Sponsored jointly by the U.S. Department of Education, Social Security Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Labor

Promoting the Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income

NYS PROMISE

The Problem

• The number of youth on SSI continue to grow exponentially in NYS

• A composite picture is one of a youth who rarely gets of the rolls, completes school, works, or participates in vocational rehabilitation, is more likely to be incarcerated, and less likely to access transition support services.

• A composite picture of their families is a family with more than one member with a disability, low educational achievement, and lack of information to increase self-sufficiency

- person-centered transition planning- connections to state and local services- meaningful education programs- incentives to stay in school

STUDENTS NEED...

- opportunities to increase their educational levels- connections to career planning and employment services

FAMILIES NEED…

THE CHALLENGE

STUDENTS & FAMILIES NEED…

- to be equipped and integrated into planning- to understand their rights- access to information to aid them in making informed choices regarding their financial and economic well-being

NYS PROMISE will utilize an indigenous model that naturally equips and engages schools, local disability service providers, independent living centers, one stop centers, literacy zones, regional parent training centers, work incentive planners, regional transition specialists, and other community transition stakeholders to achieve higher postsecondary employment, education and economic outcomes for SSI youth by...

Improving state, regional and local collaboration across agencies and providers serving SSI youth.

Implementing an outcomes-based payment system for service providers.

Building local and regional capacities in implementing best practices, conducting impact assessment, and exercising continuous quality improvement in transition to adulthood services.

Collecting high quality evidence for studying program effectiveness of the NYS PROMISE intervention.

- Comprehensive Employment Systems Grant- Partnership Employment Exchange Grant- Work Incentive Grant and Disability Employment Initiative- Transition Systems Change

SYSTEMS BUILDING...

- Transition Professional Development Support Center / Network- Employment First Momentum- Partners in Policy Making- Gubernatorial support- Current MOUs- NYESS

RESEARCH…

NYS ADVANTAGE

STATE CAPACITY…

- NYWORKS - State Partnership Initiative- Two, Youth Transition Demonstrations- Model Transition Program

The Design

• To be implemented across three diverse geographic areas (western NY, capital region, and NYC)

• 20-25 local education agencies will serve as the research demonstration sites

• 2,000 students between the ages of 14-16 who receive SSI—half of which will be randomly assigned to an intervention group with the other half assigned to a control group

The Outcomes-Based Intervention

1. Case management and coordination

2. Parent training and support

3. Age-appropriate transition skills assessment and career development activities

4. Preparation for community living, including independent living skills, financial literacy, and assistive technology training

5. Work-based learning and paid employment

6. Individualized person-centered planning with students and their families—including training and skills enhancement for families

7. Benefits, work incentives, and asset accumulation, planning and assistance

8. Quality outcome payments

Project Community Support

• Research and data collection support• Intervention fidelity assessment and assistance• Just-in-Time toolkits and organizational

development support for demo sites/partners• Local leadership development through Partners in

Policy Making and Citizen-Centered Leadership Development Community of Practice

• NYESS technical assistance

• Toll-free technical assistance and referral (1-888-224-3272 or TDD: 1-877-671-6844)

• Regional Parent Training Center coordination• National technical assistance from partners• Monthly NYESS Coordinating Council Meetings• Steering Committee Meetings - TBD• Annual two-day project learning event in Albany

State Partners

• Office of Mental Health• State Education Department,

Special Education and Vocational Rehabilitation

• Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped

• Department of Labor• Office of Persons with

Developmental Disabilities• Office of Temporary and

Disability Assistance • Department of Health• Developmental Disabilities

Planning Council

Local Partners

• Schools• Disability Service Providers• Independent Living Centers• Literacy Zones• One Stop Centers• Benefits and Work Incentives

Planners• Regional Parent Centers• Regional Transition Specialists• Regional Transition Councils• State Agency, District Offices

Nat’l Partners

• National Secondary & Transition Technical Assistance Center

• Research and Training Center for Pathways to Positive Futures

• Transitions RTC• PEPnet-2• Employer Practices RRTC• National Dropout Prevention

Center for Persons w/Disabilities• Northeast ADA Center• National Employer Technical

Assistance Center• National Collaboration on

Workforce and Disability for Youth

The Management

Stakeholder

Steering

• State Agency Leads

• Core Team

Core

• OMH/RFMH

• Steering Rep

• Cornell

NYS PROMISE

Research Design and Program Logic Model

Recruitment

• Three regions – Western NY, Capital Region, NYC Bronx and Manhattan

• Sampling frame from SSA administrative data• LEAs with 80-100 SSI youth will be invited to

participate – in-person site visit• Outreach letters to families of SSI youth and invitation

to participate community forums organized by PTC• Recruitment packets provided at community forums

and/or through school case managers• Intake data entered in TID by Cornell University

Recruitment Package

• One page non-technical description of the project

• Resource links and contact information, including toll free number for neighborhood legal services

• Parent informed consent form• Program intake form• Refusal to participate form• Unique serial numbers to track

Primary Program Outcomes – Student- and parent-level• Improved educational outcomes– reduced dropout,

secondary school completion, enrollment in postsecondary education and training, increased access to educational opportunities for parents

• Improved employment outcomes – participation in internships, paid work in integrated settings at or above minimum wage, increased utilization of work incentives, full-time work and job retention, career advancement and work opportunities for parents

• Improved economic outcomes – increased skills/abilities in financial planning for youth and parents, reduced sense of reliance on public benefits, increase in income from work and increase in total household income, reduced reliance on public benefits

Primary Program Outcomes – System-level

• Increase in person-centered, coordinated and developmentally appropriate transition to adulthood services for SSI youth

• Increase in interagency collaboration and reduction in program and policy barriers for access to services

Secondary Program Outcomes

Student- and parent-level:• Increase in parental and youth participation in

transition planning• Improvement in self-determination, independent

living skills and higher expectation for postsecondary success

• Improved satisfaction with transition to adulthood services for SSI youth and families

• Improved health and well-being for SSI youth and their families

Secondary Program Outcomes

System-level:• Increase in the quality and types of services

provided by agencies and service providers for transitioning SSI youth and their families

• Establishment of state-level coordination committees for sustaining collaboration and program impact

• Increased utilization of outcomes-based payment system across agencies

Research Questions

• Did the intervention result in improved education, employment and economic outcomes for SSI youth and their parents as compared with their peers in the control group?

• Did training and technical assistance increase horizontal collaboration and coordination across agencies providing services at the state, regional and local levels? If yes, how did this work?

• Did connecting state, regional and local partners to feedback and data from the continuous quality improvement system result in critical reflection and more customized technical assistance at the state, regional and local levels? Specifically what changes resulted?

Research Questions (cont.)

• Did the intervention result in improved participation by SSI youth and their parents in transition planning and services as compared with their peers in the control group? What local factors & strategies are most associated with increased participation?

• Did the outcomes-based funding system improve services at the local level? If so, how did this work?

• Did youth and parents improve their attitudes, awareness, knowledge and skills?

• What was the experience of treatment group SSI youth and their parents navigating the transition process? How did their experiences compare with those of the control group?

• Were local educational agencies, local providers, treatment group SSI youth and parents satisfied?

MIS: Tracking Participation, Service Needs, and Outcomes

Tools/Instruments Domains tracked

a. Transition Impact Data (TID) System

1. SSI youth background information;2. SSI youth and parental participation in transition planning, career development activities, work-based learning and employment experiences;3. Referrals and receipt of services from partner providers

b. SSI youth and parent/guardian interview

1. SSI youth self-determination & independent living skills;2. SSI youth and parent/guardian expectations;3. SSI youth and parent/guardian knowledge and attitudes towards public benefits and work;4. SSI youth and parent/guardian satisfaction with services and unmet service needs;5. Exit interviews - tracking postsecondary employment, education, and economic outcomes

c. Qualitative longitudinal follow-up study of SSI youth, parents and RDS personnel

Perceived changes in access to services and service quality

MIS: Tracking Referrals, Services Received, and Program Implementation

Tools/Instruments Domains tracked

d. NYESS adminstrative data

1. Customer Data – basic identifiers including SSN, ethnicity, race, education, employment status, work history, employment goals, military service.2. Services – the type of employment services the NYESS customer is receiving, specific start date and specific end date;3. Service provider agency;4. Day-to-day employment support services provided to the individual customer to calculate percentage of target reached for outcomes-based payment systems

e. Program fidely assessment tool kit

1. Assesing fidelity to program structure and processes2. Documenting adaptations

f. Online technical assistance tracking system

1. Technical assistance information, including contact type, date of intervention, duration, provider, topic, description of services rendered, result of intervention / outcome, next steps, participant identifiers (personal and project), and a link to have individual participants do an online evaluation of supports provided and impact.2. Training information including logistics and location, type of training, topic; training materials used, participant registrations information including demographics, identification of participant coursework completed, trainer information, accommodations requested, room block information, shipping information, number of contact hours of event, number of participants requesting CEUs and/or CRC re-certification credits, summaries of completed training quality assessments

MIS: Tracking System-level Changes

Tools/Instruments Domains tracked

g. Collaboration survey Study the strength and quality of collaboration at local RDS-levels

h. Qualitative interveiw data of NYESS coordinating council members

Document policy changes to enable high quality collaboration and study the implementation of outcomes-based payment system

i. Meeting notes from NYESS coordinating council meetings

Document new process activities and policies developed for enhancing coordination and delivery of services

Program Fidelity Assessment

• Multiple sources• Intervention design manual• Monitoring intervention of delivery• Monitoring intervention receipt• Establish baseline with periodic follow-up

annually

SRC Considerations

• QAI Subcommittee:– Quarterly outcome data– Fidelity assessment and progress

• Policy Subcommittee:– Consideration of policy and practice facilitators and

inhibitors to transition success– Interface between Special Education and VR

• Workforce Subcommittee:– NYESS and DOL interface– Promising work-based learning policies and practices

Contact Information

• John Allen, Co-Principal Investigator, Operations• Andrew Karhan, Project Director

Office of Mental Health

44 Holland Avenue, Albany NY 12234

518.473.6579 (phone)

Andrew.Karhan@omh.ny.gov (e-mail)

John.Allen@omh.ny.gov (e-mail)

• Thomas P. Golden, Co-Principal Investigator, Training and Capacity• Arun Karpur, Co-Principal Investigator, Research and Design

Cornell University, Employment and Disability Institute

201 Dolgen Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-3901

607.255.2731 (phone)

tpg3@cornell.edu (e-mail)

ak564@cornell.edu (e-mail)

 

•  • Website (forthcoming): www.nyspromise.org• Toll-free technical support: 1.888.224.3272 0r 1.877.671.6844 (TDD)