ABSTRACT
This chapter overviews the connection between social welfare and community mental health (CMH), explores the economic vulnerabilities facing individuals with psychiatric disorders, and explains how these factors inform an expanding role for CMH practitioners. The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) is a longitudinal survey, collecting data from respondents on key issues regarding employment, income, health, and welfare recipiency every four months for four years. To conduct analyses examining limitation and economic well-being, data from the SIPP between January 1996 and July 2013 was used. Factors such as educational level, marriage status, age, race, and gender were also included since these are factors are known to influence economic well-being. Findings consistently show that individuals with psychiatric limitations across all race and gender groups earn much less per month and have a much greater chance of being in poverty.
