Did SSA’s Transition Demonstration Programs for Youth Receiving SSI Have Lasting Impacts?

Ankita Patnaik, Mathematica and Jeffrey Hemmeter, U.S. Social Security Administration

This study will examine the employment and SSA program participation outcomes during early adulthood (ages 18-30) of people who received SSI as children or youth and will estimate the long-term impacts of two large transition demonstrations: Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) and Promoting Readiness of Minors in SSI (PROMISE). SSA’s evaluations of YTD and PROMISE found some positive impacts on outcomes a few years after enrollment but these might have receded over time, especially during the pandemic. A limitation of the YTD and PROMISE evaluations was that they followed youth for only 3 and 5 years after enrollment, respectively. This study’s results will inform SSA’s understanding of a population that is at elevated risk of lifelong SSA program participation, the long-term efficacy of the YTD and PROMISE programs, the design of evaluations involving youth with disabilities, and estimates of future demand for SSA programs.