“We Care at Work” Initiative Engages Area Businesses and Provider Agencies to Grow a Drug-Free Workforce

Last year reports about the rise of positive pre-employment drug tests in Ohio were abundant. (Working Partners® even wrote about this topic. ) Seeing a need to help businesses deal with individuals whose substance abuse hindered their ability to get or keep a job, the Mental Health & Recovery Services Board of Allen, Auglaize and Hardin Counties, with the help of Working Partners®, created the We Care at Work Initiative. The goal of this on-going initiative is to secure the economic stability of local businesses by growing a drug-free workforce.

“We wanted a way to help applicants make changes in their lives, instead of simply passing them along to another employer,” said community coalition member and program participant Amanda Elwer with Spherion of Lima, Inc. “We needed help strengthening our available labor pool and really didn’t know where to start.”

Using a program developed and facilitated by Working Partners®, the We Care at Work Initiative sent five organizations through a drug-free workplace program boot camp: consisting of 15 hours of classroom education and individual consultation to customize comprehensive, legally-sound drug-free workplace policies and programs. At the end of the program, each organization had a fully functional drug-free workplace program.

Helping the participating companies develop their programs was only part of the initiative’s work. A keystone of We Care at Work was the creation of an “employer-friendly” infrastructure, spear-headed by Coleman Behavior Health, for prevention and treatment resources to support the businesses’ drug-free workplace programs. “The comprehensive community resource system organized by the Board and made available to support these businesses and their employees is unprecedented,” said Karen Pierce, managing director of Working Partners® and course instructor. “This system makes services, spanning the continuum of prevention and treatment, more easily accessible and available to businesses and their employees.”

Program participation was free for the first five organizations that went through the boot camp and made possible with funding from the MHRS Board and support from The Partnership for Violence Free Families and Coleman Behavioral Health. The program also received endorsements from the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce and the Allen Economic Development Group.

“Our goal,” said Mike Schoenhofer, the Board’s Executive Director, “is to continue offering this program and supporting our business community to take a proactive role in the prevention and treatment of substance abuse.”

If you operate a business in the Allen Auglaize and Hardin County area and would be interested in learning more about this initiative visit the MHRS Board’s website at www.WeCarePeople.org.