East Sussex Vocational Service

The Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has been developing its vocational services for people with mental health issues across East Sussex since 2005.  The development of services follows the Individual Placement and Support model. As part of East Sussex County Council Day and Vocational Services review, funding for a new County wide vocational services was offered for tender. This tender was awarded to Southdown who also delivers vocational services in Brighton & Hove with the Trust. The new service commenced on 1st July 2009.

The new East Sussex Vocational Service provides an individually tailored programme working in partnership with the Recovery Teams across East Sussex, to support each person’s recovery journey. It is a free service open to adults with mental health issues and offers support into employment, education and volunteering.

The aims of the service are to:

• Increase the number of people with mental health problems to achieve their vocational goals and aspirations
• Increase the number of people finding paid employment or self employment
• Increase the number of people retaining jobs once they have secured employment
• Increasing number of people attending day service to access employment
• Increasing awareness of mental health issues among local employers and their willingness to employ people with mental health problems

The service is provided by Southdown Supported Employment in association with the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and aims to support at least 175 people at any one time. Southdown has a team of seven Employment Specialists and a Team Leader. All people who receive a service has a named worker who will assist them through every step towards their goals.

ELIGIBILITY

A free service open to adults aged 16 plus, living in East Sussex. 50% of referral will be from people who are receiving a service from one of the East Sussex Recovery Mental Health Teams, but we also accept referrals from people receiving primary health care support (GP’s and access Teams), Jobcentre Plus, local mental health agencies as well as self referrals. The main criteria is that people are willing and motivated to work with us to help them achieve their vocational goals towards paid employment.

WHAT DOES THE SERVICE OFFER?

One-to-one support to gain and retain:

• Paid work, part or full time, in real work settings
• Self employment
• Voluntary work
• Education, qualifications and non-accredited courses

We will do this by:

• Exploring your interests, skills, strengths, experiences and goals
• Enabling you to create a journey to work plan
• Providing support through the whole process, from identifying to achieving your goals
• On-going support to empower you to stay in work or education

Here are some of the practical activities we can offer:

• Support with your job search
• Create or update your CV and write effective applications
• Successful interview techniques
• How and when to disclose mental health to an employer
• Support when starting a job or course
• Access to a better off calculation to see how earnings may affect your benefits entitlement
• Access to the Work and Learning Fund  

Further information and contacts please click here