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<hr class=\" rule-double-fadecorder osc-rule\" \/>\r\n\r\n<article><strong>The unemployment rate for adults with serious mental illness (SMI) is 85%,\u00b9\u00a0whereas 60\u201370% report wanting to\u00a0work.\u00b2\u00a0The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model is a nationally recognized evidence-based practice (EBP) designed to assist individuals with SMI in obtaining and keeping competitive employment. Helping people return to work results in system-level cost savings and is associated with improved recovery\u00a0outcomes.\u00b3\u00a0<\/strong><span data-contrast=\"auto\">An IPS Team is staffed with professionals who work closely with behavioral health providers, employers, and local Employment and Independence for People with Disabilities (EIPD) staff to\u00a0assist\u00a0individuals in finding a job or career that fits their values, preferences, and skills. Following an &#8220;Employment First&#8221; model, the focus is on rapid job search for competitive employment, meaning positions paying at least minimum wage and open to anyone to\u00a0apply.\u2074\u00a0To\u00a0help identify a good job match, IPS staff take the time to get to know the individual, partly through completing a Career Profile and by going into the community to build relationships with local employers through job development.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335551550&quot;:0,&quot;335551620&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Once successfully employed, IPS staff provide ongoing support to the individual in coordination with the mental health team and EIPD. The level of IPS support provided to the employer is\u00a0determined\u00a0by the individual, who explores options around disclosure about their mental illness. IPS staff are also trained to\u00a0assist\u00a0individuals in self-employment endeavors and\u00a0pursuing\u00a0further education.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335551550&quot;:0,&quot;335551620&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/article>\r\n\r\n<hr class=\" rule-double-fadecorder osc-rule\" \/>\r\n<ol id=\"block-4cc6d959-9505-4163-a61f-366af201525e\" class=\"block-editor-block-list__block wp-block is-selected has-small-font-size wp-block-footnotes is-hovered\" role=\"document\" aria-label=\"Block: Footnotes\" data-block=\"4cc6d959-9505-4163-a61f-366af201525e\" data-type=\"core\/footnotes\" data-title=\"Footnotes\" data-draggable=\"true\">\r\n \t<li><span id=\"93fdbffe-eb45-40dd-aeec-c8216bdea088\" class=\"block-editor-rich-text__editable rich-text\" role=\"textbox\" data-wp-block-attribute-key=\"93fdbffe-eb45-40dd-aeec-c8216bdea088\">&lt;20% employed: (Lindamer et al., 2003; Pandiani &amp; Leno, 2012; Perkins &amp; Rinaldi, 2002; Rosenheck et al., 2006; Salkever et al., 2007)<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.institutebestpractices.org\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=71&amp;action=edit#93fdbffe-eb45-40dd-aeec-c8216bdea088-link\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span id=\"91a6b07f-a7ff-4d22-a2b2-4215fd0932c6\" class=\"block-editor-rich-text__editable rich-text\" role=\"textbox\" data-wp-block-attribute-key=\"91a6b07f-a7ff-4d22-a2b2-4215fd0932c6\">60% have interest in employment: (Bedell et al., 1998; Drebing et al., 2004; Frounfelker et al., 2011; Knaeps et al., 2015; Livermore &amp; Bardos, 2017; McQuilken et al., 2003; Mueser et al., 2001; Ramsay et al., 2011; Rogers et al., 1991; Westcott et al., 2015; Woltmann, 2009).<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.institutebestpractices.org\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=71&amp;action=edit#91a6b07f-a7ff-4d22-a2b2-4215fd0932c6-link\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span id=\"5fa3ecd2-c25e-48a6-ab4c-8068ee095461\" class=\"block-editor-rich-text__editable rich-text\" role=\"textbox\" data-wp-block-attribute-key=\"5fa3ecd2-c25e-48a6-ab4c-8068ee095461\">Drake, 2020; Gibbons, 2019; Luciano, 2014; Wallstroem, 2021\u200b<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.institutebestpractices.org\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=71&amp;action=edit#5fa3ecd2-c25e-48a6-ab4c-8068ee095461-link\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span id=\"708eec3d-33e7-4fed-a7ab-c424a4f99829\" class=\"block-editor-rich-text__editable rich-text\" role=\"textbox\" data-wp-block-attribute-key=\"708eec3d-33e7-4fed-a7ab-c424a4f99829\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dol.gov\/agencies\/odep\/initiatives\/employment-first\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.dol.gov\/agencies\/odep\/initiatives\/employment-first<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.institutebestpractices.org\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=71&amp;action=edit#708eec3d-33e7-4fed-a7ab-c424a4f99829-link\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ol><!-- \/wp:post-content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The unemployment rate for adults with serious mental illness (SMI) is 85%,\u00b9\u00a0whereas 60\u201370% report wanting to\u00a0work.\u00b2\u00a0The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model is a nationally recognized evidence-based practice (EBP) designed to assist individuals with SMI in obtaining and keeping competitive employment. Helping people return to work results in system-level cost savings and is associated with &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Individual Placement and Support (IPS)\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97082,"featured_media":0,"parent":2405,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-7087","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Individual Placement and Support (IPS) - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Individual Placement and Support (IPS) - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The unemployment rate for adults with serious mental illness (SMI) is 85%,\u00b9\u00a0whereas 60\u201370% report wanting to\u00a0work.\u00b2\u00a0The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model is a nationally recognized evidence-based practice (EBP) designed to assist individuals with SMI in obtaining and keeping competitive employment. Helping people return to work results in system-level cost savings and is associated with &hellip; Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-10T14:16:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2025\/10\/josh-hammond-unsplash-IPS-Description_op.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/\",\"name\":\"Individual Placement and Support (IPS) - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2025\/10\/josh-hammond-unsplash-IPS-Description_op.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-27T18:51:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-10T14:16:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2025\/10\/josh-hammond-unsplash-IPS-Description_op.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2025\/10\/josh-hammond-unsplash-IPS-Description_op.png\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Scenic view of wooden pier from a beach view point at dusk.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UNC Institute for Best Practices\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Individual Placement and Support (IPS)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/\",\"name\":\"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\",\"description\":\"Department of Psychiatry\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Individual Placement and Support (IPS) - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Individual Placement and Support (IPS) - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","og_description":"The unemployment rate for adults with serious mental illness (SMI) is 85%,\u00b9\u00a0whereas 60\u201370% report wanting to\u00a0work.\u00b2\u00a0The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model is a nationally recognized evidence-based practice (EBP) designed to assist individuals with SMI in obtaining and keeping competitive employment. Helping people return to work results in system-level cost savings and is associated with &hellip; Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/","og_site_name":"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","article_modified_time":"2026-06-10T14:16:55+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2025\/10\/josh-hammond-unsplash-IPS-Description_op.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/","name":"Individual Placement and Support (IPS) - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2025\/10\/josh-hammond-unsplash-IPS-Description_op.png","datePublished":"2020-08-27T18:51:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-10T14:16:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2025\/10\/josh-hammond-unsplash-IPS-Description_op.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/880\/2025\/10\/josh-hammond-unsplash-IPS-Description_op.png","width":2000,"height":800,"caption":"Scenic view of wooden pier from a beach view point at dusk."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UNC Institute for Best Practices","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Individual Placement and Support (IPS)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/","name":"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","description":"Department of Psychiatry","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97082"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7087"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17185,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7087\/revisions\/17185"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}