The Building Evidence on Employment Strategies (BEES) Project, funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is conducting an evaluation of an evidence-based employment services model to understand its effectiveness in a new setting with a new population. The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model, originally designed as a framework intended to provide employment services to individuals with serious mental health illness, has gained interest as a strategy to serve other populations.

IPS programs at three substance use disorder (SUD) treatment sites in Oklahoma, Ohio, and Illinois, respectively, are providing employment services to individuals with substance use disorders. BEES is evaluating these IPS programs to see whether and how individuals with SUD receiving IPS services alongside SUD treatment and recovery services benefit from the model. 

This brief provides basic background information about the three SUD treatment sites implementing IPS services, the IPS SUD study, and the analysis to be conducted as part of the BEES Project. Findings from this analysis are expected to be released in 2026.