Adding employment support to clinical treatment can open up the world of work, says Sophea Saroay
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Adding employment support to clinical treatment can open up the world of work, says Sophea Saroay
I ndividual Placement and Support( IPS) is a model of employment support that originated in secondary mental health services. Following successful trials in 2018, IPS was officially rolled out across alcohol and drug treatment services in England in 2021 and it continues to show the benefits of supporting people during their recovery. IPS Cranstoun in Sandwell was launched in April 2025, and Shaun was one of the first participants to gain employment. The IPS service here consists of myself as IPS team lead and two employment specialists, and our referrals predominantly come through our treatment team.
Shaun’ s journey shows that integrating IPS with a person’ s clinical treatment can help support them into sustainable employment, which is evident in Shaun’ s case as he’ s now 18 months into his role as a mechanic. While working with Shaun, we completed a vocational profile and focused on his preferences and skills, which initially were pointing towards being a forklift worker.
However, through discussions it became apparent that Shaun’ s love was for mechanics, and we identified that we needed to work on his confidence and self-belief as he’ d been out of work for eight years. It was obvious that Shaun was motivated – he was ready for the world of work as he attended appointments regularly and was actively exploring employment opportunities.
As we focused on interview questions, we discussed how his skills could be demonstrated through the knowledge and hands-on experience he’ d gained on courses. It became apparent that this guidance enhanced Shaun’ s capacity to successfully showcase his abilities, as he was offered the job within 24 hours. Shaun was ecstatic and in complete disbelief when he received the phone call – especially as this was his first interview in many years and he was offered his dream job as a mechanic. As a team we shared the same celebration and excitement for Shaun’ s new way of life and we bought him a job starter pack which contained a lunch
Making it work: Shaun’ s story
School didn’ t work for me. I had a poor attention span and was unable to concentrate.
I struggled on for a while then left to embark on vocational training. I completed mechanical and carpentry training but at the age of 18 I slipped into the wrong crowd and started recreational cocaine use – the apprenticeships were paid work, and I was free to use my money how I wanted.
I started receiving support from Cranstoun in 2017 and was in and out of service due to my‘ falling back into use’. I wasn’ t ready mentally or physically to give up cocaine at the time, and over the years my use turned from powder cocaine to crack and heroin. I couldn’ t, and didn’ t want to, stop. It was easier to just carry on as I found the withdrawals intense – both physically and mentally.
I didn’ t realise what I was doing to myself. Over an eight-year span I lost my morals and my family connections, as well as my partner and children. For a long time I was just focused on myself, and obviously I was financially unstable and sofa surfing from place to place rather than returning to family homes. I wasn’ t ready.
In May 2024 I was introduced to IPS by Sophea, the team leader at Cranstoun. We talked through things like interview skills and how to talk to people, which helped to build up my confidence. I remember how difficult and stressful the onboarding forms were, and I couldn’ t complete them alone – it alI felt like jargon to me. The IPS team completed them in my presence and even after I got the job I still had regular contact with them – the aftercare was great.
My medication was looked at as well, as
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