Reaching Employment through Active Co-ordinated Health (REACH) and Here Toitū

Evaluations of the following two Oranga Mahi trials have recently been completed:

Realising Employment through Active Co-ordinated Health (REACH) was a trial in Waikato from May 2016 to June 2021. It offered a 20-week programme of intensive daily support.
Here Toitū is delivered in the Auckland, Canterbury and MidCentral regions. A dedicated support team works with clients for up to 12 months.

Methods

Monitoring data analysis and interviews over two time-points with:

Key stakeholders in MSD and Health
Provider and MSD staff delivering the services
Clients receiving services

Key evaluation findings

Both services were effective collaborations between health and employment services.
The tailored, stepped approaches used enabled clients to work at their own pace to address health, wellbeing, and other needs required to progress to employment or training.
REACH and Here Toitū achieved improved health and wellbeing, confidence, lifestyle changes and engagement with other services and communities. We do not know if these changes were sustained over time.
Positive health and wellbeing changes enabled clients to move towards work readiness, such as developing confidence about job interviews, and starting in education.
There is greater evidence of work-readiness and employment outcomes from the Here Toitū service than REACH, with 27% of clients recording work-readiness and 16% employment. Analysis shows a quarter of clients who had left Here Toitū at least 12 months earlier were not receiving a main benefit 6 to 12 months after their exit.
Providers noted that the 12-month service allowed work to continue through setbacks and challenges common with this cohort. However, just over half left Here Toitū early without achieving goals, for various reasons.

Limitations

It is important to note that the findings reflect the experience of those interviewed. More research is needed to explore how the services were experienced by those declined to enrol post-referral, who left early, or who left the service without achieving their goals.

We cannot yet say whether the services lead to sustained employment. The impact evaluation using data in the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) will tell us more about the long term effectiveness of Here Toitū, REACH and other Oranga Mahi trials. This is expected in late-2023.