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Connecting the Dots: Provider Networks of Youth Receiving Supplemental Security Income
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Connecting the Dots: Provider Networks of Youth Receiving Supplemental Security Income

Published: Mar 26, 2014
Publisher: Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research
Human Services Disability Transition to Adulthood Research & Evaluation Policy Analysis

Associated Project

Employment Policy and Measurement Rehabilitation Research and Training Center

Time frame: 2010-2015

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

U.S. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research

Authors

Todd Honeycutt

David Wittenburg

Key Findings

  • The Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) had positive impacts on outcomes of youth, including employment, education, and use of existing services.
  • The impacts were larger for youth who were no longer in high school than for youth who were in high school at the time of project enrollment.
  • Our depiction of the service environment in one project illustrates both the fragmentation of services for those in the control group and how the YTD interventions facilitated connections to services and activities for all youth.

This study provides quantitative evidence on the employment, education, and service receipt outcomes of transition-age youth (ages 14 to 25) who enrolled in the Social Security Administration’s Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD). The findings are based on five projects in which eligible youth were assigned to a treatment group that received YTD services and a control group that did not receive any additional services. In all projects, youth engagement in activities and services was lower following high school, and the YTD interventions increased youth engagement, particularly among post-high school youth compared to youth in high school. The findings point to the challenges that youth with disabilities face after they leave high school and enter a fragmented service environment. The findings also illustrate the important role that interventions that target transition-age youth can play in helping youth become productively engaged, especially following high school.

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