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Employment Among Transition-Age SSI Beneficiaries with Blindness

Employment Among Transition-Age SSI Beneficiaries with Blindness. Jamie O’Mally, Ph.D. Overview. Purpose Hypotheses Design & Procedures Data Sources Progress Preliminary Results Future Analyses. Project Funding. Social Security Administration Disability Research Consortium

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Employment Among Transition-Age SSI Beneficiaries with Blindness

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  1. Employment Among Transition-Age SSI Beneficiaries with Blindness Jamie O’Mally, Ph.D.

  2. Overview • Purpose • Hypotheses • Design & Procedures • Data Sources • Progress • Preliminary Results • Future Analyses

  3. Project Funding • Social Security Administration • Disability Research Consortium • Emerging Investigator Award

  4. Purpose • Investigate individual and service factors that influence employment outcomes for transition-age Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients who are blind or visually impaired.

  5. Significance

  6. Disparities in Employment Employment rates for transition-age youth reflect those in the average population, with those with disabilities having lower employment rates than those without disabilities. The gap in employment rates widens after high school for students with and without disabilities. U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, 2013.

  7. Employment Among B/VI • Unemployment rates are high for those with disabilities, especially for those with visual impairments. • Students with B/VI have the highest college attendance among students with disabilities but have difficulty finding employment (Newman, Wagner, Cameto, & Knokey, 2009).

  8. Reasons? Why might college students who are B/VI have difficulty finding paid employment after graduating?

  9. SSI Beneficiaries • SSI program provides cash benefits to children with disabilities and families who meet strict income-based criteria. • SSI benefits totaling $8 billion were distributed to 1,136,000 youth ages 13-25 in 2011 (SSA, 2012). • SSI may be a disincentive for obtaining employment among transition-age youth. • The odds of paid employment among transition-age youth with disabilities is nearly double for those not receiving SSI (Berry, 2001).

  10. Reasons? Why might transition-age youth receiving SSI benefits be less likely to work than those not receiving SSI?

  11. Hypothesis Both receipt of VR program services and individual characteristics play a role in positive employment outcomes among blind transition-age SSI beneficiaries.

  12. Design

  13. The Role of VR • Services are provided to assist individuals in securing or maintaining employment. • Services include: • job placement assistance • college training and technology • vocational supports • adjustment counseling • remedial training Giesen & Cavenaugh, 2012

  14. Individual Characteristics • Gender • Race • Education • Age of Onset • Family SES • Early Employment • Multiple/Severe Impairments

  15. Data Sources • Restricted-use data • Linked using SSN • RSA-911 annual files • Rehabilitation Services Administration Case Service Report (2002-2011) • Master Earnings File (MEF) • Later: longer term employment

  16. Case Selection & Procedure • RSA-911 annual files were combined for 2002-2011 and linked by SSN. • Kept only applicants from 2002-2006 (allows for long term employment analyses) who applied and received VR services and were 16-25 at the time they applied. • Identified based on SSI receipt and blindness.

  17. Current Progress • Descriptive information is currently available. • Demographics • Services received • Employment at closure • Multivariate analyses on long term employment outcomes will be analyzed as the next step in this research.

  18. Demographics • N = 2,170 • Ages 16-25, M = 20.6 • 53.5% Men, 46.5% Women • Race • 71% White • 24% African American • 5% Other races (Asian, Native Amer., Pac) • 43% had a secondary impairment • 12% were cognitive

  19. Education

  20. Length of Services Mean = 3 years (2 SD)

  21. Services Received

  22. Employment Outcomes • Competitive Employment • Job Type at Closure • Primary Source of Income • Weekly earnings at application and for successful closures

  23. Competitive Employment • RSA Variable • Employment without supports, self-employment, BEP, employment with supports • ONLY includes cases with some employment outcome (does not include UNSUCCESSFUL closures). • In this data, it excludes 55.8% of the data. • “…Like evaluating the percentage of A’s in a course out of the number passing, rather than out of the number who completed the course (passing and failing).”(Giesen & Cavenaugh, 2012)

  24. Objective Competitive Employment • More accurate-- Same as competitive employment, but expands non-competitive to include extended employment and those not employed after receiving services.

  25. Job Type at Closure

  26. Primary Source of Income

  27. Weekly Earnings

  28. Future Analyses • Longitudinal analyses (LT employment) • Individual and services received • SSI vs. No SSI

  29. Special Thanks Soosan Shahrokh, Ph.D. Office of Program Development and Research Social Security Administration

  30. Contact Info Jamie O’Mally, 662-325-2001 nrtc2@colled.msstate.edu http://blind.msstate.edu

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