Skip to sections below

Share this program

PrintEmail

Summary

EVR was designed to help individuals with severe mental illness find and keep a job. This evaluation directly compared EVR to a separate program, IPS, to understand which of the two might be more effective. The distinctive feature of EVR was a stepped approach delivered by rehabilitation agencies in which individuals participated in paid work adjustment training in a sheltered workshop before pursuing competitive employment.

EVR provided a vocational counselor who helped place participants with rehabilitation agencies. The vocational counselor regularly monitored participants to ensure a good fit between the participant and rehabilitation agency. All rehabilitation agencies involved with EVR had the goal of gradually preparing individuals for competitive employment through a stepped approach of prevocational experiences that primarily consisted of paid work adjustment training in a sheltered workshop. This study of EVR was implemented by several rehabilitation agencies recommended by the District of Columbia Rehabilitation Services Administration.

The effectiveness of EVR when compared to IPS indicates the effect of being referred to a set of services that includes those unique to EVR, or how much better the offer of EVR met participants’ needs than the offer of IPS. EVR provided a stepped approach of vocational services through rehabilitation agencies, whereas IPS gave individualized vocational support. The main services for IPS consisted of assigned employment specialists outside of rehabilitation agencies to help participants obtain jobs quickly through a rapid job search and, following employment, provide as-needed individualized support (such as counseling or transportation).

25092R-Study of Enhanced Vo
Populations and employment barriers: Unemployed

Effectiveness rating and effect by outcome domain

View table definitions

Scroll to the right to view the rest of the table columns

Outcome domain Term Effectiveness rating Effect in 2024 dollars and percentages Effect in standard deviations Sample size
Increase earnings Short-term Little evidence to assess support favorable $73 per year 0.002 150
Long-term Cannot assess support
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Increase employment Short-term Cannot assess support
Long-term Cannot assess support
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Decrease benefit receipt Short-term Cannot assess support
Long-term Cannot assess support
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Increase education and training All measurement periods Cannot assess support

Effectiveness ratings

  • Well- supported
  • Supported
  • Mixed support
  • Not supported
  • Insufficient evidence
  • Cannot assess support

Studies of this program

Study quality rating Study counts per rating
High High 1
Back to top

Implementation details

Characteristics of research participants
Black or African American
83%
Unknown or not reported
17%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

State(s) where implemented

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY Canada

Pathways to Work refers to programs by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some program names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.