Supported Employment Demonstration

SSA contracted with Westat to implement and evaluate the Supported Employment Demonstration (SED). The SED provides integrated mental health and vocational services to people with mental illness who were recently denied Social Security disability benefits. The evaluation will determine the impact of the SED on employment, clinical recovery, and receipt of disability payments. The evaluation is using a randomized controlled trial design to compare the outcomes of two treatment groups and a control group. In the full-service arm (n = 1,000), participants receive services from an Individual Placement and Support employment specialist, a care manager, and a nurse care coordinator (NCC) who provides medication management support, as well as modest funding for out-of-pocket prescriptions, essential work-related expenses, and other services in the participant's treatment plan. The basic-service arm (n=1,000), which is expected to cost about 50 percent less than the full-service arm, provides all services and funds except the NCC. Participants in the usual services (control) group (n = 1,000) seek services as they normally would but receive a comprehensive guide to local, state, and national resources.

Data collection includes computer-assisted baseline (in-person) and blinded quarterly (telephone) interviews with participants, collection of SSA administrative and site-level program data, site visits (including fidelity assessments), qualitative interviews with site administrators and service providers, focus groups with study participants, and person-centered ethnographic interviews with participants and nonparticipants.

Inclusion criteria

• Individuals denied Social Security disability benefits (SSDI or SSI)
• Individuals alleging a mental impairment
• Live in Community Mental Health Agency (CMHA) catchment area
• Legally competent
• Express desire to improve work situation

Exclusion criteria

• Intellectual disability
• Reside in a nursing home or custodial institution
• Already receiving supported employment services from CMHA site