Breaking Barriers San Diego: Improving Employment Among Individuals with Disabilities

Background Adults with disabilities often struggle to find stable employment in the general labor market. One promising approach for this group is the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model, which was designed for people with serious mental illness and has had large effects on employment for that group. IPS has been studied among other groups of job seekers, but research limitations have made it difficult to determine for which specific groups it is effective. Objective To present findings from an impact evaluation of the Breaking Barriers program, which delivered IPS services to people with a range of self-identified disabilities. Methods 1,061 people were randomly assigned and enrolled in the study (528 to a program group and 533 to a control group). Results Breaking Barriers substantially increased earnings over a two-year follow-up period and increased employment in the first of those two years. Conclusions Evidence of the effectiveness on employment outcomes is consistent with other literature on IPS. Given that the effects of the Breaking Barriers program had diminished substantially by the end of the second year, future research could follow individuals over a longer follow-up period to determine whether effects can be sustained over an extended time horizon.