Developing a Career Services Toolkit for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Pursuing Post-secondary Career & Technical Education (CTE)

This FI development project (in the domain of employment and stage of proof of concept) aims to create a Career Services Toolkit to assist individuals with serious mental illnesses (SMI) to succeed in post-secondary Career & Technical Education (CTE) programs and to gain employment within their intended field. CTE provides individuals opportunities to complete their education more quickly, with less financial burden, and have strong job prospects. Enrollment in CTE programs is growing faster than traditional academic programs. However, individuals with SMI entering CTE programs are twice as likely as other students to take remedial courses and leave school without completing their programs. Goal is to assist individuals with SMI to complete CTE, improve employment rates and earnings post-graduation, and develop upward career trajectory. Objectives are: 1) Conduct a Delphi study drawing upon a diverse group of stakeholders, including individuals with lived experience, to identify unique knowledge, skills, and resources required to succeed in CTE; 2) Develop a CTE toolkit incorporating the findings of the Delphi study. The Toolkit will include two main sections: one for individuals with SMI and family and the other for service providers; 3) Pilot test the Toolkit involving 8 -10 individuals in CTE programs; 4) Revise and refine the CTE Toolkit based on the results, feedback from the students/workers and providers in the pilot study. Anticipated Outcomes: A completed prototype of a Career Services CTE Toolkit including knowledge, skills, and resources needed to succeed in CTE programs and gain/maintain employment in CTE fields. The Toolkit will be ready for further tests with a large sample size and multiple sites.