Clinical trial NCT06586827: Impact of Competency-Based Training and Technical Assistance Employment Outcomes of Individuals With ID/DD
Official title: The Impact of Competency-Based Training and Technical Assistance on the Competitive Integrated Employment Outcomes of Individuals With ID/DD
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: PHASE1
Conditions: Intellectual Disability
Developmental Disability
Keywords: Employment Specialist
Job Coaches
Lead sponsor: Virginia Commonwealth University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research
First posted: 2024-09-19
Enrollment: 100
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: The proposed study will be a randomized control trial, participants will be recruited for the study and once consented they will be randomly assigned to the Control group which entails accessing the current VCU-RRTC online course or the intervention group which will receive the VCU-RRTC course plus TA. TA activities and outlines are attached. Participants who are assigned to the control group will have the opportunity to opt in to the TA sessions after the completion of the third data collection time period. The decision to use an RCT is a natural evolution of the initial two phases of the study and will help provide a comparison of the impact and benefit of additional TA. The addition of the additional two measures that will ask participants to self-report on their employment skills and employment outcomes will also provide important information for future studies.
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Currently, there are no national pre-requisites for training to become or to be hired as an ES (Employment Specialist). Staff providing employment services have a broad range of educational and training backgrounds. Some individuals have a masters and have completed an ACRE approved course to earn a ACRE (Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators) Basic Employment Certificate in Employment Services while others may have a high school diploma and have not received any additional training. The first phases of the study were important in identifying if the currently identified ACRE competencies are relevant and if the ACRE approved online training course does impact knowledge.

Detailed description: The final phase of the study aims to identify if the addition of technical assistance to the current course not only impacts knowledge of participants but also their self-reported engagement in skills that are outputs of their knowledge acquisition. Additionally, the third phase will link participation in the course and TA (technical assistance) to employment outcomes of individuals with ID/DD (individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disability). These additions address large gaps in the extant literature and research on employment specialists, training, and its impact on employment outcomes.

While, evidence-based practices in SE (Supported Employment) exist, research indicates that these practices are not often put into practice. Furthermore, of the few studies that have explored ES(Employment Specialist) training and its effectiveness, very few have identified if training impacts the employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities. Employment specialists and their skill directly impact the successful employment of individuals with ID/DD. Despite the introduction of SE into the field over four decades ago as well as legislative support, employment outcomes of individuals with remain dismally low. It is necessary to begin to gather evidence of the impact of training as well as feasibility and dosage in order to identify how to prepare employment service providers to better support individuals with disabilities to access employment.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Use the VCU RRTC listserv
* Residing or working in the United States
* 18 and older
* have not participated in ACRe training
* Currently providing or will be providing employment services to individuals with ID/DD

Exclusion Criteria:

* Unable to consent
* Under 18
* Pregnant women
* Prisoners

Primary outcomes:
measure: Impact of VCU ACRE on skills and knowledge
timeFrame: after study completed-9 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Impact of VCU ACRE course plus technical assistance
timeFrame: after study completed-9 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Richmond
country: United States
facility: Virginia Commonwealth University
state: Virginia
Study officials:
affiliation: Virginia Commonwealth University
name: Whitney Ham
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: