Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program, Implementation ...

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4country. Phase 2 began in November 2002 and extended the program to an additional 20states plus the District of Columbia. Phase 3, which began in November 2003 and ended inSeptember 2004, rolled out the program in the remaining 17 states and U.S. territories. Atpresent, new beneficiaries in all states are sent a Ticket when they become eligible for theprogram. Appendix A gives a complete timeline for TTW and lists the states included ineach phase.B. OVERVIEW OF THE EVALUATION AND THIS REPORTGiven the size, complexity, and significance of TTW, Congress mandated that SSAconduct a comprehensive evaluation to provide both short-term feedback that could help toimprove program implementation and long-term data on the program’s effects. Theevaluation began in mid-2003 and will continue for five years. By the time it is complete, theevaluation will have addressed seven questions:1. Did TTW significantly reduce dependence on SSA benefits through increasedbeneficiary employment and earnings?2. What was the impact of TTW on earnings, employment duration, SSA benefits,and beneficiary income?3. Did TTW produce net SSA program costs or savings? How much? What arethe costs and benefits of the TTW program to SSA?4. Did TTW produce net social costs or benefits? What were the social costs andbenefits of the TTW program?5. Who did and did not participate in TTW?6. What groups were adequately served under the TTW program and what groupswere underserved?7. What aspects of the program improved or reduced program success?The evaluation will address these questions in five annual reports. The initial evaluationreport, completed in February 2004, and this report focus on program operational issues,primarily the rollout and the participation by beneficiaries and providers (questions 5, 6, and7). Future reports, scheduled for early 2006, 2007, and 2008, will cover these issues as wellbut will focus primarily on the effects of TTW on beneficiary employment and selfsufficiency,and program benefits and costs (questions 1 through 4).C. DATA SOURCES FOR THIS REPORTThis report is based on a diverse range of data sources.• SSA Administrative Records. Many of the program statistics in this reportwere completed using the Ticket Research File that we developed using extractsI: Introduction
5from several SSA administrative databases. This research file contains data onthe more than 15 million disability beneficiaries who received benefits since1996. We use it to analyze trends in SSI and DI participation, Ticketassignments, beneficiary employment and earnings, and payments to ENs andSVRAs. Appendix B provides background on these data along with somesupplemental detailed tables.• National Beneficiary Survey. We used data provided by the almost 7,500beneficiaries who responded to the National Beneficiary Survey to examine theirknowledge of TTW and their expectations about work. The survey, which wasfielded between February and October 2004, included a group of approximately1,000 beneficiaries who assigned their Ticket in 2003, and we used theirresponses to examine their participation in and satisfaction with TTW. A moreextensive analysis of the survey data will appear in the next evaluation report(scheduled for early 2006). Appendix C summarizes the survey methodologyand provides some supplemental tabulations.• Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) Data. We used public usefiles from RSA to analyze trends in beneficiary participation in vocationalrehabilitation. We will examine these trends in more detail using individual-leveldata from SSA linked to individual-level data from RSA and document them infuture reports.• Interviews with Providers, the Program Manager, and SSA Staff.Qualitative information on program implementation and provider operationswas obtained though interviews with officials from 29 current ENs; 10 formerENs; 8 SVRAs; 14 organizations that considered becoming ENs but decidedagainst it; SSA staff in the central, regional, and field offices; and the ProgramManager. These interviews, conducted during the summer of 2004, supplementdozens of similar interviews conducted for the initial evaluation report in 2003and for the preliminary process analysis in 2002.I: Introduction
Page 3 and 4: A CKNOWLEDGMENTSThe Ticket To Work
Page 8 and 9: viiiChapterVI(CONTINUED)PageF. SUMM
Page 10 and 11: xChapterPageAPPENDIX A: TICKET TO W
Page 12 and 13: xiiTableVIII.3IX.1IX.2IX.3IX.4IX.5I
Page 14 and 15: xivFigureIII.5III.6III.7III.8III.9P
Page 16 and 17: xviIX.3EARNINGS OF BENEFICIARIES WI
Page 18 and 19: xviiiMIENBSNPRMOAGPABSSPSUSGASSASSI
Page 20 and 21: xxIn Phase 3, which began in Novemb
Page 22 and 23: xxiigroups of beneficiaries that Co
Page 24 and 25: xxivimprove TTW, therefore, is to f
Page 26 and 27: 2of disability beneficiaries, and i
Page 30 and 31: Page Is Intentionally Left Blank to
Page 32 and 33: 8Only a few beneficiary characteris
Page 34 and 35: 10Figure II.2.Participation Rate, b
Page 36 and 37: 12Figure II.4.First Assignments at
Page 38 and 39: 14before Ticket, it is perhaps surp
Page 40 and 41: 16was selected for Phase 3. This ma
Page 42 and 43: 18All of the statistics in this sec
Page 44 and 45: Table II.2. Beneficiary Groups with
Page 46 and 47: 22In all Phase 1 and Phase 2 states
Page 48 and 49: 24Figure II.8. Ticket Participation
Page 50 and 51: 26Adjustments for all other charact
Page 52 and 53: 28In general, provider and payment
Page 54 and 55: 30next report, we will conduct more
Page 56 and 57: 32Figure III.2.Living Arrangements
Page 58 and 59: 34• Less likely to have reported
Page 60 and 61: 36Figure III.7.Prevalence of Diffic
Page 62 and 63: 38are more likely than all benefici
Page 64 and 65: 40Table III.1.Income and Program Pa
Page 66 and 67: 42coverage through their own employ
Page 68 and 69: 44sizable percentage of TTW partici
Page 70 and 71: 46Overall, 9 percent of working-age
Page 72 and 73: 48leave the rolls in the next year,
Page 74 and 75: 50next year and in the next five ye
Page 76 and 77: 52in their characteristics, levels
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54percentage points to 3.7 percent.
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56Figure IV.2. Phase 1 Ticket Recip
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58situation described in the preced
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60the end of the follow-up period w
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62Figure IV.6. Average Monthly Bene
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Page Is Intentionally Left Blank to
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66ENs were reluctant to expand serv
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68As of July 2004, there were about
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70But most EN representatives saw T
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72Figure V.2. Number of EN Terminat
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74received a total of just about $2
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76Relatively few ENs have received
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78According to their representative
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80Five EN officials recognized that
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82This was particularly true for so
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84• Another EN representative fou
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86• A third EN received 50 calls
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88resolve administrative issues suc
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90• Raise payments for SSI benefi
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92Finally, the real and perceived w
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94efforts to obtain Ticket assignme
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96SSA payments to SVRAs under the T
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98Figure VI.3. Total SSA Payments t
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100assigning their Tickets to ENs (
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102Table VI.1. SVRA Ticket Assignme
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104case, the counselor selects the
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106• Most of the agreements requi
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108needs of SSA beneficiaries and,
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110to the SVRA under the traditiona
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112Tickets each month from November
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114about submitting virtually ident
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116To make EN recruiting efforts mo
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118E. EN ENROLLMENTThe Program Mana
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120beneficiaries who have achieved
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122quarterly basis if they have rec
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124SSA’s approval of systems spec
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128have accepted. But even at that
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130For beneficiaries who express an
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132rehabilitation counselors (Burea
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134generated a payment to an EN gen
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136the milestone-outcome payment ge
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138system is used so infrequently t
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140One option is for ENs to try to
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142approximations. Our planned anal
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144Figure IX.1. Ticket-Eligible Ben
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146Table IX.2.TTW Participation Rat
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148Figure IX.3. Earnings of Benefic
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150Compared with other beneficiarie
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152Like all other beneficiaries who
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This kind of mixed success in the e
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C. SVRA PARTICIPATION REMAINS STRON
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serving beneficiaries who are simil
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observe changes in their employment
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Mashaw, Jerry L., and Virginia P. R
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A-2Table A.1 (continued)Time Period
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Table B.1. DefinitionsB-2Variable D
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Table B.1 (continued)B-4Variable De
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Table B.1 (continued)Variable Defin
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B-8Table B.3. Participation Rate by
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B-10C. PARTICIPATION RATES BY BENEF
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Table B.6. Participation Rates by C
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Table B.6 (continued)Group Definiti
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Table B.6 (continued)B-16Group Defi
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C-2survey. Whenever possible, the i
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C-4given the large number of benefi
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C-6• Young SSI recipients who are
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C-8beneficiary may have had with EN
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C-10Table C.2. Overview of the Nati
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C-12Sample completes (n=1,178) and
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C.14Table C.3 (continued)AllIntervi
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C.16Table C.5. Final Weighted and U
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C.18Table C.7. Sociodemographic Cha
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C.20Table C.9. Health Status (Figur
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C.22Table C.11. Program Participati
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C.24Table C.14. Awareness of TTW (F
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C.26Table C.16. Employment Expectat
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D-2Table D.1. Selected Characterist
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D-4information from two pretest int
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