Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program Initial Evaluation Report

A. EVALUATION COMPONENTS: GOALS, SCHEDULES, AND PRODUCTS
Given the importance and complexity of this new program, Congress mandated that
SSA conduct a comprehensive evaluation to provide important short-term information
about program implementation that will help SSA refine program operations. This feedback
is particularly important to SSA as it proceeds through the difficult initial stages of program
implementation. The evaluation will also provide information about the long-term effects of
TTW on beneficiaries’ employment, earnings, and benefit receipt, which in turn will help
SSA and Congress assess the extent to which TTW meets its goals.
In addition, the evaluation will provide important information for SSA’s ongoing policy
development. The evaluation will analyze the records of millions of beneficiaries and survey
thousands of beneficiaries and TTW participants during the next five years. In doing so, it
will provide detailed information about the work behaviors and attitudes of beneficiaries,
and identify the ways they get information about Social Security programs and the labor
market. This information will enable SSA to tailor the TTW program and future initiatives
to more effectively reach beneficiaries and help them to achieve their full employment
potential.
At the end of May 2003, SSA contracted for the full evaluation, although substantial
evaluation activity had occurred under an earlier design contract. In particular, the full
evaluation follows the design developed by Stapleton and Livermore (2002) and builds on
the preliminary process analyses done by Livermore et al. (2003).
As specified in the design, SSA has established seven major priorities for the TTW
evaluation (shown in Table I.1). The evaluation will use three types of data to address these
priority questions: (1) extensive qualitative data about TTW operations to be collected
through document review, on-site interviews, telephone interviews, and focus groups; (2)
longitudinal SSA administrative data for millions of beneficiaries plus Rehabilitation Services
Administration data that will be matched to SSA records; and (3) a set of surveys that
includes both repeated cross-section surveys of disability program beneficiaries and
longitudinal surveys of TTW participants. In addition, the process analysis will help to
identify ways to improve TTW operations and will also provide information that will help
interpret findings from the participation, impact, and adequacy of incentives analyses.
The evaluation will conduct the following four analyses.
1. Process Analysis
The process evaluation will rely on both administrative and survey data combined with
qualitative data from site visits, telephone interviews, and focus groups with the TTW
Program Manager (a contractor hired by SSA to help implement TTW), SSA, ENs, and
other providers who choose not to become ENs. It will document how TTW is being
implemented, assess how the program affects the market for employment-related services,
and provide contextual information to help interpret impact analysis findings. It will also
assess the implementation and ongoing operations of TTW over the 2003–2007 period,
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I: Overview of the Ticket to Work Program and Its Evaluation