Study Details | Pathways to Work

28561.01R-Study of Individual

Study quality: Low

Low

Reason for the rating: This study received a low study quality rating because it is a high-attrition randomized controlled trial that does not adjust estimated impacts for potentially important differences between the program and comparison groups.

Program: Individual Placement and Support (IPS) as compared to Social Enterprise Intervention (SEI)

Characteristics of study participants:

Homelessness, Mental health condition, Young adults (age 16-24)

Services provided:

Case management, Job development, Job placement, Job readiness, Job search assistance, Mental health services, Post-employment participant follow-up

Setting: Urban only

Methods and Standards Protocol version used for review: Version 1.0

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Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

Participants experiencing homelessness were recruited from a drop-in center for youth in Los Angeles, CA. Youth were eligible to participate in the study if they were between the ages of 16 and 24, spoke English, and had both a desire to work and a clinical diagnosis in the past year for one of six mental illnesses. Seventy-two eligible individuals agreed to participate in the study. After the research team screened participants and collected their consent, the team randomly assigned participants to either the SEI program group or the IPS comparison group. The research team conducted random assignment in blocks to ensure both conditions contained 36 individuals.

Time period of study:

Researchers conducted the evaluation from November 2009 to June 2010.

Pathways to Work only reports results from studies with a study quality rating of high or moderate.

Sample characteristics

Age

Mean age	22 years
Young adults (age 16-24)	100%

Sex

Female	16%
Male	84%

Race and ethnicity

Black or African American	37%
White, not Hispanic	10%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	17%
Another race	2%
More than one race	34%

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.

Employment and public benefit status

Were employed	29%
Were unemployed	71%

Education

Had a high school diploma or GED	61%
Did not have a high school diploma or GED	39%

Specific employment barriers

Had a mental illness	100%
Were experiencing homelessness	87%

Program implementation

Implementing organization:

The name of the implementing organization was not provided.

Program services:

The IPS model provides customized and long-term vocational, case management, and mental health services to individuals with mental illness to help them get a job and maintain their employment. The model follows eight supported-employment principles, all of which relate to theories of psychiatric recovery. IPS participants were assigned to an employment specialist, case manager, and clinician at study enrollment. All study staff were co-located to integrate mental health services with job search support. Participants met with each of these support staff at least once per week over the 20-month program period, either in person, by phone, or via social media. The employment process began with a vocational assessment or career profile followed by a rapid job search and follow-along supports.

Mandatory services:

None

Comparison services:

SEI is an asset-based model of youth development that uses a team approach to engage youth who are experiencing homelessness in paid employment, case management, and mental health services through their involvement in an agency-run social enterprise. SEI is based on the assumption that these youth have "survival behaviors," or informal ways of making money, that can be turned into entrepreneurial skills. SEI participants received continuous case management services over the full 20-month program period. In addition, participants attended classes for one and a half hours twice a week. Classes focused first on building vocational skills (4 months), and then on developing small business skills (4 months). In the final 12 months of the program, participants focused on SEI formation and product distribution.

Study publications

Ferguson, Kristin. (2018). Employment outcomes from a randomized controlled trial of two employment interventions with homeless youth, Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research 9(1). Available at https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/696372.

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Study of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) versus Social Enterprise Program (SEI)