Customized Employment to Support the Labor Inclusion of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Spain

Last registered on January 03, 2023

Pre-Trial

General Information

Title

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0010619

Initial registration date

December 14, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

January 03, 2023, 4:08 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

Spain

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Samuel Bentolila

Affiliation

CEMFI

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Yanina Domenella

PI Affiliation

CEMFI

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2022-06-01

End date

2023-12-31

Keywords

Health, Labor

Additional Keywords

People with Disability, Customized Employment, Labor Inclusion, Social Inclusion

JEL code(s)

J14, J64

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (PIDs) in Spain suffer from much lower labor force participation and much larger unemployment rates than people without these disabilities. The aim of this study is to obtain causal evidence on the advantage of using the customized employment methodology (CEM) in the Spanish context compared to the traditional methodology implemented by the Confederación Plena inclusión España (PI) so far, to foster social inclusion of PIDs. We will measure the impact of the CEM on labor market outcomes, social inclusion, and wellbeing. The randomized control trial will allocate 502 PIDs who are currently enrolled with PI into two groups: one receiving the CEM (treatment group) and the other receiving the traditional methodology (control group). By identifying what the PID has to offer the labor market and what potential employers need, we expect that the CEM will create new job opportunities and help overcome barriers that PIDs face when job searching, increasing their labor force participation and job retention, and improving their quality of life and social inclusion.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Bentolila, Samuel and Yanina Domenella. 2023. "Customized Employment to Support the Labor Inclusion of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Spain." AEA RCT Registry. January 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10619-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Partner

Name

Confederación Plena inclusión España

Type

ngo

URL

https://www.plenainclusion.org

Name

Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones (Spain)

Type

government

URL

https://www.inclusion.gob.es/web/inclusion/home

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

This randomized control trial will allocate 502 PIDs, most of whom are currently enrolled in one federation of Plena inclusion (PI), into two groups: one receiving the CEM (treatment group) and the other receiving the traditional method (control group). Participants will receive the interventions over a period of 11 months.

The CEM focuses on what the PID has to offer the labor market and what potential employers need to shape and negotiate job opportunities that are mutually beneficial. PIDs in the treatment group will take part of the four stages that the CEM entails, namely:

1. Discovery Phase: It consists of a person-centered exploration of an individual’s strengths, preferences, interests, and needs. It involves the PID, his/her family, and other people in his/her immediate circle. This process includes support circles, visits and interviews with the family, and visits to firms, to produce a vocational profile of the PID.

2. Planning Phase: The professional prepares a list of firms that could match the PID’s vocational profile. These firms are contacted through informative interviews with the aim of obtaining additional information to see where the PID’s talents would be more valuable. This is included in the vocational profile.

3. Negotiation Phase: Once the firm that is the best match for the PID’s talents is selected, an offer is made to the firm, considering the talents, job conditions, and value that the PID could bring to the firm.

4. Support Phase: This phase starts when the PID finds a job or an internship. It consists of creating a support plan to facilitate the inclusion and retention of the job.

Intervention Start Date

2022-09-01

Intervention End Date

2023-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Our primary outcomes will include variables related to PID employment, social inclusion, and well-being. In particular, we will consider the following: employment, hours of work, job retention, number of contracts, training, internships, voluntary service, wellbeing, and social inclusion.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

The description of these outcomes, hypothesis and data source can be found in the Pre-Analysis Plan.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Possible participants will be selected, mostly but not exclusively among the people who are currently receiving assistance from PI and satisfy the eligibility conditions. 502 people from this list will be randomly selected, stratifying by location. In addition, balance will be checked in terms of several characteristics. A waiting list of 100 people based on the same criteria as the previous list will be prepared.

People selected will be interviewed to explore if they satisfy additional conditions related to employment. If the target of 502 participants is not met, other persons from the waiting list will be assigned to the interview, respecting the stratification criteria. Then 251 people will be assigned to the treatment group, 251 people to the control group, and 48 as substitutes of potential dropouts in the first phase of the treatment. Participation is voluntary.

Experimental Design Details

Possible participants will be selected, mostly but not exclusively among the people who are currently receiving assistance from PI and satisfy the eligibility conditions. 502 people from this list will be randomly selected, stratifying by location. In addition, balance will be checked in terms of gender, age, education, and employment. A waiting list of 100 people based on the same criteria as the previous list will be prepared.

People selected will be interviewed to explore if they satisfy the following additional conditions: (1) are unemployed or doing precarious jobs, (2) do not hold a higher than secondary education degree and are not currently enrolled in it, (3) employment is desired by the person with disability and by his/her family, and (4) the person with disability and his/her family voluntarily consent to be part of the project and sign the informed consent.

If the target of 502 participants is not met, other persons from the waiting list will be assigned to the interview, respecting the stratification criteria. Then 251 people will be assigned to the treatment group, 251 people to the control group, and 48 as substitutes of potential dropouts in the first phase of the treatment. Participation is voluntary.

Randomization Method

Randomization done in an office by a computer.

Randomization Unit

The unit of randomization is an individual with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

No clusters.

Sample size: planned number of observations

502 individuals.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

251 individuals treated and 251 individual controls.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Power calculations have been made on two outcomes: weekly hours of paid work and a synthetic wellbeing index (ranging from 0 to 10). At a significance level of 0.05, with 90% power, a minimum effect of 0.26-0.32 standard deviations of the variables would be detected. With 502 participants, an effect would be detectable at 90% if the increase in hours is larger than 4 and the increase in wellbeing is larger than 1 point.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB