Reducing the Cost of Providing Supported Employment Services: A Preliminary Study

This study investigated the costs and outcomes generated by two groups of supported employees-31 supported employees receiving follow along services by traditional agency staff (i.e., job coaches) and 19 supported employees receiving follow along services by individuals not associated with adult service agencies. Results suggest that individual-provided supported employees generated far fewer costs on average ($382 per month of services; $7.49 per hour worked) than did agency-provided supported employees with similar demographics ($808 per month of services; $11.94 per hour worked). Further, more individual-provided supported employees had retained their positions in the community three months later (61.5%) than their agency-provided peers (33.3%). Finally, agency-provided supported employees were more likely to be placed in facility-based programs after three months (55.6%) than were individual-provided supported employees (7.7%).