Individual Placement and Support Project

The Suffolk IPS Scheme will be available to individuals of working age (18+), resident in Suffolk, engaged in structured treatment for drug and/or alcohol issues, and who are out of work. The ‘structured treatment’ will be provided by our commissioned ‘all age’ Integrated Drugs and Alcohol Treatment service. The Scheme will provide bespoke ‘packages’ of support to assist service users in securing sustainable, paid employment. Referrals into the Scheme will be made by staff from the Suffolk commissioned Integrated Drugs and Alcohol Treatment Service. This will ensure that structured drug or alcohol treatment has commenced prior to the IPS referral. It will also ensure that the drug and alcohol treatment staff can explore, with the service user, how commencing employment might impact the individual’s treatment. Engagement with the Suffolk IPS scheme will be recorded within an individual’s drug and alcohol treatment care plan by the Integrated Drugs and Alcohol Treatment Service. The IPS staff will work flexibly across the county, ensuring equity of service provision and adjusting delivery in response to any changes in demand. While the Provider will be expected to use staff in the most efficient way, the staffing establishment is expected to have as a minimum one Senior Employment Specialist and two Employment Specialists at whole time equivalent and salary should be competitive with similar roles. The Provider will ensure that there is adequate service provision across the county even during periods of staff absence. The IPS programme employs the Fidelity Scale to ensure the support provided are individualised to the client and the Fidelity scale also defines the critical ingredients of IPS which are expected to have greater effectiveness to obtain better outcomes.