Evaluation of Initiatives to Improve Adult Outcomes and Employment Opportunities for Young Recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Young people with disabilities, particularly those who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), face unique challenges as they transition into adulthood. Even with targeted support services, they often fall behind their peers in their educational and economic attainment as adults. This issue points to the need for a stronger evidence base of promising initiatives that can improve employment and other adult outcomes for young SSI recipients.

Through the SSI Youth Recipient and Employment Transition Formative Research project, Mathematica has contributed to this evidence base by identifying:

• Promising programs and policies for youth receiving SSI, including potential research questions yet to be answered
• Intervention models or strategies that could be tested for assisting young SSI recipients with the transition to sustained and gainful employment

Resources developed from this project were informed by input from a panel of experts from federal and state agencies, practitioners, researchers, consumer groups, and other stakeholders, collectively known as the Community of Practice. With input from the Community of Practice, Mathematica produced several new resources for policymakers and program practitioners, including a series of webinars that explored important topics related to serving youth SSI recipeints.

Reports and Issue Briefs

A report and two issue briefs outlining a framework for selecting and testing innovations for this population

• Considerations for Identifying Promising and Testable Interventions (Report)
• A Framework for Selecting Employment Interventions to Benefit Youth (Issue Brief)
• A Worksheet to Select Employment Interventions That Benefit Youth (Issue Brief)

A synthesis of strategies, models, and definitions related to the employment of young SSI recipients

• Potential Strategies to Improve the Employment Outcomes of Youth SSI Recipients (Report)
• The Transition to Employment: Better Data Needed to Identify Best Practices for Youth SSI Recipients (Issue Brief)

A report and issue brief that identifies the target population of such interventions

• Target Population Profiles (Report)
• Youth Populations that Could Benefit from Employment Interventions (Issue Brief)

A description of the Community of Practice and its activities

• Community of Practice: Organizational Features and Lessons Learned (Report)
• Youth Transition to Employment: Creating and Using a Community of Practice to Generate New Knowledge (Issue Brief)

A report on collaborations between VR agencies and workforce development boards

• Many Hands Make Employment Work: Collaborations Between VR Agencies and Workforce Development Boards to Provide Work-Based Learning Experiences (Research Brief)

Webinars

• Benefits Counseling as a Tool to Improve Employment Outcomes for Youth Who Receive Supplemental Security Income (Recording)
  Part one of this five-part webinar series explores how benefits counseling, when paired with other interventions, can improve employment outcomes for young people with disabilities.
  
  
• Employment Options for Youth SSI Recipients (Recording)
  Part two of this five-part webinar series showcases viable employment services and pre-employment transition services for youth recipients of Supplemental Security Income.
  
  
• Innovations in Education for Youth Recipients of Supplemental Security Income (Recording)
  Part three of this five-part webinar series highlights education interventions that engage students, families, and professionals and promote the seamless transition from school to work.
  
  
• Innovative Strategies to Improve Outcomes for SSI Youth Recipients: Case Examples from the PROMISE Model Demonstration Projects (Recording)
  Part four of this five-part series highlights three projects from the Promoting Readiness of Minors in SSI (PROMISE) Model Demonstration to share interventions tested and experiences with what works to improve the education, employment, and financial outcomes of youth SSI recipients.
  
  
• Innovations for Youth Recipients of Supplemental Security Income (Recording)
  Part five of this five-part series provides an overview of the activities and findings of the SSI youth project, including the experiences of and key lessons from the project’s Community of Practice.

This project was prepared for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Office of Disability Employment Policy by Mathematica Policy Research, under contract number DOLQ129633249. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to DOL, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement of same by the U.S. Government.