Introduction
Breaking Barriers was a San Diego-based program that provided employment services to individuals with low incomes and disabilities who were looking for work. The program used the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model. There is extensive evidence of IPS’s success for people with serious mental illness, the group for which the intervention was originally designed. Breaking Barriers presented an opportunity to test the model with a different group: people with a range of disabilities and health conditions.
MDRC and MEF Associates conducted a rigorous evaluation of Breaking Barriers. A 2019 report presented findings from the evaluation’s implementation study, cost analysis, and impact analysis based on a 15-month follow-up survey. A 2022 report detailed another set of impact findings based on administrative records from the National Directory of New Hires, which covered a two-year follow-up period.
Purpose
This brief is intended for practitioners who are considering — or already implementing — the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model. Specifically, the brief presents lessons learned from Breaking Barriers, an IPS program that was set in job centers and served a diverse group of jobseekers. To provide context for these lessons, this brief also summarizes implementation and impact findings from earlier evaluation reports.
Key Findings and Highlights
- For practitioners looking to deliver IPS services to a specific target population, it is important to develop strong partnerships with other organizations that can refer clients to the IPS program.
- Practitioners should make sure that the individuals referred to an IPS program are an appropriate fit for it.
- Practitioners seeking to operate in a context or serve a population different from what the IPS model originally intended should consider whether any components of the model are less necessary for the clients and adapt the program and allocate resources accordingly.
Methods
MDRC and MEF Associates conducted a rigorous evaluation of Breaking Barriers that included implementation, impact, and cost studies. The impact study used a random assignment research design and included two separate analyses — one covering a 15-month follow-up period, and another covering a two-year follow-up period. This brief summarizes findings from those analyses with a focus on lessons learned for practitioners looking to deliver IPS services.
Citation
Foley, Kimberly, and Lily Freedman. 2022. “Individual Placement and Support (IPS) in Practice: Lessons from Breaking Barriers.” OPRE Report 2022-210. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
- Individual Placement and Support (IPS):
- a framework for delivering employment services, defined by eight principles. The approach helps people quickly start their search for jobs, helps programs develop connections with local employers to place clients, and promotes collaboration between employment service staff members and mental health providers.
- IPS fidelity scale:
- a rubric for measuring the level to which a program implements IPS that considers the program’s services, characteristics, and alignment with the model’s core principles.
- Serious mental illness:
- having one or more diagnoses of mental disorders that significantly impair functioning. Such diagnoses could include schizophrenia spectrum disorder; severe, major depression; and severe bipolar disorder.