Evidence-Based Practices

1. Eligibility is based on customer choice.

Consumers are not excluded because they are not “ready or because they have poor work history, history of hospitalization, substance use, symptoms, or other characteristics.

Transcript

The first principle is that eligibility is based on consumer choice. Unlike many traditional vocational programs, an evidence-based supported employment program does not screen out consumers who may not appear to be ideal candidates for employment due to psychiatric, substance abuse, or previous work experiences. Instead, supported employment operates on the principle of “zero exclusion”. Anyone who expresses a desire to work and makes an informed choice to participate in a supported employment program is eligible.

The evidence behind this principle is drawn from research suggesting that consumer characteristics do not predict success in supported employment. Consumers consistently have better competitive employment outcomes in supported employment when compared to alternative programs, regardless of gender, ethnicity, diagnosis, hospitalization history, cognitive functioning, education, or substance use. Many clinicians are surprised by this finding.

There are some compelling reasons for not assessing consumers for work readiness, using conventional methods (such as standardized aptitude tests). First, these assessment methods screen out consumer with mental illness at a high rate, including many who could successfully work. Second, these assessment methods take resources away from services that could be better directed to helping people find jobs. Third, most standardized assessment approaches do not actually predict which individuals will work! And finally, the assessments typically do not give information about what interventions to offer as a way to help consumers become employed.