Stay Well, Stay Working

Stay Well, Stay Working is Minnesota’s Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment funded through a grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under the federal 1999 Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act.

This research examines the effects of providing a comprehensive set of health care and employment-related supports to employed people with serious mental illness.

The Department of Human Services and CMS will examine whether these supports delay or prevent an individual’s entry into the Social Security disability system. DHS must submit final documents and reports to CMS by December 31, 2010.

The following outcomes of the demonstration will be evaluated:

Access to employer-sponsored health benefits
Benefits of flexible person-centered employee supports
Better health management
Diminished symptoms of mental illness
Employment stability
Improved data on how employees access support services over time
Improved job performance
Improved quality of life

Program Participation
Enrollment in Stay Well, Stay Working ended August 2008. The demonstration includes around 1,300 employed people with a serious mental illness.

DHS randomly assigned people to either an intervention or a control group. Both groups received a cash stipend for completing regularly scheduled surveys during the span of the initiative. The intervention group also:

Received a health care package modeled after the state’s Medical Assistance program
Had access to a range of employment supports that address their needs in the workplace

Some of the employment supports included employment-related counseling and employer education. People received:

Referrals to legal and financial support
Access to skills training through Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) services

Research Locations
People enrolled in Stay Well, Stay Working reside in Anoka, Carlton, Dakota, Hennepin, Lake, Pine, Ramsey and St. Louis counties. These counties were selected, based on detailed criteria, as the only counties from which enrollment was allowed.

For More Information
Contact Stay Well, Stay Working staff at (651) 431-4300 or toll free at 1 (866) 267-7655 or visit the Minnesota Department of Human Services website (www.dhs.state.mn.us).