The study results offer promising evidence that WRAP participation has a positive effect on psychiatric symptoms and feelings of hopefulness. If recovery is the guiding vision for mental health system reform, the study results provide evidence that WRAP programming may warrant a place in the current array of services offered through the publicly funded mental health system.

Definitions of economic self-sufficiency that are used by public programs fail to recognize the reality and experiences of low-income women. An analysis of data on economic self-sufficiency, gathered from 244 low-income women at the Women's Employment Network in Kansas City, Missouri, resulted in the discovery of four factors underlying this concept: (1) autonomy and self-determination, (2) financial security and responsibility, (3) family and self well-being, and (4) basic assets for living in the community. The policy and practice implications of these findings are explored.

This study sought to uncover the factors that contributed to differences in competitive employment rates for adults with severe mental illness between high and low performing programs. The five programs with the highest competitive employment rates were compared to the four lowest performing programs. Using qualitative methods, researchers used site visits and in-depth interviews with program directors and supervisors, consumers, and front line staff. Using a combination of constant comparative methods and content analysis, the study found notable and consistent differences between the two groups in administrative practices and the roles of ease managers and therapists. The role of administration has been largely overlooked in the supported work literature yet it may be the administrator's efforts to shape an organizational culture that is the driving force behind the implementation of evidence-based structures and practices.

This article reports on a qualitative study conducted to uncover the common denominator of effective community-based programs for people with severe and disabling mental illness. A sample of high-performing programs in Kansas was the subject of interviews with program managers, staff members, and consumers, and on-site observation. The study identified four principles of management that seem critical in these programs' success but are very different from traditional views of managerial competence.Community-based programs serving people with long-term mental illness, like all social welfare organizations, function within a complex social environment typified by a chronic lack of resources, multiple demands from external constituents, and often overwhelming requests for assistance from those in need. The well-documented inadequacies of the communitybased system are legion (

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