Kimberly Scott Works Toward a Promising Future with IPS Support

Monarch’s Lead Employment Support Professional Diann Barrett, left, works closely with individuals seeking employment and is seen here visiting person supported Kimberly Scott at her job.

Kimberly Scott is focusing on the promising opportunities that lie ahead instead of looking behind her.

She is making these strides with the employment assistance and support she needs to move forward through Monarch’s Individual Placement and Support (IPS) team in Cleveland County and has been paired since May with Lead Employment Support Professional Diann Barrett. They work together through employment struggles, setting future goals, connecting with community resources and learning life skills again after being incarcerated.

Monarch’s IPS are person-focused, behavioral health services with an emphasis on choosing, acquiring and maintaining competitive, paid employment. Click here for the counties IPS services are available.

Kimberly confides that in her darkest days, she never imagined she would be where she is – renting a place to live, employed and hoping to help others through sharing her experience. She is in recovery from a crack cocaine addiction having completed substance use disorder treatment.

Trauma has been a constant for most of Kimberly’s life beginning at the age of five when she was removed from her parent’s custody. Throughout her childhood, she counts living in over 102 foster homes and being a ward of the state.

Kimberly realized a transformation had to start from within: “I finally looked at myself and decided something’s got to change. I am still here. I started liking myself. I started to become comfortable with me and being myself. I just found a good place with me.”

Today, Kimberly, 47, is employed at Taco Bell and is setting her sights on attending cosmetology school and one day owning her own business. She is an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). When she talks about the progress she has made, there is a sense of hope in her voice.

Diann and Kimberly work through employment struggles, set future goals and how to incorporate coping skills into her life. They meet at the library or other quiet community locations so they can talk. Diann visits Kimberly at her job to see how she is doing and offers employment support.

Kimberly receives one-on-one therapy from Monarch Behavioral Health Therapist Kimberly Nichols and also is healing with the help of medication management. She is connected with community resources that assist with professional clothing for interviews and transportation.

“It makes me feel really good and accountable, and I think a lot about if I didn’t have them. Would I have gone backwards?” she says, grateful for the support she receives through Monarch’s IPS team.

In the time the pair has worked together, Diann has seen positive changes in Kimberly. “When she first came to us, she was a bit down not certain how this would turn out,” Diann says. “Now, she is more energetic and brighter. Her attitude is uplifting. She is a go-getter and she is very motivated.”

Diann and the IPS team are accessible to Kimberly when she needs support. “She is so uplifting. She calls me up to check on me, visits me at my job and talks to me about the goals I am interested in,” she says of Diann.

Kimberly says she would like to not only pursue cosmetology but also become a peer support specialist, who is a person with lived experience trained to support people with mental health, trauma or substance use disorders. “I have dreams and I am ready to start living them,” she declares.

For more information about Monarch’s IPS services, visit here.