Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD)
Objective
The purpose of the Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) was to assist youths with disabilities to successfully transition from school to economic self-sufficiency. The beneficiaries who participated in this demonstration were youths who were receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments based on their own disability, or who were at risk of receiving SSI or SSDI benefits.
Status
All sites (Colorado, Bronx NY, Erie NY, Florida, Maryland, and West Virginia) completed their YTD participation and services as of March 2012. The 12-month post random assignment reports for all the YTD sites are now available to the public. We completed the final report in November 2014, and it also is now available to the public. We will reanalyze project outcomes periodically, including a cost-benefit analysis, to determine the long run impacts and whether there were cost savings. We will post these results on this page as they become available.
The study population was SSI recipients ages 14-25. There were two phases, six Sites, and 880 youth per site randomly assigned. Phase 1 took place between 2006-2010, and Phase 2 took place between 2008-2012.
Successful transitions included pursuing a post-secondary education or employment. Through agreements with community-based agencies at six sites in five States, YTD provided a broad array of transition-related services and supports to participants. The YTD staff also established partnerships with other agencies and with employers to improve employment and educational outcomes. Services included:
- Individualized work-based experiences,
- Youth empowerment,
- Family supports,
- System linkages,
- Social and health services, and
- Benefits counseling.
Recognizing that a major barrier to employment for youths with disabilities is the fear of losing Social Security benefits, the YTD provided five waivers of program rules designed to allow participants to keep more of their earnings and encourage both savings and their continued education. These waivers allowed:
- Student Earned Income Exclusions regardless of age while in school,
- Earned Income Exclusions of $65 plus $3 of every $4 earned,
- Individual Development Accounts to save earnings plus funds from government and local providers,
- Plans for Achieving Self-Support for career exploration and post-secondary education, and
- Benefits to continue regardless of Continuing Disability Reviews and Age 18 Medical Redetermination results.
The report evaluates impacts and outcomes across five domains:
- Paid youth employment and earnings
- Youth income
- Participation in productive activities
- Contact with the justice system
- Self-Determination
The Phase 1 YTD projects had few statistically significant year-three impacts on the primary outcomes in the five domains. The Colorado project had no statistically significant desirable impacts, whereas the projects in the Bronx and Erie County had two each.
Consistent with the generally greater intensity of services that they provided to participating youth, the Phase 2 projects overall had more statistically significant impacts on primary outcomes for youth during the third year after they enrolled in the evaluation than did the Phase 1 projects. The project in Miami-Dade County had significant impacts in desirable directions on five primary outcomes, whereas the projects in West Virginia and Montgomery County had significant and desirable impacts on two primary outcomes. All of these projects had significant positive impacts on at least one of the two primary outcomes in the domain of paid employment and earnings and on youth total income.
Project Evaluation Design Report
Profiles of Random Assignment Projects Report
Implementation Lessons from the Original Project Report
YTD Cooperative Agreement Sites - Status and Reports
Final Report: Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD)
24-Month Follow-Up
Interim Reports:
Transition WORKS, Erie County, New York
City University of New York, Bronx County, New York
Colorado Youth WINS
Broadened Horizons, Brighter Futures, Miami-Dade County, Florida
West Virginia Youth Works
Career Transition Program, Montgomery County, Maryland
Not applicable.