National cost efficiency of supported employees with intellectual disabilities: 2002 to 2007.

Hall (2010) tracked taxpayer costs and savings from supported jobs for adults with intellectual disability.

The team looked at all 50 states from 2002 to 2007. They asked: does the program pay for itself?

Supported employment broke even taxpayer-wise across the nation.

Some states saved money, others spent more, but the average held steady year to year.

Steege et al. (1989) saw the same break-even in Illinois two decades earlier. Their small state study foretold this national result.

Sannicandro et al. (2018) widened the lens. Post-secondary education also lifted earnings and cut benefit use, showing taxpayer gains reach beyond job placement alone.

Nord et al. (2015) seems to disagree. They found adults who kept public benefits worked fewer hours. The clash fades when you see the groups differ: Derek studied people still on wait-lists, while E studied workers already in supported jobs.

You can reassure funders that supported employment is a safe public investment. When you write grants or justify budgets, cite the steady national break-even. Track your own state data to see if you sit in a high-saving region, then copy those practices.