Building Evidence on Employment Strategies for Low-Income Families (BEES): Individual Placement and Support (IPS) in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Setting

Last registered on January 25, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Building Evidence on Employment Strategies for Low-Income Families (BEES): Individual Placement and Support (IPS) in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Setting
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007081
Initial registration date
January 22, 2021

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 25, 2021, 10:12 AM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Charles Michalopoulos
Affiliation
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-02-17
End date
2025-01-17
Keywords
Health, Labor
Additional Keywords
Job placement, employment services,  behavioral health
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
MDRC, in partnership with Abt Associates and MEF Associates, is conducting an evaluation of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) employment services implemented in a Federally Qualified Health Care (FQHC) setting, among individuals receiving behavioral health services. The evaluation is part of a broader study called Building Evidence on Employment Strategies (BEES). BEES is funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. FQHCs are community-based health care providers of primary care services to low-income and underserved populations. FQHCs deliver comprehensive primary care and preventive care to persons of all ages, regardless of their ability to pay or health insurance status. Two sites have been selected for this study: Harbor Care, Inc., in Nashua, New Hampshire, and Impact Behavioral Health Partners & PCC Community Wellness Center in Chicago, Illinois. Broadly, IPS is an evidence-based model for delivering employment services originally developed for people with serious mental illness and implemented in community mental health settings. This study is an opportunity to build upon the strong evidence base about IPS services to explore its effectiveness for patients receiving behavioral health services when implemented in an FQHC setting. The evaluation is using a randomized controlled trial to understand how access to IPS affects outcomes related to employment and earnings. Individuals receiving behavioral health services at the FQHC, who are eligible for and interested in receiving employment services, are assigned at random to a treatment group, who is offered IPS services, or to a control group, who are referred to other services in the community.  The goal is to enroll at least 800 individuals in the study. Outcomes will be measured over an 18-month follow-up period. The main outcomes to be measured are number of quarters employed during the follow-up period, total earnings during the follow-up period, and employment in the last quarter of follow-up.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Michalopoulos, Charles. 2021. "Building Evidence on Employment Strategies for Low-Income Families (BEES): Individual Placement and Support (IPS) in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Setting." AEA RCT Registry. January 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7081-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
There is only one treatment group in this study. Individuals eligible for and interested in IPS employment services are assigned at random to a treatment group, which is offered IPS, or to a control group, which is referred to other services in the community. 
Intervention Start Date
2021-02-17
Intervention End Date
2023-03-17

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The confirmatory outcomes are number of quarters employed during the 18-month follow-up period, total earnings during the follow-up period, and ever employed in the last quarter of the follow-up period. Exploratory outcome variables include quarterly employment rates, quarterly earnings, and other outcomes related to employment, health, public benefit receipt, substance use disorder recovery, and use of health care services.
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 health will be based on data from the follow-up survey. Outcomes related to health care utilization and public benefit receipt will be constructed using administrative records.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study includes one treatment group and one control group. The treatment group is offered IPS employment services. The control group will not be offered IPS but will be referred to other services in the community. 
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done by a web-based MDRC system, and will be accessed electronically by Impact and Harbor Care program staff.   
Randomization Unit
Individual. 
Was the treatment clustered?
No

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
The goal is to enroll 400 individuals in the program group and 400 individuals 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 0.19 standard deviations at the 5% significance level using administrative records data. These comprise the outcomes measuring employment, earnings, health care utilization, and public benefit receipt.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
MDRC
IRB Approval Date
2020-12-08
IRB Approval Number
1679792-1
Analysis Plan