Work — whether paid or unpaid — offers rewards far beyond an income for a person living with a mental illness. It helps us to organize our days around work, leisure, and rest. It offers a rich source of new friendships, fresh ideas, and expanded horizons. And, perhaps most important of all, it gives us dignity and self-respect — the deep personal satisfaction of confronting and overcoming challenges. If recovery is the destination, meaningful employment is certainly one of the major routes leading to it. Most consumers are willing, even eager, to work, but are there jobs available? The answer is yes, and this symposium will offer insights and invaluable information about policy changes designed to help consumers find and hold on to the job that will keep them on the road to recovery. Finally, this symposium will examine what must be done to reform cash benefit and health care entitlement programs to overcome the current disincentives.

• Symposium Chair: Suzanne Clifford, member, NAMI National Board of Directors, Indianapolis, IN

• Lisa Razzano, Ph.D., associate director, Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy,Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
• Pamela Mazerski, associate commissioner, Office of Disability and Income Security Programs, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, MD

• Susan Parker, director, Policy and Research, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C.
• Kenn Dudek, president, Fountain House, New York, NY