Addressing Employment Barriers Among Persons with Homeless Experiences: Implementation Lessons For Advancing Equity...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Vocational Rehabilitation
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Addressing health and social disparities through innovative employment programs.
• VA Greater Los Angeles piloted a novel vocational rehabilitation program for persons who have experienced homelessness (PEHs).
• Program focused on removing employment barriers via subsidized e-bikes, priority delivery status, and financial literacy coaching.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize program experiences of PEHs and staff.
• To identify strengths and challenges of the vocational rehabilitation model.
• To inform program scale-up strategies.

Main Methods:

• Conducted semi-structured interviews with 6 PEH participants and 5 vocational rehabilitation staff.
• Explored participant motivations and program strengths/challenges.
• Utilized rapid qualitative methods for data analysis.

Main Results:

• PEHs reported high motivation driven by e-bike access and flexible scheduling.
• Positive impacts included financial relief, reduced transportation barriers, and improved mental health.
• Suggested improvements involved enhanced technical support, better partner communication, and individualized employment.

Conclusions:

• The novel vocational rehabilitation model shows value for PEHs.
• Recommendations for scale-up include a centralized technical support platform.
• Emphasized need for regular communication and data sharing among partners.