Healthy Workers, Healthy Wisconsin

Background

Healthy Worker, Healthy Wisconsin is a five-year, Milwaukee-area initiative funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Project and facilitated by Community Advocates Public Policy Institute in partnership with the ICFW. This local job enhancement project aims to strengthen employment services by increasing client access to health and mental health care.

The project rests on the premise that unaddressed health concerns can undermine long-term employment, particularly among low-income job seekers. A recent ICFW study highlights the connection between poor health and unemployment, also revealing that exposure to traumatic experiences across the life course contributes to the problem. The Healthy Worker, Healthy Wisconsin project now introduces trauma screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (T-SBIRT) services to program participants. T-SBIRT, a client-centered protocol that directly addresses exposure to and effects of traumatic life events, results in a referral to health insurance navigation, primary care services, and/or mental health treatment as needed.

ICFW researchers deploy a mixed-methods evaluation to assess program performance across three project phases: implementation, feasibility, and outcome.

Learn More

Journal Article – Adverse childhood experiences, health, and employment: A study of men seeking job services

Journal Article – Implementing Trauma Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (T‐SBIRT) within Employment Services: A Feasibility Trial

Issue Brief – Trauma Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (T-SBIRT)

Issue Brief – Trauma-Responsive Employment Services: The Healthy Workers, Healthy Wisconsin Project