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Federal-funded BEAS evaluation examines employment strategies for people with behavioral health and substance use challenges
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Summary
The Building Evidence on Employment Strategies (BEAS) project, led by MDRC and funded by OPRE/Administration for Children and Families and the Social Security Administration, is evaluating 13 studies across 19 programs to test what helps people with behavioral health and substance use challenges find and keep work.
The Building Evidence on Employment Strategies (BEAS) project is a multi-site evaluation testing whether intensive employment interventions improve job entry and earnings for people with substance use disorders or behavioral health diagnoses, officials said.
Megan Reed, former BEAS federal project officer in the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation at the Administration for Children and Families, said BEAS is intended “to help inform the Administration for Children and Families about promising interventions for employment strategies for people with low incomes who may experience a range of barriers to employment.” The project is funded by OPRE/ACF and the U.S. Social Security Administration and is being conducted by MDRC with research partners AbtGlobal and MEF Associates.
MDRC and participating program staff said BEAS includes 13 studies operating in 19 programs across 13 states. The studies use a mix of research designs to assess whether programs increased employment rates, how programs operated in practice, and participants’ experiences.
Program staff who work directly with participants described the everyday barriers their clients face. Christopher Noper, director of participant services at Impact Behavioral Health Partners in Illinois, cited caregiving responsibilities, education needs and transportation challenges as recurring obstacles that employment specialists address continually. “They got kids or they got elderly parents that need care,” Noper said.
Thomas Naylor, an employment specialist at the Zep Center in Ohio, said transportation is the biggest barrier to employment in Toledo and that criminal records are a second major hurdle; his team uses geographic mapping to identify jobs within walking distance. “To employment in Toledo is transportation,” Naylor said.
Staff described employer outreach and relationship-building as central strategies. Christina Gagnon, a supervisor at Core Health Washington, said staff learn employers’ hiring practices so they can prepare candidates and make stronger job matches: “We just love learning about what they do, how they hire, what they’re looking for, what makes a person stand out to them.” Cara Bragg, an employment specialist at Core Health Washington, stressed persistence in meeting hiring managers: consistency builds rapport and eventually opens opportunities.
Dustin Bailey, associate director at Grand Addiction Recovery Center in Oklahoma, said skills developed in recovery — integrity, honesty and responsibility — often translate to the workplace, and employers have shown increasing willingness to hire placed clients.
Participants and researchers also described a June 2024 convening in New York City — a “summer swarm” hosted by MDRC with MEF Associates and AbtGlobal — as a chance for peer learning. Staff said the event surfaced both shared challenges across programs and state-specific differences in implementation.
Project leads said BEAS has published materials and will continue sharing findings that may inform policy and practice; they directed listeners to acf.gov/opre and mdrc.org/bees for more information. The project’s outputs aim to guide decisions about expanding services and funding interventions that show promise for helping people with low incomes overcome employment barriers.
