Promoting the Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income

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

The Problem

• • • The number of youth on SSI continues 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 voc. Rehab., 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

• • • •

STUDENTS NEED…

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

FAMILIES NEED…

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

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

The Challenge

NYS PROMISE will utilize an

indigenous model

that

naturally equips

and engages schools, local disability service providers, ILCs, one stop centers, literacy zones, regional PTCs, work incentive planners, regional transition specialists, and other community transition stakeholders to

achieve higher

postsecondary employment, education and economic

outcomes

for SSI youth by...

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 with the other half assigned to a control group * LEAs may be an individual school, district, BOCES, or larger overarching entity

Local & Regional Partners

• • • • • • • • • Schools Disability Service Providers Independent Living Centers Literacy Zones One Stop Centers Benefits and Work Incentives Planners Regional Parent Centers Regional Transition Specialists & Transition Councils State Agency, District Offices

State Partners

The PROMISE Treatment and Process

Key NYS PROMISE Interventions

• • • • • Outcomes-based payment model PROMISE-sponsored case management & service coordination PROMISE-sponsored parent training, information & family coaching CQI feed-back loops: Project MIS, Fidelity & TA Access to National and State TA on best practices

Outcomes-Based Payment Model

• • • • • • Delivered through a network of NYESS registered and selected local-providers Clear definitions of service types Deliverables and outcomes Staff qualifications Payment amounts including service duration in number of hours of interventions Detailed rubric modeled after VR-YES

Services in the Outcomes-Based Payment Model

• • • • • • • Community-based workplace assessment Career-planning and preparation services Community unpaid work experience Sponsored community work experience Job development and paid work experience services Benefits, work incentives, and asset development planning and assistance Financial literacy training

PROMISE-Outcome Based Services SERVICE & DESCRIPTION Community Based Workplace Assessment Career Planning and Preparation services DELIVERABLES & OUTCOMES FOR PAYMENT

Vocational Assessment Profile Report Report indicating type of services provided, summary of progress, and an action plan

STAFFING QUALIFICATION & REQUIREMENTS

Evaluator I Associate’s degree & a min. of 2 yrs experience.

PAYMENT RATE & AUTHORIZATION

Per Hour, 10-20 hrs: Region 1 - $67 Region 2 - $57 Region 3 - $62 ‘Per student,’ 1/2 day basis, S.A. up to 10 units, rate: $50

Community Unpaid Work Experience

Report indicating type of services provided, summary of the student’s work experience progress, and an action plan.

Associate’s degree & a min. of 2 yrs experience.

This is a ‘per student’, flat fee service, rate: Region 1 - $515 Region 2 - $464 Region 3 - $489

PROMISE- Outcome Based Services TITLE & DESCRIPTION Sponsored Community Work Experience DELIVERABLES & OUTCOMES FOR PAYMENT

• • Paid internship experience max. of 160 hours. Report w/ copies of pay stubs, data relating to the experience, and the student’s ability to meet job functions & expectations.

STAFFING QUALIFICATION & REQUIREMENTS PAYMENT RATE & AUTHORIZATION

Associate’s degree & min. of 2 yrs experience ‘Per student’, per hr, S.A. up to 160 units, rate: $10

Job Development and Paid Work Experience

• • Paid work experience, min.

of 90 days & acquired work readiness skills.

Report including data relating to employment & student’s ability to meet job functions/ expectations.

Associate’s degree & min. of 2 yrs experience ‘Per student’, per day basis, S.A. up to 60 units, rate: Region 1 - $46 Region 2 - $42 Region 3 - $44

PROMISE- Outcome Based Services TITLE & DESCRIPTION Benefits, Work Incentives, & Asset Development Planning & Assistance Financial Literacy Training DELIVERABLES & OUTCOMES FOR PAYMENT

Report with benefits analysis, work incentives and asset accumulation plan, and an action plan for next steps.

Report which includes an outline of the curriculum, achievements, & financial literacy action plan.

STAFFING QUALIFICATION & REQUIREMENTS

NYS Certification in Benefits, Work Incentives & Asset Accumulation; or certification w/ VCU Documentation of credentials for using identified curriculum

Quality Outcome Payments

Complete form along w/ evidence of earnings.

N/A

PAYMENT RATE & AUTHORIZATION

‘Per student,’ per hr, S.A. up to 20, rate: Region 1 - $52 Region 2 - $46 Region 3 - $49 ‘Per family’, flat fee, rate: Region 1 - $500 Region 2 - $450 Region 3 - $475 One-time: Region 1 - $520 Region 2 - $400 Region 3 - $400

Case Management and Service Coordination

• • • • • • Ongoing service planning and case management Access to information on local service providers Access to TA for brokering relationships between LEAs and local service providers Opportunities for leadership development in advocacy of other local services through training (i.e., Partners in Policymaking and Citizen-Centered Leadership Development) Access to NYESS system for – tracking student and parental participation and progress; – make referrals to local service providers; – receive and accept reported service outcomes; and – enabling coordination of services Archive data electronically to track and calibrate services to student needs

Parent Training, Information & Family Coaching

• • Targeted topical training on: – – effective person-centered transition planning; increasing postsecondary expectations; – – linking to education and employment supports; self-determination and advocacy; and, – other transition-related topics Individualized family coaching, and information and referral for other community services and supports to advance family-level economic, employment and educational development

Recruitment

• • • • • Three regions – Western NY, Capital Region, NYC Sampling frame from SSA Outreach letters to families of SSI youth and invitation to participate community forums organized by PTCs and LEAs Recruitment packets provided at community forums and/or through school case managers Intake data entered in NYESS by Cornell University

The New York Employment Support System (NYESS)

NYESS

• • • • A single approach to linking and coordinating employment supports across systems Provide all New Yorkers with a single point to access to all employment-related services, regardless of their (dis)ability Developed under the NYS Comprehensive Employment Systems Change Grant Managed Jointly by OMH and DOL

NYESS – New PROMISE Fields

• • • • • Collects data on student background, demographics, participation in ed. & voc. programming, person centered planning in the IEP Capability of making electronic referrals, tracking progress from providers, and accept milestones-based outcomes reported by providers Generates a longitudinal archive of this info. – updated quarterly as well as ongoing real-time reporting Generates automatic reports for CQI Will be integrated in state-wide NYESS system

OMH Role in NYESS

• • • • • Provide NYESS utilization training to LEAs, PTCs, and providers Recruitment of local providers for service delivery engagement Ongoing monitoring and support for the NYESS Report generation and progress reporting NYESS system enhancements Ensuring seamless implementation of Partnership Plus

Research Design and Evaluation

• • •

Design

Randomized Control Trail – 1,000 Tx & 1,000 Control Research conducted by Cornell & Mathematica Data will be collected throughout the project – 6 month & 24 month – 18 month & 60 month

Evaluation 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?

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?

Evaluation Questions (Cont.)

• • • • • Did the intervention result in improved participation by youth on

SSI 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 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 youth and parents satisfied?

Formative Evaluation Approach

• • • • • Grounded in continuous quality improvement Collects data from multiple sources Tracks recruitment, retention, program participation, and service delivery Tracks changes at youth/family-level and system-level Assesses fidelity to best practices and treatment differentiation

Primary Outcomes

• • •

Student and Parent Level-

Improved educational outcomes Improved employment outcomes Improved economic outcomes • •

System Level-

Increase in person-centered, coordinated and developmentally appropriate transition to adulthood services for youth on SSI Increase in interagency collaboration and reduction in program and policy barriers for access to services

Secondary Outcomes

• • • •

Student and Parent Level-

Increase in parental & youth participation in transition planning Improvement in self-determination, independent living skills & higher expectation for postsecondary success Improved satisfaction with transition to adulthood services for youth on SSI & their families Improved health and well-being for youth on SSI & their families • • •

System Level-

Increase in the quality & types of services provided by agencies & service providers for transitioning youth on SSI & their families Establishment of state-level coordination committees for sustaining collaboration and program impact Increased utilization of outcomes-based payment system across agencies

Tracking Participation, Service Delivery, Service Needs, and Outcomes

• • • • • NYESS – inclusive of Transition Data features Youth and family survey Qualitative longitudinal study Online Technical Assistance Tracking (OTAT) system Program fidelity assessment

Program Fidelity Tools

• • • • • Informed from multiple sources Data collection systems Initial assessment in Y1 for tool refinement and baseline Conduct psychometric testing – construct and convergent validity, and reliability checks Identify parameters to quantitatively summarize the strength of intervention

National Evaluator Mathematica Policy Research

• • • • • • Will provide system for randomized Will conduct 18 & 60 month youth and parent survey We will coordinate with MPR in youth & parent survey Will need periodic access to state administrative data sets to track impact of treatment Will conduct site visits and focus groups with youth and families Will provide mid-project and end-of-the project report on the program impact

Contact Us

• • • • • • • John Allen, Co-Principal Investigator, Operations Andrew Karhan, Project Director Office of Mental Health 44 Holland Avenue, Albany NY 12234 518.473.6579 (phone) [email protected]

(e-mail) Andy Sink, Deputy Director Kelly Stengel, Project Coordinator Jessica Ellott, Provider Network Coordinator Office of Mental Health 44 Holland Avenue, Albany NY 12234 518.473.2631 (phone) [email protected]

(e-mail) Thomas P. Golden, Co-Principal Investigator, Training and Capacity Arun Karpur, Co-Principal Investigator, Research and Design

Toll-free technical support: 1.800.PROMISE (776.6473)or 1.877.671.6844 (TDD) [email protected]

(email) www.NYSPROMISE.org