Sustaining and Expanding Evidence-Based Supported Employment: The Role of State Leaders Participating in a Learning Community.
State leaders often promote implementation of evidence-based practices but have difficulty sustaining and expanding them over time. This paper examines the activities of leaders in 13 states that have successfully implemented, sustained, and expanded evidence-based supported employment, known as Individual Placement and Support (IPS), for 4 to 12 years. We interviewed state leaders from 13 states participating in a learning community regarding the composition of their leadership team, participation in the learning community, interagency collaboration, state policy alignment, financing, training, and monitoring of fidelity and outcome. To assess state-level performance in implementing, sustaining, and expanding IPS services, we obtained measures of sustainment, expansion, program fidelity, and employment in the subsequent year and compared them to a priori benchmarks. The majority of states (between 69 % and 77 %) met benchmarks for sustainment, expansion, fidelity, and employment. States varied widely in specific actions to advance IPS, but all had established leadership teams, participated in the national learning community, and built an infrastructure supporting IPS. Leaders in 13 states participating in a learning community have adopted and maintained multiple strategies to sustain and expand evidence-based supported employment at a high level of fidelity with good employment outcomes.
IPS Employment Center, Westat Inc., Rivermill Commercial Center, 85 Mechanic St., Suite C3-1, Lebanon, NH, 03766, USA. garybond@westat.com.
Gary R
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1587-9823
GR
Bond
IPS Employment Center, Westat Inc., Rivermill Commercial Center, 85 Mechanic St., Suite C3-1, Lebanon, NH, 03766, USA.
Annalee V
AV
Johnson-Kwochka
IPS Employment Center, Westat Inc., Rivermill Commercial Center, 85 Mechanic St., Suite C3-1, Lebanon, NH, 03766, USA.
Deborah R
DR
Becker
IPS Employment Center, Westat Inc., Rivermill Commercial Center, 85 Mechanic St., Suite C3-1, Lebanon, NH, 03766, USA.|The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Lebanon, NH, USA.
Robert E
RE
Drake
Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA.
Mary Ann
MA
Greene
D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D016832:Employment, Supported / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006077:Government Agencies / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D007857:Leadership; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D057766:Policy; D014481:United States
Implementation; Individual placement and support; State leaders; Supported employment; Sustainment