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

16was selected for Phase 3. This matching process was used to enable the evaluation tocompare beneficiary outcomes for states that were similar except for the availability of TTW.A result of this process was that the Phase 2 states tend to differ from the Phase 1 and 3states with respect to the intensity and duration of their programs to support employmentfor disability beneficiaries. Those differences, in turn, may at least partially account for theapparent different levels of interest in TTW. The evaluation will be able to assess the effectof these differences better once the data on Phase 3 assignment rates is available.4. In-Use Tickets by Payment TypeIn the initial evaluation report, we noted that most in-use Tickets were assigned underthe traditional payment system, necessarily to SVRAs. Based on updated data, 87.7 percentof Tickets in the Phase 1 states were assigned under the traditional payment system as ofAugust 2003. 9 That figure rose slightly by March 2004, to 88.6 percent.A larger percentage of in-use Tickets have been assigned under the two new systems inthe Phase 2 states than were assigned under those systems in Phase 1 states, but thisdifference is only a reflection of the lower number assigned to SVRAs. The participationrates associated with each of the two new payment types in Phase 2 states are somewhathigher than the corresponding rates in Phase 1 states at comparable points in their rollouts(Figure II.5). 10 In March 2004 (month 16 for the Phase 2 states), the participation rate forthe two new payment systems combined was .115 percent in the Phase 2 states comparedwith .101 percent in the Phase 1 states in the comparable month.5. Deactivations and ReassignmentsWe also examined administrative data on deactivations and reassignments to determinewhether substantial numbers of beneficiaries who have assigned their Tickets are changingproviders or formally withdrawing, or being withdrawn, from participation. What we foundin the initial evaluation report continues to be true: reassignments rarely occur, anddeactivations are also very low—typically 0.5 percent of assigned Tickets in each month,with no substantive difference between the Phase 1 and 2 states.We do not know, however, how many in-use Tickets are effectively inactive. Ticketusers who stop their return-to-work effort entirely have little motivation to withdraw theirTickets. Providers are to deactivate Tickets if beneficiaries are not making timely progress atthe 24-month review, but almost no Tickets had been assigned for that long during theperiod considered. While some providers have unassigned Tickets of inactive clients prior tothe 24-month mark, others have not done so, either because they did not know they could9 Our earlier estimate was 75.9 percent. Most assignments reported after the extraction of data for theinitial evaluation report were to SVRAs.10 The participation rate for a specific payment system is defined as the number of Tickets in-use underthat payment system divided by total eligible beneficiaries.II: Beneficiary Participation in Ticket to Work