Building Evidence on Employment Strategies for Low-Income Families (BEES): ARC (KY)

Last registered on February 24, 2022

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Building Evidence on Employment Strategies for Low-Income Families (BEES): ARC (KY)

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0006163

Initial registration date

July 16, 2020

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

July 17, 2020, 9:44 AM EDT

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

Last updated

February 24, 2022, 11:01 AM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Charles Michalopoulos

Affiliation

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Karin Martinson

PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status

Withdrawn

Start date

2020-03-11

End date

2020-09-01

Keywords

Health, Labor

Additional Keywords

Job placement, employment services, substance use treatment

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

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

Abstract

MDRC, in partnership with MEF Associates and Abt Associates, is conducting an evaluation of Addiction Recovery Care (ARC), as part of broader study called Building Evidence on Employment Strategies (BEES). BEES is funded by Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ARC is an organization headquartered in Louisa, Kentucky that serves adults with a broad range of substance abuse disorders. The program model combines substance use disorder recovery services with workforce development. The evaluation is using a randomized controlled trial to understand how access to ARC services affects outcomes related to employment, earnings, recovery, and housing. Individuals eligible for and interested in receiving ARC services are assigned at random to a treatment group, who is offered employment services, treatment for substance use disorders, substance-free housing, and case management services, or to a control group, who are referred to outpatient treatment either at ARC or elsewhere and have access to other employment and education services in the community. The goal is to enroll 800 individuals in the study. Outcomes will be measured over an 18-month follow-up period. The main outcomes to be measured are total earnings during the follow-up period, number of quarters employed during the follow-up period, a composite score for alcohol and drug use, and stability of housing during the follow-up period.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Martinson, Karin and Charles Michalopoulos. 2022. "Building Evidence on Employment Strategies for Low-Income Families (BEES): ARC (KY)." AEA RCT Registry. February 24. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6163-3.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

There is only one treatment group in this study. Individuals eligible for and interested in receiving ARC services are assigned at random to a treatment group, who is offered employment services, treatment for substance use disorders, substance-free housing, and case management services, or to a control group, who are referred to outpatient treatment either at ARC or elsewhere and have access to other employment and education services in the community.

Intervention Start Date

2020-03-11

Intervention End Date

2020-09-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The confirmatory outcomes are total earnings during the follow-up period, number of quarters employed during the follow-up period, relapse (recurrence of substance use), a composite score for alcohol and drug use (the Addiction Severity Index), and stability of housing during the follow-up period.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Employment outcomes will be constructed using administrative records from the National Directory of New Hires and data collected through a follow-up survey administered to study participants. Outcomes related to substance use recovery and housing will be based on data from the follow-up survey. data from administrative records

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Exploratory outcome variables include quarterly employment rates, quarterly earnings, employment at the end of the follow-up period, and outcomes related to criminal justice involvement, public benefit receipt, and use of health care services.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The study includes one treatment group and one control group. The treatment group is offered employment services, sober housing, substance use treatment, and case management services through ARC. The control group is not offered housing or employment services through ARC and is referred to outpatient treatment for substance use disorders from ARC or another provider.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization is done by a web-based MDRC system, and is accessed electronically by ARC program staff.

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

800 individuals.

Sample size: planned number of observations

800 individuals.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Individuals will have a 60 percent chance of being randomly assigned to the treatment group and a 40 percent chance of being randomly assigned to the control group; this amounts to approximately 480 sample members in the treatment group and 320 sample members in the control group.

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

Expressed as an effect size, the study would be positioned to detect an impact of 0.17 standard deviations using administrative records data and 0.19 standard deviations using data from the 18-month survey. For employment outcomes, the study would be positioned to detect an increase of 0.2 quarters on number of quarters employed and an impact on annual earnings of just over $600. From the 18-month survey data, the study would be positioned to detect an increase in full-time employment of 5.4 percentage points, and an increase in abstention from substance use of 8.1 percentage points.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB