Summary
This research examines how transition-aged youth with disabilities receiving Supplemental Safety Revenue (SSI) might have been affected by the Workforce Innovation and Alternative Act (WIOA) and entry to pre-employment transition companies (pre-ETS). Utilizing knowledge from the Social Safety Administration (SSA) and the Rehabilitation Providers Administration for 2010 to 2021, we present that after WIOA’s passage, extra youth utilized to vocational rehabilitation companies, signed individualized plans for employment, and had larger annual earnings. In states the place college students had extra entry to pre-ETS, youth receiving SSI had larger charges for every of the three outcomes (signed individualized plans for employment, had any earnings, and use of Part 301) than in states the place college students had much less entry. The passage of WIOA and entry to pre-ETS seemingly contributed to a better involvement with VR and could also be related to higher employment outcomes.
The paper discovered that:
- After WIOA’s passage, extra youth with disabilities receiving SSI utilized to vocational rehabilitation (VR) companies, signed an individualized plan for employment (IPE) that will permit them to entry companies past pre-ETS, and had larger annual earnings.
- Youth receiving SSI in states providing larger entry to pre-ETS had larger annual earnings charges and earnings, in addition to larger charges of Pupil Earned Revenue Exclusion (SEIE) use after WIOA’s passage.
- From 2017 to 2021, having larger availability of pre-ETS inside a state (as evidenced by the pre-ETS entry ratio) was related to larger charges of signed IPEs, earnings, and use of Part 301.
The coverage implications of the findings are:
- States have the potential to enhance the expertise of youth receiving SSI by way of entry to pre-ETS and software to (VR). The engagement of this inhabitants with VR companies varies broadly throughout states; if all states had VR software charges much like the highest-ranked states, an extra 22,000 youth would have utilized for VR companies.
- Elevated pre-ETS entry may encourage youth with disabilities to enter the labor market instantly, as mirrored within the elevated earnings of youth receiving SSI after WIOA. Nonetheless, extra proof is required to point out that the findings are associated to WIOA and never as a result of stronger financial atmosphere after 2010.
- Improved entry to work incentives counseling could also be helpful for the inhabitants of youth receiving SSI, particularly those that are working or have contact with VR companies by pre-ETS or standard VR companies. This implication displays the combined proof of how using work incentives modified with the passage of WIOA and entry to pre-ETS.
