Employment for Specific Populations: SSA Programs /

Demonstrations And Emerging Findings

December 6, 2012

Marie Strahan and Joyanne Cobb

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Goals and Objectives

• Provide an overview of the SSA’s employment support programs.

• Provide an overview of the Youth Transition Demonstration project.

• Provide a brief overview of the results so far for the YTD project.

• Discuss lessons learned from the research.

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Supplemental Security Income

Beneficiaries Ages 13 – 39

2,132,323

Social Security Disability Insurance

BeneficiariesAges 18 – 391,327,409

SSA ANNUAL STATISTICAL SUPPLEMENT 2010Research shows that about four in 10 beneficiaries express an interest in becoming employed. Much fewer pursue employment.Our employment support programs are completely voluntary. Congress and SSA - recognize how difficult it is for disability beneficiaries to work (health supports, finding employment, keeping employment, earnings high enough to become financially independent and self-sufficient, etc.)

SSI/SSDI TOTALS BENEFICIARIES, 2011 = 12.3 M. (now over 14 M) VERY LARGE YOUTH POPULATION

SSA Employment Support Programs and SSI/SSDI Work Incentives

• Vocational Rehabilitation Reimbursement• Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program• Partnership Plus – Continuum VR to ENs• SSI/SSDI Work Incentives – for example:

Benefit Offset - $1 for $2Student Earned Income Exclusion - $3000Trial Work Period – 9 Months1619(b) – Keep your Medicaid

Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program

Youth SSI/SSDI Ticket Participants June 2012 -- 18 – 24 = 42,693 25 – 30 = 39,965 SSDI = 16,033SSI = 46,297

Ticket Paid totals = $88 million for 2012Job Placement for ALL ages = 18,486

VR Reimbursement Participants: 251,245VR Reimbursement Outcomes for 2011

7,327 Claims Submitted4,379 Claims Allowed 2011 Reimbursement Total: about $73 million

*We need much better age/education data and analysis for successful youth outcomes from VR, EN, WF, Self-Directed, Education, etc.

Federal Partners Working to Build More Effective Interventions

• PROMISE - SSI Youth (SSA, ED, HHS, DOL) • President’s Community College Initiative• AmeriCorp Recruiting and Waivers• Pursuing Data Sharing agreements across

Federal programs - identification and tracking • Federal Partners in Transition – National

Coordination/Collaboration Plan

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/work/

Marie.P.Strahan@ssa.gov

YTD-What is it?

• The Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) is a random assignment research study to promote and rigorously evaluate promising strategies to help youth with disabilities become as economically self-sufficient as possible as they transition from school to work.

• YTD is part of a broader initiative to encourage disability beneficiaries to work.

• Partners: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR), MDRC, TransCen, Inc.

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YTD-What is it?

• Population– Youths ages 14 to 25– Receiving or at risk of receiving:

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

• Six Sites

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– Colorado– Erie County, NY– Bronx County, NY

– Miami, FL– Montgomery County,

MD– West Virginia

YTD Logic Model

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YTD Waivers• Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE):

– For YTD participants the age limit is waived.

• Individual Development Accounts (IDAs): – For YTD participants, the qualification criteria for IDAs includes a wider range of

savings objectives than usual and includes IDAs that do not receive federal matching funds.

• Earned Income Exclusion: – SSA disregards $65 plus three-fourths of additional earnings by YTD participants.

• Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS): – For YTD participants there are more allowable goals for a PASS, including

postsecondary education and career explorations.

• Section 301: – The effect of a negative continuing disability review or age-18 redetermination is

delayed until the end of waiver eligibility.

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Data Sources

• Field Visits• ETO (management information system)• 12 Month follow-up survey• Phone interviews with program participants• Administrative records • Project-related documents

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Bronx County, New York

• Lead Organization: John F. Kennedy, Jr. Institute for Worker Education of the City University of New York (CUNY)

• Population: SSI, SSDI, and CDB beneficiaries 15-19 years old

• Length of Services: Up to 20 months

• Program Model: School-year oriented; Saturday workshops on empowerment, benefits planning, person-centered planning, recreation; guaranteed 7-week summer employment; follow-up as needed

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Colorado

• Lead Organization : Colorado WIN Partners/University of Colorado Denver (Colorado Youth WINS)

• Population: SSI, SSDI, and CDB beneficiaries 14-25 years old

• Length of Services: At least 18 months

• Program Model: Case-management oriented; located in One-Stops with Disability Program Navigator that assisted with referrals to VR and other providers

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Erie County, New York

• Lead Organization : Erie 1 Board of Cooperative Educational Services (Erie Transition WORKS)

• Population: SSI, SSDI, and CDB beneficiaries 16-25 years old

• Length of Services: At least 18 months

• Program Model: Self-determination program; job experiences; system linkages and coordination with VR; benefits counseling

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Miami-Dade County, Florida

• Lead Organization : Abilities, Inc. of Florida

• Population: SSI, DI, and CDB beneficiaries 16-22 years old

• Length of Services: 9 to 18 months

• Program Model: Strong employment focus and strong benefits counseling and financial literacy components

Montgomery County, Maryland• Lead Organization : St. Luke’s House, Inc.

• Population: High school juniors and seniors with an SED diagnosis by the public school system or a significant mental illness determined by the public mental health system

• Length of Services: 9 to 18 months

• Program Model: Focused on competitive paid employment; highly individualized services; Partnered with VR and had a VR counselor that dealt with all the CTP cases

West Virginia• Lead Organization : Human Resources Development

Foundation, Inc.; Partnered with Centers for Excellence in Disabilities (CED) WVU

• Population: SSI, DI, and CDB beneficiaries 15-25 years old

• Length of Services: 18 months

• Program Model: Strong benefits counseling and social events; Made a special effort to invite VR to the table for all cases

Interim Findings for Phase 1 Sites

• One of the three phase 1 sites increased paid employment experiences among youth

• Phase 1 findings revealed a need for: – More technical assistance focused on employment

services– Closer monitoring of employment services

delivered by project staff as well as employment outcomes of participants

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Early YTD Outcomes-12 month Surveys (First 3 sites)

Outcome Colorado Bronx Erie

Used any employment promoting service

12.4*** 16.2*** 13.7***

Ever employed on paid job -0.5 9.7*** 2.1

Ever enrolled in school, or had completed high school by the end of the year

0.0 1.7 -3.0

Total income (earnings and SSA benefits) ($)

-$163 $27 $200

Personal goals include working and earning enough to stop receiving benefits

1.1 -5.4 -2.4

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*** indicates significance at the 1% level

Program Participation 24 Months After Random Assignment

Outcome Colorado Bronx Erie

Any SSI payment 2.99 11.75*** 7.10**

Any SSDI benefit -0.56 -1.58 -1.41

Worker -2.10 0.00 -0.19

Dependent 1.62 -1.58 -1.80

SSI or SSDI 3.37* 11.90*** 4.07*

SSA payment due ($) $21.99 $86.28*** $35.74**

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*** indicates significance at the 1% level** indicates significance at the 5% level* Indicates significance at the 10% level

EarningsOutcome Colorado Bronx Erie

Any earnings first year after random assignment (%)

2.11 24.40*** 3.60

Any earnings first year after random assignment (%) †

2.50 21.08*** 4.10

Any earnings second year after random assignment (%) †

9.64*** 7.18* 3.20

Mean earnings first year after random assignment ($)

$69.40 $153.08** $10.53

Mean earnings first year after random assignment ($)†

$35.38 $40.46 $1.32

Mean earnings second year after random assignment ($) †

$296.56 -$187.43 $301.42

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*** indicates significance at the 1% level; ** indicates significance at the 5% level;* indicates significance at the 10% level† If randomized before 2008

Summary of Findings for Phase 1 sites

• Youth are receiving employment services• It may take time for those services to translate

into employment and a reduction in SSI/SSDI participation

• Waivers work as intended• More treatment youth remain on program• Treatment youth have higher payments

• There does appear to be an impact on employment, albeit a minor one

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One-Year Impacts on Employment, Earnings, and Benefits (Phase 2 sites)

Florida West Virginia MarylandTreat-ment Mean Impact

Treat-ment Mean Impact

Treat-ment Mean Impact

Employed in paid job 22.8 9.4*** 42.7 19.1*** 53.4 -4.2

Annual paid hours 103.1 26.1 229.6 86.3*** 319.4 -20.5

Annual earnings ($) $895 $306* $1,559 $524*** $2,591 -$346

Annual SSA benefits ($) $5,766 $312** $6,421 $192* $1,627 -$68

Annual income ($) $6,762 $424* $8,060 $717*** $4,239 -$386

*/**/*** Impact estimate is statistically significant at the .10 /.05/.01 level.

Two of the three phase 2 sites increased paid employment, earnings, and income for youth

The site that did not affect youth’s employment:– Did not target beneficiaries exclusively and primarily

served at-risk youth– Operated in a strong service environment

Longer-term impacts will be available in final YTD report based on 36-month follow-up data

Summary of One-Year Impact Findings for Phase 2 Sites

Lessons Learned

• Enrollment– Families lack of support and trust in the systems is

a barrier. – Enrollment & Engagement- time/resources

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Lessons Learned

• Implementation/ Oversight– Single chain of command– Monitor specific service deliveries that are key for

intervention– Strong and established relationships with local

providers and local VR services– Youth Engagement– Ensure data input is timely and correct

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Lessons Learned

• Implementation/ Oversight continued

– Technical Assistance and Training – Closeout – Location

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Lessons Learned

• Evaluation– Know the questions being asked and where the

answers will come from.• Final Thoughts

– Don’t change the project mid-stream– Don’t duplicate services already provided– Sustainability Plans

• Example: All YTD sites became EN’s for the TTW program.

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Video

• A short video highlighting the Maryland site, Career Transition Program (CTP) at St. Luke's House in Montgomery County, MD.

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More Information• SSA’s YTD website:

http://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/youth.htm– Includes information on a prior version of YTD

• MPR’s YTD website: http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/disability/ytd.asp

• Reports– Interim reports on 12-month survey results and process

analyses– Evaluation design report– Profiles of the projects– Implementation lessons from early projects

– Joyanne.Cobb@ssa.gov32