California

Department of Rehabilitation
721 Capitol Mall
P.O. Box 94422
Sacramento, CA 95814
Direct: (916)324-1313
TTY: (916)558-5807

Employment Resources:

Actor's Fund/AIDS Training and Education Program

AIDS Assistance Program-Palm Springs
"The AIDS Assistance Program was founded in Palm Springs , California in the Spring of 1991. At that time a small group of concerned citizens, led by the late Gloria Greene and Jeannette Rockefeller, provided meals to members of the community with low incomes and suffering with HIV/AIDS. Since that time, the AIDS Assistance Program's client rosters have grown from approximately 20 to well over 470 persons and their dependents." Benefits counseling is offered.

AIDS Legal Referral Panel
"The AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP) is a non profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to help people living with HIV/AIDS maintain or improve their health by resolving their legal issues." Part of the ALRP's services involve assistance with disability benefits.

AIDS Project Los Angeles
"AIDS Project Los Angeles is dedicated to: improving the lives of people affected by HIV disease; reducing the incidence of HIV infection; and advocating for fair and effective HIV-related public policy." Benefits & work services are offered.

Desert AIDS Project
"Desert AIDS Project meets the evolving medical and social service needs of people living with HIV/AIDS by providing direct services and advocacy, while working to prevent new infections through education and outreach." Services include benefits, financial, and re-employment counseling.

Marin AIDS Project
"Our mission is to help the people of Marin County obtain the best quality HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C services, information, education and support possible." Services include benefits counseling.

Positive Resource Center

Project New Hope

San Francisco AIDS Foundation
"Established in 1982, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation is one of the oldest and largest community-based AIDS service organizations in the United States. The mission of the agency is to end the pandemic and the human suffering caused by HIV." Services include financial benefits counselors.

Santa Cruz AIDS Project
"The Santa Cruz AIDS Project was founded in 1985 by a group of dedicated volunteers with the mission to lead a community response to the ever-changing HIV/AIDS pandemic, to enhance the quality of life through powerful support programs, to advocate effectively for the health and dignity of those living with HIV, and to reduce the spreads of HIV through results-oriented and measured education and prevention programs that are tailored to specific at-risk community groups and focused on the health of Santa Cruz County." Services include a benefits advocacy program.

Research:

The Impact of HIV-related illness on employment.
We used structured telephone interviews to determine the extent of work loss following onset of symptoms, the interval between onset of symptoms and cessation of work, and the risk factors for work loss among 193 persons with symptoms of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related illness attending the AIDS Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco, between October 1, 1988, and September 30, 1989. Estimates of the duration of time between onset of HIV-related symptoms and work loss derive from the life table method of Kaplan and Meier. A Cox proportional hazards model is used to estimate the effect of risk factors on the probability of withdrawing from work in each time interval. Eighty-six percent of the respondents worked prior to onset of the first symptom of HIV-related illness; 40 percent were working at the time of the most recent interview, a mean of 958 days later. The total number of hours worked declined by 59 percent during this time. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicates that 50 percent who worked prior to onset of HIV-related illness stopped working within two years and all had stopped within 10 years after onset of the first symptom.

Considering work for people living with HIV/AIDS: evaluation of a group employment counseling program - Work for People HIV/AIDS
This study reports on a continuing project of group employment counseling for people living with HIV/AIDS (People with AIDS =PWAs). The concrete program, called Making A Plan (MAP), explores the needs, fears, perceived barriers, and affective dimensions of considering work for PWAs. This article describes the concerns and barriers of HIV-positive clients in four essential factors related to considering work and the changes in those concerns produced by participation in a group counseling process. The data to be reported below are derived from: (a) a quantitative evaluation of client change over the course of the program, (b) a qualitative focus group evaluation several weeks after program completion, and (c) several years of vocational counseling experience with this population. As described briefly below, this examination is timely in light of (a) advances in medical treatment for this population, and (b) the challenges the disease presents for vocational rehabilitation.

HIV/AIDS, Disability, and Employment. Disability Statistics Report 6.
This report on HIV/AIDS, disability, and employment analyzes data from the AIDS Cost and Services Utilization Survey of 1991-1992, a longitudinal study of 1,949 HIV-infected men and women. The report examines the diagnostic history of people living with HIV and its relation to function, disability, and labor force participation over time. Study participants were interviewed six times over an 18-month period. Text, graphs, and tables present data on the following areas: demographics of the study population, HIV diagnostic categorization, health insurance coverage, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), functional and activity limitations, measures of depressive symptomatology, labor force participation, and occupational status. Highlights of the study included the following: (1) 33 percent of study participants were covered by private health insurance, 38 percent had Medicare or Medicaid, and 29 percent had neither private nor public health coverage; (2) as diagnostic severity increased, the likelihood of private insurance coverage decreased; (3) men were far more likely to be receiving SSDI than women; (4) women were far more likely to have been denied disability insurance than men; (5) at each stage of HIV disease, women were more likely to report depression; and (6) over half the study population was out of the labor force at the time of the initial interview, with an additional ll percent unemployed but looking for work. Appendices provide technical notes and medical condition and symptom codes. Findings indicate that to encourage greater labor force participation of people with HIV and AIDS, attention must be given not only to reducing funcational disability but also the employer attitudes and access to health insurance and other work-related benefits and workplace accommodations. (DB)

Predictors of Employment of Men With HIV/AIDS: A Longitudinal Study
OBJECTIVE: To identify patterns and predictors of work status and number of hours employed in a group of men with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

METHODS: A total of 141 participants had semiannual neuropsychiatric, psychosocial, and medical assessments over a period of 30 months. These six occasions provided the basis for identifying patterns of employment (part-time, full-time, or unemployed). Those who completed neuropsychological testing, introduced at visit 4, constitute the sample used to identify predictors of number of hours employed, using multiple regression analysis with mixed procedure.

RESULTS: Over 30 months, 20% were continuously employed full-time, another 9% were continuously employed part-time, and 40% were continuously unemployed. Employment status changed for 31%: 4% who worked at baseline stopped, 13% started or increased their hours, 8% decreased their hours, and 6% showed a fluctuating pattern. The major parameters consistently associated with unemployment or partial employment, in order of influence, were financial (disability benefits), psychiatric (past/current diagnosis of major depression and/or dysthymia), medical (physical limitations), cognitive (executive function), and education. In contrast, age, ethnicity, laboratory markers of HIV illness status, vocational rank, and past or current substance dependence did not predict work status.

CONCLUSIONS: Overall, those who worked continued to work. However, despite improved health, most men who were unemployed at study baseline did not return to work. Structure of disability benefits, lifetime depressive disorder, physical limitations, and impairment in some areas of cognitive function each appear to represent significant barriers to work. Returning to work is evidently difficult, and clinicians may keep this in mind when recommending leaving work unless medically necessary. Specific interventions and policy changes regarding disability benefits may be needed to promote return to work for people with HIV/AIDS whose health is restored and who contemplate re-employment.