The cost-trends of supported employment versus sheltered employment

摘要: Abstract. This study investigated the cost-trends of supported and sheltered employees with mental retardation as they completedone “employment cycle” (i.e., from point entered their programs to when changed jobs, left theirprogram, or otherwise stopped receiving services). Data indicate that cumulative costs generated by employeesare much lower than ($6,618 versus $19,388). Further cost-trend ofsupported was downward while slightly upward, indicating costsof employment decline over time those workshops increase.Keywords: Supported employment, cost-trends, 1. IntroductionThroughout vocational rehabilitation literature,many authors have claimed employ-ment is a better investment for taxpayers shel-tered (cf. [3,4,11,12,16–20,22]). These as-sertions are corroborated wealth data overtwenty cost-effectiveness cost-efficiency studiescompleted since early 1980s [5,7,13]. In gener-al, these studies found supportedemployment generates fewer do shelteredworkshops.However, longitudinal projections arrived at bymany often based upon premisethat decreases overtimewhilethecostsofshelteredworkshopsremaincon-stant [9,20,21]. Intuitively, this premise makes sense.After all, job coach begins fade worksite,the cost services coachprovidewill alsodecrease. Thus, it very possible that, if supportedemployee becomes completely independent jobcoach intervention supervision, programmat-ic employee will beclose zero.Sheltered employees, on other hand, tend besupervisedconstantly[2,23]. Further,foreverybillableunit being supervised,supervisors able charge funding sources theirservices [6,8]. Therefore, can-not remain in workshop without generating leastsome costs. fact, shelteredemployees should relatively constant thefirst day program last, number ofhourstheyworkintheworkshopalso remainsconstant.Although seems logically sound, hasnot been verified actual data. morethan twenty examined workshops, nonehave demonstrated indi-vidual decrease throughout theirtenure employ-ees constant. If not exist,the projected analyses presented otherauthors [6,20])are accurate. Moreover,if theseprojections accurate, may be isn’t best long-termfor after all.The purpose present explore thecost-trendsofagroupofsupportedemployeesandshel-teredemployeesastheycompleteone“employmentcy-cle” in-take leaving program, chang-ing jobs within community,