In recent years, SSA has launched outreach initiatives that seek to mitigate barriers to applying for and receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a means tested benefit for people with disabilities and limited financial resources. Mathematica is conducting an independent evaluation of SSA’s recent TPA initiative, which sought to boost SSI applications.

The team will engage community members at each stage of the evaluation. Community partners will include those with lived experience of disability and the SSI program, providers of disability-related services, community advocates, and subject matter experts. The evaluation work will be shaped by several efforts designed to infuse lived expertise. (1) The team will engage core collaborators from communities relevant to the SSI program and seek their input on project activities on an ongoing basis. (2) The team will hold listening sessions with applicants or potential applicants and with TPA or claims-taking partners to hear about their experiences with the SSI application process and with the outreach initiative prior to finalizing the evaluation design.

We will conduct a mixed-methods evaluation of TPA. The team will conduct quantitative analyses by using existing SSA data and national survey data. These data will allow us to understand the characteristics and outcomes of SSI applicants and potential applicants who used TPA versus those who did not and to assess equity in SSI access, use, and outcomes based on personal and geographic characteristics. The team will collect qualitative information on the experiences of SSI applicants and potential applicants, external partners that assist people with SSI applications, and SSA staff involved in TPA. This approach will include: (1) program material review and (2) one-on-one interviews and focus groups. These data will provide insight on whether TPA has helped users and related parties, how and why the initiative led to any effects that the quantitative analysis might detect, barriers to and facilitators of each initiative, and areas for improvement.