The Vocational Coaches to Enhance MST-EA program provided two one-hour sessions of individualized vocational coaching each week to young adults receiving MST-EA programming in areas of employment, education, health, housing, parenting, and financial literacy. The coaches provided vocational support with a focus on each of these specific support areas for three to seven sessions. Participants typically received the intervention over an average of seven to eight months. The participants also received in-person and phone MST-EA therapy several times each week in addition to the vocational coaching. MST-EA helps participants prevent recidivism, address mental illness, reduce substance use, and improve education and employment using cognitive-behavioral, behavioral, and motivational interviewing intervention therapies.
Participants were emerging adults, ages 17 to 20 years old, who had been involved in the justice system within the prior 18 months, had been diagnosed with a severe mental health condition, and resided in a stable community setting in a northeastern state.
The Vocational Coaches to Enhance MST-EA program provided emerging adults with weekly, individualized vocational coaching in addition to the MST-EA to improve their short-term employment outcomes.