Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation

A critical objective of those interested in economic independence for people with disabilities is their full access to and participation in market work. In this paper we first look at working age men with long-term disabilities, defined as disabled for at least two periods, from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and compare their labor force activity and economic well-being with working age men without disabilities. We find that while men with disabilities are less likely to work and more likely to receive government transfers than other men, the majority of men with long-term disabilities do work and do not receive any form of government transfers. We then focus our analysis on the subpopulation of working age men with disabilities who receive government transfers and show that a substantial share of this population receives benefits from more than one program. We find that the high effective tax rates of these programs make it unlikely that enrollees will rejoin the labor market. We argue policies that target rehabilitation and accommodation would be an excellent way of encouraging persons with disabilities who can work to stay in the labor force.

Evidence from the Social Security Administration's Transitional Employment Training Demonstration indicates that the overall performance of supported employment programs can be improved through program models that emphasize flexible and persistent services. The demonstration's rigorous statistical evidence on long-term program impacts, combined with detailed case-study evidence on program operations, indicates that the most successful programs had the capability and flexibility to tailor their services to the needs of each participant. Successful programs tended to develop jobs in a wide array of occupations and to provide services for a relatively long period. Furthermore, successful programs moved quickly to place and train participants in potentially permanent jobs and did not require all participants to start work in training jobs.

The Social Security Administration's Survey of Field Office (FO) Managers polled the managers of all the local Social Security Offices nationwide about the recent increase in applications for disability benefits. From managers' perspectives, local economic conditions have a significant impact on applications for disability benefits in their area, as do information and referral by welfare agencies and other sources, and financial incentives. Financial incentives to submit Social Security applications included benefits of other programs that are payable while disability applications are pending and requirements by insurance companies, or others, that a Social Security application be filed as a condition for receiving, or continuing to receive, another benefit.

Project NetWork was a large-scale return-to-work demonstration that enrolled beneficiaries of the disability programs administered by the Social Security Administration. Persons with a wide range of diagnoses and severity of disability were encouraged to consider working and to volunteer for rehabilitation and employment services through the demonstration. This article describes the outreach, intake, and provision of services for the demonstration. Survey data are presented on the self-reported health and disability status, scores on the CES-D depression screener, attitudes toward work, and motivation of the treatment group, the .control group, and a randomly selected sample of eligible persons who chose not to participate. The project was successful in attracting persons the nature and severity of whose disabilities was diverse. While the demonstration increased participation in vocational rehabilitation, similar to the experience of the TETD demonstration, only about 1 in 20 eligibles participated in the demonstration.

The Social Security Administration's income support programs for persons with disabilities experienced tremendous growth in adult applications and awards from 1988 to 1992. An important feature of this growth is that it was not uniform across impairment categories. Applications and awards based on mental disorders and musculoskeletal conditions grew much more rapidly than applications and awards based on other impairments. Based on information obtained from a variety of sources, explanations for the especially high growth in these categories include: change in SSA eligibility criteria; state and local shifting and outreach efforts; recession; and demographic changes. The findings suggest important implications for the future demand for and potential success of vocational rehabilitation services for program beneficiaries.

This article reports findings from a survey of 385 supported employment provider agencies on their use of two Social Security Work Incentives, the Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) and Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE). Results indicated that PASS and IRWE use by supported employment consumers exceeds that of the SSA beneficiary population. PASS and IRWE approval rates were reported to be high, and respondents generally reported few problems in accessing these supports. Set-aside funds were predominantly used to purchase transportation, supported employment services, work equipment and supplies, and other needed supports and services. Findings are discussed in light of reports by the U.S. General Accounting Office that have found mismanagement and misuse of SSA Work Incentives.

This article will present basic information on the success generated by the Michigan Commission for the Blind when using the Intervenor Model to provide support to persons who are deaf-blind.