Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/DavidWittenburg

Executive Report:Food stamps are a significant source of food assistance for families with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty level. The average participating household received roughly $200 a month in benefits during fiscal year 2004. Despite the value of the benefit, many eligible persons do not enroll in the Food Stamp Program (FSP). This report summarizes the findings from 18 local outreach projects the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded in 2002 to test outreach strategies. The projects, which were implemented at different locations across 15 states, included a technological component and/or partnerships with other organizations to expand the scope of outreach. All projects aimed to increase awareness of the FSP and increase the number of food stamp participants.

Food stamps are a significant source of food assistance for families with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty level. The average participating household received roughly $200 a month in benefits during fiscal year 2004. Despite the value of the benefit, many eligible persons do not enroll in the Food Stamp Program (FSP). This report summarizes the findings from 18 local outreach projects the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded in 2002 to test outreach strategies. The projects, which were implemented at different locations across 15 states, included a technological component and/or partnerships with other organizations to expand the scope of outreach. All projects aimed to increase awareness of the FSP and increase the number of food stamp participants.

This paper discusses the utility of the SIPP in disability analyses, including a summary of descriptive statistics on people with disabilities from multiple SIPP panels, including the most recent SIPP panel (2001). The findings provide insights into the various health, employment, income, and program participation outcomes that may be associated with different definitions of disability and illustrate the potential for using SIPP data in further disability analyses. Our descriptive findings highlight the differences in the demographic composition and outcomes across disability definitions, underscoring the importance of carefully selecting an appropriate disability conceptualization in generating disability statistics.

This paper examines the transition experiences of child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients just prior to and after age 18. We find that only a minority of pre-transition SSI recipients, ages 14 to 17, participated in training or rehabilitation activities and many had never heard of SSI work incentive provisions. Among post-transition young people ages 19 to 23, those off SSI are in better health and more likely to be working than those on SSI. However, many are struggling with incomes below poverty, about half have dropped out of school, and a third have been arrested.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) initiated the Mental Health Treatment Study (MHTS) to investigate the types of initiatives that would assist Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries in returning to work. This report summarizes the first stage of the MHTS development, which includes an expert review by a Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) charged with making initial recommendations on the general parameters of the MHTS. The summary includes a discussion of several options for identifying a target population, developing intervention approaches, the mode of service delivery and overall design recommendations (e.g., random assignment). The TAP recommended that the intervention deliver an integrated set of medical and employment supports that can be implemented with enough fidelity for a rigorous evaluation.

Many low-income adults have a health problem or impairment that limits their ability to participate in work. This brief examines the employment and program participation patterns of low-income adults with disabilities, and how well the current safety net meets their needs. Using data from the third round of the National Survey of America's families, the findings question current benefits and services, as many will likely lead to a lifetime of support rather than to a job. The employment rates of those with disabilities are much lower than among other low-income adults.

This report describes 15 major public programs serving low-income, non-elderly adults with disabilities. The authors conclude that the safety net for low-income adults with disabilities is more like a tangled web of conflicting goals and gaps in needed services. Opportunities for temporary cash, training, and rehabilitation support are especially limited for disabled adults with limited work histories and/or who experienced their disability outside of work. SSI, a permanent cash benefit program that could likely lead to a lifetime of program participation, is the primary option for these adults. The authors discuss promising policy options that take a more coordinated approach in serving the complex needs of adults with disabilities.

This paper presents options for incorporating a strong return-to-work focus in the disability eligibility requirements for the Social Security Administration's (SSA) disability programs. In developing options, we first review alternative disability concepts from other private and public disability programs that focus on an individual's residual capacity to work, rather than an inability to work. We then examine the potential implications of applying different components of these alternative conceptualizations to the current disability eligibility requirements. Our analysis illustrates that policymakers must weigh the real costs of creating a more expansive set of disability eligibility criteria that focus on work (which will significantly increase the size of the caseload) against the current costs of having an all-or-nothing disability definition.

The transition process for a child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipient nearing the age of 18 can be quite complicated. From a programmatic standpoint, all child SSI recipients have their eligibility redetermined under the adult SSI disability requirements at age 18. Potentially more important, many child SSI recipients are also at the age when they must prepare for life beyond secondary school. The choices made during this important transition could have long-term implications for a child's future employment prospects, particularly given the typically long durations of participation and strong work disincentives associated with SSI participation. The purpose of our analysis is to examine concerns related to this transition process and suggest policy options for consideration by the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Ticket Advisory Panel.

This paper analyzes the potential uses of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) in tracking outcomes across different disability definitions in various SIPP panels. Our findings illustrate the importance of exercising caution when measuring disability trends. We find that the timing and structure of specific questions affects disability prevalence rates and, hence, influences observed outcomes. When we use comparable definitions across panels, we consistently find that employment of men with disabilities has fallen from 1990 to 1996 and the employment rates of women with disabilities has remained flat across a variety of disability conceptualizations. While there are some important concerns regarding the measurement of disability, we believe the consistency of our results across a variety of definitions illustrates an important and disturbing trend. Given that these definitions are commonly used in several policy studies, including several recent studies on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is important for researchers and survey designers to understand these issues.

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