Integrating Vocational Services on Case Management Teams: Outcomes from a Research Demonstration Project

Abstract

Recent innovations to improve employment rates among persons with psychiatric disabilities include “hybrid case management/employment services.” Project WINS was a research/demonstration project which integrated specialized vocational services into case management teams. In this report, client outcomes of WINS involvement are evaluated, using a quasiexperimental, longitudinal design. On almost all the work-related variables, participants in the immediate and delayed treatment conditions displayed better outcomes than those in the control condition, as did individuals receiving moderate or substantial service versus no/minimal services. To address possible selection bias due to the quasiexperimental nature of the design, further analyses used baseline differences across conditions and participation levels as covariates. Results of multivariate analyses showed some anomalous findings regarding significant positive effects for the delayed, but not the immediate treatment condition versus the no-treatment control group. However, in similar analyses involving participation level as the independent variable, a moderate or substantial amount of service increased the odds of working by almost five times and also positively affected three other work-related variables. While limitations of this quasiexperimental design are noted, the results appear promising enough to support replications of WINS.