The Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) is a large-scale demonstration and evaluation sponsored by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to test promising approaches for helping young people with disabilities become more self-sufficient and less reliant on disability benefits. The YTD intervention, which was developed based on research evidence, provides employment services (emphasizing paid competitive employment), benefits counseling, links to services available in the community, and other assistance to youth with disabilities and their families. Additionally, the youth who received those services were eligible for SSA waivers of certain benefit program rules, which allowed them to retain more of their disability benefits and health insurance while they worked for pay. Using a rigorous random assignment methodology, the YTD evaluation team is assessing whether these services and incentives were effective in helping youth with disabilities achieve greater independence and economic self-sufficiency.

       The target population for YTD was youth ages 14 through 25 who either were receiving SSA disability benefits or at risk of receiving them in the future. The evaluation team identified youth satisfying YTD program eligibility criteria by using lists of Social Security beneficiaries. We conducted outreach to those youth and recruited them into the study. Youth who agreed to participate in the evaluation were assigned at random to treatment or control groups. Youth in the treatment groups were eligible to receive YTD services in addition to the SSA waivers, while those in the control groups could receive only those services that were available in their communities, independent of the YTD initiative. The evaluation enrolled approximately 880 youth in each of six sites in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, New York (two), and West Virginia.

       This paper will present the three-year impact findings for the six YTD evaluation sites. The data on outcomes for this analysis are from a 36-month follow-up survey and SSA administrative records. The survey focused on outcomes such as employment, earnings, education, contact with the justice system, and self-determination. SSA administrative records are the source of data on disability benefits and on earnings reported to the Internal Revenue Service. We also use survey and administrative data pertaining to the period immediately prior to random assignment to control for the baseline characteristics of the evaluation enrollees in the impact analysis.