Transitional Employment: an evaluative description of Fountain House practice

The present study is a record-based evaluative description of Transitional Employment (TE) in Fountain House, New York. The study sample (n=295) consisted of members entering Fountain House between 1988 and 1993 who participated in TE. Of the 720 TEPs worked during this period, 420 (58%) were held by a single member for over 3 months and 253 (35%) were held by a single member for over 6 months. Seventy-four percent of the sample had 3-month tenure on at least one TEP, and 54% of the sample had 6-month tenure on at least one TEP during the study period. Length of tenure in TE was significantly related to time spent in Fountain House programs, primarily the Work-Ordered Day, prior to employment: an analysis of member attendance records at Fountain House programs revealed that those members who spent more time in Fountain House before beginning a TEP worked more days on their first TEP. This finding conflicts with research suggesting that unpaid prevocational work is a poor predictor of paid work performance.