Supported Employment Models: UK and International

What Is Supported Employment?

Supported employment is a model that helps people with significant disabilities find and keep paid employment in mainstream workplaces, through individualised support. Unlike traditional vocational training (train-then-place), supported employment operates on a place-then-train principle: get the person into the job, then provide support on the job. In the UK it is often described as the "place, train and maintain" model.

The core belief: most disabled people — including those with severe learning disabilities, mental health conditions, or acquired brain injuries — can work in mainstream employment with the right support.

Individual Placement and Support (IPS)

IPS is the evidence-based form of supported employment for people with mental health conditions. Originally developed for people with serious mental illness, it is now also being used for other groups, including young adults and people with disabilities beyond mental illness.

Core Principles (8 Practice Principles)

1. Competitive, integrated employment is the goal — real jobs, real wages, not sheltered workshops
2. Rapid job search — the job search begins soon after a person joins the programme, not after lengthy pre-employment training
3. Integration with treatment services — mental health treatment and employment services work as one team
4. Client preferences — the jobseeker's preferences guide the type of work
5. Benefits planning — address fears about losing benefits with accurate, personalised advice
6. Employer relationships — IPS specialists build relationships with local employers
7. Time-unlimited support — job supports are individualised and continue as long as needed
8. Zero exclusion — people are not turned away because of symptoms, substance use, housing or similar factors

Evidence Base

IPS has a strong evidence base:

• Cochrane systematic review (2017): In long-term follow-up, people receiving supported employment were more likely to obtain competitive employment than those receiving prevocational training (risk ratio 2.31) or transitional employment (risk ratio 3.28).
• Meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials summarised by the IPS Employment Center found that IPS participants were 3 times more likely to work than control participants, and found jobs faster.

UK IPS Landscape

• The UK government has committed to continuing to expand IPS for people with severe mental illness or addiction, with NHS service development funding secured to support growth in IPS.
• Employment advisers are also offered as part of NHS Talking Therapies.

Project SEARCH

DFN Project SEARCH is a supported internship programme for young people with a learning disability, who are autistic, or both, delivered in partnership with host employers such as hospitals.

Model

• Interns spend a year based at a host employer's site (for example, at St George's Hospital in London interns are aged 18–24 and have an Education, Health and Care plan)
• Three workplace rotation placements over the year
• Classroom-based learning on employability skills
• Support from an on-site job coach and tutor throughout
• Goal: permanent paid employment

Outcomes

• DFN Project SEARCH reports that around 60% of interns secure permanent paid employment.
• The programme says it has helped more than 4,000 young people with a learning disability and/or who are autistic.

Employer Involvement

Employers provide:

• Physical space for a classroom
• Internship placements across 3 departments
• Workplace mentors
• Commitment to consider participants for employment

In return, employers access a pre-screened talent pipeline and build disability inclusion credentials.

UK Government Supported Employment Programmes

Access to Work (AtW)

(See separate InkludX article on Access to Work for full detail.)

Access to Work can help pay for support workers, such as a job coach, a BSL interpreter or a travel buddy, for people with a physical or mental health condition or disability who need help to get or stay in work.

Jobcentre Plus and Disability Confident

Your local Jobcentre can:

• Help disabled people find a job or gain new skills
• Tell jobseekers about disability-friendly employers in the area
• Refer people to a specialist work psychologist, or carry out an employment assessment

Employers can contact their local Jobcentre Plus to discuss recruiting disabled people.

International Models

Norway: NAV Work Programmes

NAV (Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration) administers:

• Arbeidstrening (Work Training): Training for a limited period at an ordinary workplace, for people with little work experience or reduced work capacity
• Varig tilrettelagt arbeid (VTA): Adapted work in a sheltered or an ordinary business for people who receive (or are expected to receive) disability benefit (uføretrygd)
• Inkluderingstilskudd (Inclusion Grant): Covers an employer's documented extra costs for adaptations, up to NOK 160,400

Germany: Inklusionsbetriebe

Businesses on the general labour market that must employ at least 30% severely disabled workers, operating commercially but able to receive public funding. In 2024 there were 1,037 inclusion enterprises, businesses and departments in Germany, employing 29,770 people, of whom 13,576 had a severe disability.

Denmark: Fleksjob

A flexible job scheme for people below pension age whose working capacity is substantially and permanently reduced. The employer pays wages only for the work actually performed; the municipality tops up the employee's pay with a flex wage subsidy (fleksløntilskud).

How Employers Can Engage

1. Contact your local Jobcentre Plus — ask about recruiting disabled jobseekers and available support
2. Explore Project SEARCH hosting — contact DFN Project SEARCH (dfnprojectsearch.org)
3. Engage with specialist supported employment providers — as recruitment partners for supported employment candidates
4. Mention Access to Work proactively — tell new employees that Access to Work can fund job coaching, not just those who ask

Sources: Suijkerbuijk et al., Cochrane Review (2017); IPS Employment Center; DFN Project SEARCH; GOV.UK (Access to Work, looking for work if you're disabled); DHSC response on community mental health services; NAV; BAG Inklusionsfirmen; borger.dk; BASE