Building Partnerships to Implement the IPS Employment Program for Adults with Justice Involvement

• In Event: Public Policy and Economic Wellbeing from Employment to Retirement

Abstract

This research provides valuable insights for those involved in designing, implementing, and evaluating social programs that have been adapted to new contexts or introduced to new populations. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an employment model originally designed to support individuals with serious mental illness. This presentation will draw on a rigorous implementation study that describes lessons learned from providing IPS to adults with justice involvement, a population for which IPS has not been rigorously tested at scale. The study addresses a critical gap in the evidence base for employment programs tailored to justice-involved adults, providing practical insights for scaling evidence-based programs to new contexts.

IPS is a well-defined employment program with over 20 rigorous evaluations that have consistently demonstrated its effectiveness in helping individuals with severe mental illnesses secure competitive employment (Frederick and VanderWeele 2019). IPS is typically implemented in community mental health centers, combining mental health services with rapid job search, individualized job development, and post-employment support.

IPS is also a promising program for supporting adults with a history of involvement in the justice system. Justice involvement often results in lifelong collateral consequences that limit access to employment, education, housing, and public benefits (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 2019). At the same time, there is scant rigorous evidence for successful employment programs that support adults with justice involvement. IPS is promising for adults with justice involvement because it is designed to help individuals find employment rapidly and integrate with mental health services, a common need among adults with justice involvement. This study is the first to implement IPS among adults with justice involvement on a large scale.

Through partnerships with six mental health centers across the country, this implementation study drew on quantitative and qualitative data collected from multiple perspectives, including interviews with program staff, employers, and participants; surveys of program administrators, staff, and participants; IPS fidelity reviews; and records from the mental health centers. The presentation uses these data sources to describe the challenges and lessons learned through the program’s experiences serving adults with justice involvement. Key findings include: (1) IPS can be implemented with fidelity among adults with justice involvement, (2) strong implementation required partnerships and buy-in at multiple levels within mental health centers and the justice system, and (3) the needs of adults with justice involvement differed from typical IPS participants. These findings offer guidance for adapting evidence-based models to expand services to new populations experiencing employment or other challenges.

This study is part of the Next Generation of Enhanced Employment Strategies (NextGen) Project—a broader effort funded by the federal Administration for Children and Families to evaluate promising employment approaches for individuals with low incomes who face complex challenges to finding and retaining employment.

Author

• Gina Lewis, Mathematica
  Presenting Author