The cost of federal disability benefits for teenagers and young adults is substantial due to the distinct challenges youth with disabilities face in transitioning to work and economic self-sufficiency. To help them overcome these challenges, the Social Security Administration sponsored the Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) from 2003 to 2012. Promising interventions to help youth with disabilities navigate the transition to work, including employment and education counseling, job placement services, and financial planning, were developed and tested. The demonstration also included financial incentives to encourage employment among young people who were receiving disability benefits, and certain SSA disability program rules were waived to let YTD participants keep more of their benefits as their earnings increased.
Mathematica evaluated the implementation and impacts of six of the demonstration projects. At the three-year follow-up, Mathematica found that three of the projects helped young people find work and achieve other positive outcomes. Event speakers will discuss: three-year follow-up data on the six YTD projects and their impacts on youth employment, earnings, and other outcomes; the Broadened Horizons, Brighter Futures project in Miami-Dade County, which improved more outcomes for youth than any of the other five evaluated projects did; and an analysis of the effect of early work experience on later paid employment for youth ages 18 to 20 who have disabilities.
Speakers will include: Arif Mamun and Lori Timmins of Mathematica, Kelli Crane of TransCen, and Jamie Kendall of the Administration on Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Please note: In-person check-in and lunch begin at 11:45 a.m., and the program begins at 12:00 p.m. All in-person guests must sign in and present a photo ID.