Service Utilization Before and After Self-Direction: A Quasi-experimental Difference-in-Differences Analysis of Utah's Mental Health Access to Recovery Program.

Mental health self-direction involves participant control of an individualized budget to support recovery and wellness goals. This quasi-experimental study examined whether self-direction is associated with changes in service utilization. The study involved 2 years of administrative data for 94 self-directing participants and a matched comparison group of 529 non-participants with similar observed characteristics. Difference-in-differences were examined using four regression models predicting changes in four service utilization categories. Self-directing participants had greater increases in outpatient and rehabilitation services than the non-self-directing group, controlling for relevant covariates. There were no between-group differences in residential and emergency service utilization.

An observational investigation of unemployment, underemployment, and competitive integrated employment of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in 2021-2022.

BACKGROUND: Employment is an important component of community living, and a precursor to economic stability and independence. Despite this, research consistently demonstrates people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have low rates of community-based employment. However, little research has been conducted to quantify competitive integrated employment, and which individuals have better employment outcomes as it relates to competitive integrated employment. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the ways in which key service-related and demographic characteristics of individuals with IDD are associated with participation in competitive integrated employment. METHODS: We used the 2021-2022 National Core Indicators Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities In-Person Survey dataset. We conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses, using chi-square and generalized linear models, to examine the cross-sectional relationship between employment and demographic and service-related characteristics for 4629 individuals with IDD. RESULTS: Overall, 42% of the sample was unemployed but wanted a job, while 39% were underemployed and just 21% have competitive integrated employment. Several demographic and service-related characteristics were significantly associated with employment. After controlling for demographic and service-related correlates of employment, having an employment-related goal in one's service plan was associated with 4.5 (95% CI: 3.6-5.5) times higher odds of competitive integrated employment relative to unemployment. CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the value of person-centered planning for improved employment outcomes. Further research is needed to fully understand potential inequities in employment and system-level factors that are associated with competitive, integrated employment, as well as solutions to improve access to customized individual employment supports for all people with IDD.

Housing and Employment Outcomes for Mental Health Self-Direction Participants.

OBJECTIVE: In self-direction, participants control individual budgets, allocating service dollars according to needs and preferences within program parameters to meet self-defined recovery goals. Mental health self-direction is associated with enhanced wellness and recovery outcomes at lower or similar cost than traditional service arrangements. This study compared outcomes of housing independence and employment between individuals who participated in self-direction and those who did not. METHODS: This quasi-experimental study involved administrative data from 271 self-directing participants. Using coarsened exact matching with observed demographic, diagnostic, and other characteristics, the authors constructed a comparison group of non-self-directing individuals (N=1,099). The likelihood of achieving positive outcomes between first and last assessments during the approximately four-year study period was compared for self-directing and non-self-directing individuals. RESULTS: Self-directing participants were more likely than nonparticipants to increase days worked for pay or maintain days worked at 20 or more days in the past 30 days (number needed to treat [NNT]=18; small effect size) and maintain or attain independent housing (NNT=16; small effect size), when analyses controlled, to the extent possible, for observed individual characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Based on data from the nation's largest and longest-standing program of its kind, results suggest that mental health self-direction is associated with modest improvements or maintenance of positive outcomes in employment and housing independence. This research adds to the literature examining self-direction in the context of mental health and begins to fill the need for a greater understanding of self-direction's relationship to outcomes of interest to service users and families, providers, and system administrators.

Impact of the 2nd story peer respite program on use of inpatient and emergency services.

OBJECTIVE: By providing a safe and supportive space for individuals experiencing or at risk of experiencing a mental health crisis, a peer respite may reduce the need for traditional crisis interventions. This study examined the relationship between peer respite and use of inpatient and emergency services among adults receiving publicly funded behavioral health services. METHODS: This analysis used propensity score matching to create matched pairs of 139 users of peer respite and 139 nonusers of respite with similar histories of behavioral health service use and clinical and demographic characteristics. A two-stage regression model first predicted the likelihood of inpatient or emergency service use after peer respite start date and then predicted hours of inpatient and emergency service use among 89 individuals who used any inpatient or emergency services. RESULTS: After the authors controlled for relevant covariates, the odds of using any inpatient or emergency services after the program start date were approximately 70% lower among respite users than nonrespite users, although the odds increased with each additional respite day. Among individuals who used any inpatient or emergency services, a longer stay in respite was associated with fewer hours of inpatient and emergency service use. However, the association was one of diminishing returns, with negligible decreases predicted beyond 14 respite days. CONCLUSIONS: By reducing the need for inpatient and emergency services for some individuals, peer respites may increase meaningful choices for recovery and decrease the behavioral health system's reliance on costly, coercive, and less person-centered modes of service delivery.