The challenge of integrating employment services with public mental health services in Australia: Progress at the first demonstration site.

OBJECTIVE: Integrating vocational services into public mental health services is a key component of evidence-based supported employment for people with severe mental illness. While this approach has been developed in the USA, it has only recently been attempted internationally and in Australia. This report summarizes the early implementation challenges at the first Australian demonstration site. METHOD: ORYGEN Youth Health (OYH) in Melbourne established an evidence-based supported employment research project in December 2005. Challenges to service integration and fidelity were documented descriptively in order to inform other international sites attempting to implement similar evidence-based practices. RESULTS: Experiences at this demonstration site identify the major barriers to integration and suggest how these can be overcome. CONCLUSION: Successful integration of employment with youth mental health services is feasible in Australia within six months.