The Youth Transition Exploration Demonstration (YTED) is funded by an Interventional Cooperative Agreement Program grant from the Social Security Administration. The demonstration aims to (1) test whether intensive employment services improve employment and other outcomes for youth with disabilities who are transitioning to adulthood and (2) strengthen cooperation and coordination among organizations that serve youth with disabilities.

In this brief, we compare the characteristics of youth who enrolled in YTED in 2025 with all youth with disabilities living in Pennsylvania and the YTED service area. YTED enrollees differed substantially from the two comparison populations across most measures. On average, YTED enrollees had lower levels of educational attainment, had a lower employment rate, and worked fewer hours per week. YTED enrollees were also more likely to live in households with family, friends, or on their own than in group settings. However, Medicaid coverage was similar among YTED enrollees and the two comparison populations. These findings have implications for the generalizability of YTED findings to the broader population of youth with disabilities.