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MD PROMISE: It Pays to Work! Tonya Chubb Charmaine Thomas, Ph.D. Dana Hackey, LSW WayStation, Inc. Kelli Crane, Ph.D., TransCen, Inc. November 15, 2014

What Is PROMISE? The PROMISE program was proposed by the Administration to improve the education and career outcomes of low income children with disabilities receiving Supplemental Security Income. PROMISE advances the Administration’s goal of fostering interagency collaboration at the Federal and State levels to improve services and drive innovation. 3

Upon entering adulthood, a significant number of child SSI recipients do not become independent, self-sufficient tax paying members of the community. Parents and families of many SSI recipients are not self-sufficient. Rangarajan, Fraker, Honeycutt, Mamun, Martinez, O’Day, & Wittenburg. (2009). The Social Security Administration’s Youth Transition Demonstration Projects: Evaluation Design Report.; Davies, Rupp, & Wittenburg. (2009). A life-cycle perspective on the transition to adulthood among children receiving supplemental security income payments.; Fraker, & Rangarajan. (2009). The social security administration’s youth transition demonstration projects.; Loprest, & Wittenburg. (2005). Choices, Challenges, and Options: Child SSI Recipients Preparing for the Transition to Adult Life. The Urban Institute. The Problem 4

The child SSI recipients who become adult SSI recipients continue to face many challenges: – Low educational attainment and employment rates. – Low postsecondary and/or vocational rehabilitation enrollment rates. 5

The Problem Parents and other family members of child SSI recipients also face many challenges, and are in need of support services: – One-third of the parents of child SSI recipients have less than a high school education; almost half of these children live in a household with at least one other person with a disability. – Child SSI recipients and their families lack information about various work incentives available to them to help pursue activities that would increase self-sufficiency. 6

The Problem The structure of services to help child SSI recipients transition to postsecondary education and competitive employment may also be a barrier to achieving self- sufficiency and independence: – Not all child SSI recipients will receive transition services as an adult because many services, including vocational rehabilitation (VR) and mental health services, are not entitlements. – There are also concerns related to gaps (e.g., differing eligibility requirements and goals) in the coordination of transition services provided by Federal, State, and local governments. 7

What We Know The current transition system has not been effective in supporting SSI recipients to become self-sufficient. However, certain practices can lead to positive outcomes: – Case management; – Benefits counseling; – Career and work-based learning experiences; and – Parent training and information. Each of these practices on their own has some positive effect, but there is no proven “package” of practices that has led to the desired outcomes.. 8

Why PROMISE? Each State is unique: – States are in the best position to incubate innovation. – Given fiscal support, States will “braid” these known effective practices—along with other practices—to meet their unique needs. 9

PROMISE Approach Desired outcomes for children and their families include: – Increased educational attainment; – Improved rates of employment wages/earnings and job retention; – Increased total household income; and – Long-term reduction in SSI payments. 10

What We Know The most effective public policy is based on evidence. Randomized Control Trials are the highest standard for producing evidence. Model Demonstration Programs allow testing approaches in real-world settings. 11

National Scope of PROMISE Sponsored by Four Federal Agencies – Department of Education – Social Security Administration – Health and Human Services – Department of Labor Six Grantees – New York, California, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Consortium of 6 states (ND, MT, AZ, CO, NV, UT), Maryland

Purpose To improve the education and employment outcomes of child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients and their families Target group: 14 – 16 year olds

The Basics of the Maryland Award Five year project to MD Department of Disabilities Partners: – MD Department of Disabilities plus 8 other state agencies – TransCen, Inc. – Way Station, Inc.

PROMISE Goals 1.Increase employment of youth on SSI 2.Increase school completion rates 3.Increase enrollment in post-secondary education 4.Increase individual and family income 5.Decrease public income support

How Will We Do This? Recruit 2,000 eligible youth and their families – 1,000 receive intervention – 1,000 receive what is ordinarily available

Features of the Intervention Assertive case management for entire family Career and work based experiences, including at least one paid job for youth Employment support for other family members Benefits counseling and financial literacy services

Features of the Intervention Intervention Teams: – Case Manager – Family Employment Specialist – School Personnel – Benefits Counselor

Eyes on the Prize! How does everything we do: – Lead to work experiences and jobs for youth? – Lead to career preparation and jobs for family members?

Department of Disabilities Role Overall project direction and management Information and data management Fiscal management

TransCen’s Role 1.Outreach and Recruitment 2.Technical Assistance and Training 3.Fidelity Monitoring 4.Formative Evaluation

Way Station’s Role Intervention delivery – Case Managers – Family Employment Specialists Data collection and Management Information System

Step 4: Program staff notify youth of group assignment and associated services Step 3: Program staff enter data into RAS and youth are randomly assigned to study groups Step 2: Youth and parents/guardians complete consent form in its entirety and program staff review for completeness Step 1: Conduct recruitment of and outreach efforts to eligible youth

Contact MD PROMISE Recruitment Office Phone: Website:

Progress to Date Currently 20% of recruitment target X paid jobs X connect to benefits counselors

Success Stories