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Subgroups
Study participants were recruited through Family Stabilization Services (FSS), a state-funded program. To qualify for FSS, an individual must meet one of the following criteria: (1) have a mental illness, developmental disability, or learning disability; (2) have an IQ below 80; (3) have an illness or injury expected to limit one's ability to work for more than 30 days; (4) live in a household with an adult that is ill or incapacitated or has a serious mental illness; or (5) live in a household with a child that is ill or incapacitated or has a serious emotional disturbance. To be eligible for the study, families must be headed by an English-speaking adult, ages 22 to 59, without a pending SSI application, who was not exempt from TANF work requirements because of having a child younger than 1, and who had at least 10 months of TANF eligibility remaining. The study randomly assigned 389 individuals to either the FAST group or a comparison group on a rolling basis from April 2011 through December 2011. Two hundred and forty-one cases were assigned to the FAST group, and 148 cases were assigned to the comparison group. About one-third (37 percent) of individuals were deemed ineligible for FAST after random assignment but were included in the intervention and comparison groups as assigned.
The pilot project randomly assigned individuals to conditions from April 2011 through December 2011. Evaluators studied the FAST intervention over a period of 12 months.
This research was funded by ACF, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation and the Social Security Administration.
To be eligible for the study, individuals had to have a disability or other incapacitation limiting their ability to work, or they had to be in a household with an individual who had such an illness, incapacitation, or emotional disturbance. A majority (83 percent) of participants were female. Forty-three percent of participants were Black, and 43 percent were White. The average age was 33 years old. Almost all sample members (97 percent) were parents, with 11 percent coming from two-parent families. All sample members were welfare recipients and, on average, individuals had received TANF for 26 months before the study. Eleven percent of sample members were employed at the time of random assignment.
The county TANF office oversaw implementation. Four private organizations provided services: (1) Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota provided individual placement and support (IPS) services, vocational rehabilitation, and mental health services; (2) HIRED (a nonprofit) provided case management and employment services; (3) Open Cities Health Center (a health clinic) provided physical health services; and (4) People Incorporated (a nonprofit) provided mental health services.
FAST is a pilot that did not exist before the start of the study.
The FAST initiative incorporated the IPS model and motivational interviewing. The IPS model stressed the integration and co-location of vocational and health services and provided participants with individualized job searches based on their preferences, a vocational assessment, job search assistance, and job development. Motivational interviewing aimed to ensure that participants were committed fully to the IPS process. FAST case managers also had reduced caseloads to provide FAST participants with more individualized attention and to meet with them in their communities. Case managers could sanction individuals if they refused to participate in FAST.
Individuals in the comparison group received case management and other services as usual through the FSS program. Case managers had larger caseloads, and services were not integrated or co-located.
Case managers could sanction individuals if they refused to participate in FAST.
The program duration is not specified, but individuals were required to be able to receive services for at least 10 months.
Minnesota TANF
The study took place in the Ramsey County, MN, with services integrated at a single location in St. Paul, MN.
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