Project Dollars and Sense/IOD Final Report

2007

Dollars and Sense successfully completed a very challenging intervention of choice and control over vocational services with an experimental research design. The Individual Career Account (ICA), designed with the assistance of a team of community members, including people with disabilities, was the project?s primary intervention. Using a random assignment design, 181 people were served over nearly three years. Individuals in the comparison group received benefits counseling services, and individuals in the test group received benefits planning, person centered planning, individualized budgeting, and resource procurement services designed to give the individuals full choice and control over their vocational plans. Core data updates were collected quarterly from all ICA participants; 40 individuals participated in semi-structured interviews; and a focus group of fiscal intermediary service users was conducted. Individuals in the test and control groups shared rich and detailed stories about their struggles to overcome illness and stigma in order to go to work.

Reports and monographs

Consumers/Families, Professionals

N/A