Black / African American

As part of the agreement for participating in the IPS learning collaborative, individual sites agree to collect annual fidelity assessments and quarterly competitive employment outcomes. Fidelity reviews were conducted according to each state's procedures. The fidelity assessors for each state included trainers from technical assistance centers and state mental health and vocational rehabilitation agencies.
Following exploratory data analysis to plan statistical methods, the study used multiple regression to examine the fidelity-outcome relationship, controlling for unemployment rate and program longevity. Finally, the study conducted the analysis of variance linear trend analysis on the classification based on benchmark fidelity levels.

Data were recorded directly from published reports or calculated from information presented in the published studies. For the measure of job duration, the study converted total weeks worked to an annualized rate, reporting the findings for both the full intent-to-treat sample and the worker subsample (those who obtained at least one competitive job during follow-up).

Participants were assessed by interviews at baseline, biweekly for 12 weeks, and at 6 months post-baseline. Measures included standardized measures of addiction and independent urine sampling, a vocational assessment, a treatment service review, chart review, and independent employment verification. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, a series of bivariate analyses to examine the correlation between potential predictor variables and the criterion variable (employed/not employed at least one day in the past 30 days at the 6-month follow-up point), and multinomial regression analysis.

Using a combined data set from four randomized controlled trials of IPS, this study examined mean differences between IPS participants (N=307) and participants in other vocational services (control sample) (N=374) in four domains (job acquisition, job duration, hours worked per week, and total hours and wages). Eight competitive employment measures were examined (employed at any time, total weeks worked, tenure in the longest-held job, total hours worked, average hours per week worked, total wages, days to first job, and working =20 hours per week during follow-up). Correlations between measures within both the IPS and control samples were determined.

Seven states (including the District of Columbia) reported unique aspects of implementing supported employment. The approach used was similar to that of a case study.

Nine new supported employment programs were evaluated by examining supported employment fidelity ratings at baseline and every 6 months thereafter. Site reports based on the nine case studies were used to interpret the fidelity findings.

"Three main sources were used to identify studies" (p. 281). The first source was published literature reviews, the second was to review studies in the Employment Intervention Demonstration Project, and the third was to contact "principal investigators and continuous review of the published literature" (p. 281).

Data were recorded directly from published reports or calculated by hand from the information presented.

Monthly data about job tenure were collected for 82 clients upon beginning competitive employment (prospective sample) and from 60 clients who had begun competitive employment in the preceding six months (retrospective sample). At study entry, information on demographic characteristics, employment history, diagnosis, Social Security entitlements, and current employment was collected. The monthly employment update included information on employment status (employed or unemployed), job losses, job starts, job type, days worked during the past month, changes in hours worked per week, and changes in wage rate.

Four sets of variables: personal history, functional limitations, rehabilitation services and employment outcomes were measured. The Scale of Social Disadvantage, was developed to predict competitive employment for VR clients from information collected on the application form. The FAI, a behaviorally anchored, counselor rated tool was used to measure a client's functional limitations and key environmental factors that are relevant to VR service planning. Three categories of rehabilitation service variables were used. Two discrete services were job placement and personal adjustment training. Three aggregate service variables were vocational training, restoration, and maintenance. Two global measures of service intensity were time in rehabilitation and total service costs. Various service variables were excluded from the analysis like counseling, diagnosis, support and transportation. Two criteria related to employment success, competitive employment versus not working. Weekly salary for competitive employment were used. Clients closed in other work statuses (i.e.. workshop, student, homemaker etc.) were excluded from the analysis.
Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to assess predictive relationships between the variable representing the 3 phases of VR services and the two employment outcomes. The first set only included the SDD total score. The second set included the SSD score and six FAI factor scales. The third set consisted of the SDD score, the six FAI scales, and the seven rehabilitation service variables. The three sets of variables were used to predict the employment outcomes (competitive employment and weekly wages).

Data for the study was generated through four sources: consumer and provider questionnaires already in use by the study agencies, data collection forms designed specifically for this research project which were completed by case managers and Supported Employment staff at the study agencies, data from agency administrative records, and IDDT and supported employment (SE) fidelity scores from a state-funded training and consultation center. Prior to the beginning of data collection, approval of data collection procedures and consent forms was received from the Case Western Reserve University IRB.