Blending Traditional Vocational Services and Individualized Placement and Support for Formerly Incarcerated Veterans

What is it about?

Individualized Placement and Support - Supported Employment (IPS-SE) is a powerful method of quickly returning individuals with disabilities to their preferred type of employment. IPS-SE involves a Supported Employment Specialist working in collaboration with employers and those seeking employment to create stable employment opportunities using a set of core principles. Though IPS-SE has demonstrated success with a number of populations including those with serious mental illness, PTSD, and spinal cord injuries, it has been given less attention when working with justice-involved individuals with mental illness and/or substance use disorders, in this case US military veterans. This study compares the use of a group based vocational program, the About Face Vocational Program (AFVP) to a blended program of AFVP and IPS-SE (AFVP+IPS-SE). The blended program was found to be superior to the groups alone in percent employed, full-time employment, and time worked.

Featured Image