Absence of conflict of interest.
Highlights
- The study's objective was to examine the impact of Project SEARCH Plus Autism Spectrum Disorder Supports (PS+ASD) on employment and wages for military dependent and connected transition-aged youth with ASD.
- The study was a cluster randomized controlled trial that used surveys to compare the outcomes of youth who participated in the PS+ASD program to youth in a waitlist control group.
- The study suggested there was a positive relationship between PS+ASD and employment and wages.
- The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the authors did not account for variations in the probability of assignment over time or ensure that the groups being compared were similar before the intervention. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to PS+ASD; other factors are likely to have contributed.
Intervention Examined
Features of the Intervention
Individuals with ASD have lower employment rates compared to those without disabilities, a gap that may be exacerbated for military dependents due to disruptions in supports and services caused by military-directed relocations. This study seeks to understand how the Project SEARCH Plus Autism Spectrum Disorder Supports (PS+ASD) program impacts labor outcomes for these individuals.
Project SEARCH (PS) is an internship program designed to help students with disabilities transition into the workforce by developing vocational skills. Local businesses and education agencies collaborate to offer students 180 hours of classroom training and 720 hours of on-the-job training through three individualized internships. The program also provides additional support for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and addresses their unique communication and social challenges using evidence-based strategies to improve behavioral and communication skills in the workplace.
Features of the Study
The study was a cluster randomized controlled trial that examined the impact of PS+ASD on employment and wages for military dependent and connected transition-aged youth with ASD. Participants were recruited from three school divisions and a regional education program serving students from military families near Joint Base Eustis Langley, Fort Eustis in Virginia.
To be eligible, youth had to have a medical diagnosis or educational eligibility of ASD, be 18-21 years old, be entering their final year of public school and on track to obtain an individualized education program certificate of completion at exit, have independent living skills, desire competitive integrated employment at graduation, and pass a drug screening and felony check.
The authors randomly assigned eligible youth to either a waitlist control group or the treatment (PS+ASD) group in each of two cohorts. The 22 members of the treatment group received training through Project SEARCH and other applied behavior interventions to meet the needs of youth with ASD. The 26 participants in the control group attended high school in a business-as-usual setting. Ten of the participants in the control group were enrolled in PS+ASD after one year of high school.
The authors collected data using surveys administered at 12 and 18 months after the baseline. The surveys collected information on participants’ employment status, whether they were employed with support, hourly wages, hours worked per week, employment benefits, and changes in their military dependent or connected status. The authors used a statistical model to compare the outcomes of youth who participated in the PS+ASD program to youth in the waitlist control group.
Findings
Employment
- The study suggested there was a positive relationship between PD+ASD and employment, hourly wages, and hours worked per week.
Earnings and Wages
- The study suggested there was a positive relationship between PD+ASD and hourly wages.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
Although the study was a randomized controlled trial, the randomization ratio differed between Cohort 1 and Cohort 2, and the authors did not adjust their analyses to account for the varying probabilities of assignment to the treatment or control groups. Additionally, the authors did not establish baseline equivalence for Cohort 2 or account for pre-existing differences between the groups before program participation. These preexisting differences between the groups—and not the program—could explain the observed differences in outcomes.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to school closure in Virginia during the 2019-2020 school year, which resulted in only 6.5 months of exposure to the PS+ASD program for the 2019 treatment cohort. This variation in program dosage could have impacted the observed outcomes.
Additionally, ten of the 26 individuals in the control group were enrolled in PS+ASD before the end of their 18-month follow-up period. Given the nature of the PS+ASD intervention, it is likely these students were enrolled as full-time students and unavailable for competitive integrated employment at the time of their follow-up. This could partly explain the differences observed in outcomes between the two groups.
Causal Evidence Rating
Additional Sources
Research Guidelines
Review Guidelines: Causal Evidence Guidelines