Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Highlights
- The study's objective was to examine the impact of Breaking Barriers on employment, earnings, and public benefit receipt outcomes.
- The study was a randomized controlled trial that randomly assigned individuals to either the program or control group. Participants completed a follow-up survey 15 months after random assignment to examine differences in outcomes including service receipt, employment, physical and mental health, and public benefits receipt. The authors used a statistical model to compare average outcomes between the program and control group participants.
- The study did not find any differences in employment, public benefit receipt or earnings outcomes between the program and control groups 15-months after program enrollment.
- This study receives a high evidence rating for employment and earnings outcomes. This means we are confident that the estimated effects are attributable to Breaking Barriers and not to other factors. This study receives a moderate evidence rating for public benefit receipt outcomes. This means we are somewhat confident that estimated effects on these outcomes would be attributable to the Breaking Barriers program, but other factors may have also contributed. However, the study did not find statistically significant effects.
Intervention Examined
Breaking Barriers
Features of the Intervention
In 2014, the San Diego Workforce Partnership received funding from the U. S. Department of Labor to deliver Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services, a vocational approach for individuals with disabilities. Breaking Barriers used the IPS model to provide clients with career and personalized benefits counseling, job search assistance, job development, wrap-around services during the job search, and follow-up services. The program serves individuals who are at least 18 years old, are a resident of San Diego County, have a self-identified disability, are low income, are not working or underemployed, and are a client of a program referral partner.
Features of the Study
The study was a randomized controlled trial that assigned 1,061 individuals to either the program or control group. A total of 528 clients were assigned to the program group and received IPS service through Breaking Barriers and 533 clients were assigned to the control group. Breaking Barriers operated at four San Diego County locations of America's Job Centers of California from January 2016 through June 2018. The county was divided into four regions: Metro, South, North, and East. The program group received IPS services through Breaking Barriers. The control group was not offered Breaking Barriers services but may have received other publicly available employment services including those offered through the program referral partners. Participants completed a follow-up survey 15 months after random assignment to examine differences in outcomes including service receipt, employment, physical and mental health, and public benefits receipt. The response rate for the follow-up survey was 68 percent for the program group and 65 percent for the control group. The authors used a statistical model to compare average outcomes for the program and control groups. The model controlled for age, race/ethnicity, primary language spoken, past year employment, current benefit receipt, education, mental health, and physical health statuses.
Findings
Earnings and wages
- The study found that there were no significant differences in income between the program and control group participants 15-months after enrollment.
Employment
- The study found that there were no significant differences in employment outcomes between the program group and control group participants 15 months after program enrollment.
Public benefits receipt
- The study found that there were no significant differences in public benefit receipt between program and control group participants 15 months after enrollment.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
Although the study design was a randomized controlled trial, the study had high attrition for the public benefit receipt outcomes. However, the authors demonstrated that the study groups included in the analysis had equivalent baseline characteristics. Therefore, the study receives a moderate causal evidence rating for those outcomes. Additionally, the study authors noted that the programs’ impacts may be understated since participants in the control group received other employment services during the study.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is high for the employment and earnings outcomes because it was based on a randomized controlled trail with low attrition. This means we are confident that any estimated effects are attributable to Breaking Barriers and not to other factors. The quality of causal evidence is moderate for the public benefit receipt outcomes because sample attrition was high, but authors controlled for key differences between the treatment and control groups at baseline. This means we are somewhat confident that estimated effects on these outcomes would be attributable to the Breaking Barriers program, but other factors may have also contributed. However, the study did not find statistically significant effects.