Neuropsychological function and employment status in a welfare-to-work sample

Since 1996, individuals who participate in welfare programs are mandated to find employment. Welfare recipients may have difficulty transitioning to the workforce due to impairments in psychosocial functioning. Examples include mental health and substance use disorders, medical problems, academic and learning difficulties, and lack of resources such as childcare and transportation. An area unexplored as a potential barrier is cognitive functioning as influencing recipient's ability to transition into the workforce. This is important because many Welfare to Work (WtW) recipients have personal risk factors related to impaired cognitive ability. We evaluated the relationship between demographics, cognitive functioning, and substance abuse severity in a group of 180 WtW recipients in order to assess predictors of employment impairment. No relationship was found between employment functioning and alcohol use, drug use, or psychiatric impairment. However neuropsychological test results demonstrate that WtW study participants with lower scores on tests of general intelligence are more impaired in their employment functioning. General intelligence emerged as the best predictor of employment functioning. The results have implications for identifying individuals at risk for unsuccessful transition into the workforce and for the development of effective vocational rehabilitation strategies.