Vermont RETAIN Impact Evaluation

NCT05146362 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: RTN-VTOD-36366-21-75-4-50
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 798
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The Retaining Employment and Talent after Injury/Illness Network (RETAIN) demonstration is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to improve employment outcomes for individuals who experience injuries or illnesses that put them at risk of exiting the labor force and relying on disability programs and other public supports in the long term. RETAIN projects include a combination of medical provider services, stay-at-work/return-to-work (SAW/RTW) coordination services, and other SAW/RTW services. This evaluation will focus on the Vermont Department of Labor's implementation of "Vermont RETAIN" statewide. The evaluation will document how the project is implemented, describe enrollees, estimate the project's impacts on enrollees' outcomes, and assess whether the benefits outweigh the costs.

Conditions

Disability

Keywords

disability; unemployment; employment

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Share of enrollees employed in the fourth quarter after enrollment

  Share of enrollees employed in the fourth quarter after enrollment obtained from state unemployment insurance wage records. These files include individual-level wage records for six quarters surrounding enrollment in the study, including the quarter prior to enrollment, the quarter of enrollment, and four post-enrollment quarters.

  Measured in the fourth quarter after enrollment

• Enrollee earnings in the fourth quarter after enrollment

  Sum of enrollee earnings in the fourth quarter after enrollment obtained from state unemployment insurance wage records. These files include individual-level wage records for six quarters surrounding enrollment in the study, including the quarter prior to enrollment, the quarter of enrollment, and four post-enrollment quarters.

  Measured in the fourth quarter after enrollment

• Share of enrollees that applied for SSDI or SSI during the 12 months after enrollment

  Share of enrollees that applied for SSDI or SSI during any of the 12 months after enrollment obtained from SSA program data. These files include detailed information about Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applications SSDI and SSI awards, SSDI and SSI benefit amounts and enrollee characteristics (for enrollees who have ever applied for SSA program benefits)

  Measured in the 12 months after enrollment

Study Arms (2)

RETAIN Programming

EXPERIMENTAL

The experimental group receives the full set of RETAIN intervention activities.

Other: Vermont RETAIN

Control

NO INTERVENTION

This arm receives information about American Job Center services and assistance with opening a JobLink account if an individual doesn't have one. Medical providers at all practices will receive training on how to identify early and then manage the risk of work disability to help prevent long-term unemployment

Interventions

Vermont RETAIN OTHER

RETAIN projects include a combination of medical provider services, stay-at-work/return-to-work (SAW/RTW) coordination services, and other SAW/RTW services. The evaluation compares the treatment group that is eligible to receive the full set of RETAIN intervention activities and a control group that is not.

RETAIN Programming

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• years or older
• Live or work in Vermont (or if out of work, lives in a border state and plan to work in Vermont)
• Currently employed or actively looking for a job
• Have an injury or illness that is limiting or could limit ability to stay at or return to work
• The injury or illness occurred, flared, or worsened within the past 6 months

You may not qualify if:

• Has received care of coordination services from RETAIN before
• Has an active SUD that is currently untreated
• Has been out of work for more than 12 weeks due to injury, illness, or flare
• Currently applying for or receiving disability benefits from Social Security Administration

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.: lead
• Social Security Administration: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Lebanon, New Hampshire, 03756, United States

Location

Study Officials

• Jill Berk, PhD

  Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 23, 2021
• First Posted: December 6, 2021
• Study Start: February 1, 2022
• Primary Completion: August 18, 2025
• Study Completion: February 28, 2026
• Last Updated: March 6, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)