Improving Representative Payeeship for People With Psychiatric Disabilities and Their Families

To do this, we will test the Steps for Achieving Financial Empowerment (SAFE) intervention by randomly assigning N=200 consumer-family payee dyads into one of two groups: (a) the SAFE intervention (n=100); or (b) a "usual care" control (n=100). The SAFE is a brief, 5 component educational intervention that aims to facilitate a cooperative consumer-payee relationship, increase accurate knowledge about representative payeeship, promote collaborative money management and effective budgeting, and prepare mutually developed plans for carrying out the payeeship in the future.

We will interview people with psychiatric disabilities and their family payees at baseline and six-months. This study aims to examine the effects of the SAFE intervention on community participation, employment, and family support of adults with psychiatric disabilities who have family representative payees. Our central hypothesis, based on strong preliminary data, is that the SAFE will benefit consumers by enhancing autonomy, boosting motivation to work, and reducing family conflict.

Inclusion criteria

• For disability recipients:

• Meets DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, or depressive disorder with psychotic features;
• age 18-65;
• Has a family member (parent or sibling) as a representative payee.
• For payees:

• Has family member (child or sibling) with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, or depressive disorder with psychotic features; and
• Is the family member's representative payee.

Exclusion criteria

• None.