Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the impact of the Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE) program on education, employment, earnings, and public benefits receipt outcomes. This profile focuses on the Maryland PROMISE (MD PROMISE) program. The authors investigated similar research questions for other sites, the profiles of which can be found here:
- The study was a randomized controlled trial at the Maryland site. Using participant surveys and administrative data, the authors conducted statistical models to compare the outcomes of the treatment and control group participants five years after randomization.
- The study found that MD PROMISE participants received significantly more SSA payments and had significantly higher total SSA payments during the 5 years since random assignment compared to participants in the control group.
- This study receives a high causal evidence rating. This means we are confident that the estimated effects are attributable to MD PROMISE, and not to other factors.
Intervention Examined
Maryland Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (MD PROMISE)
Features of the Intervention
The Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE) was a program jointly created by the U.S. Department of Education, Social Security Administration (SSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Labor to provide supports and services to youth with disabilities who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits in their transition to adulthood.
The Maryland Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (MD PROMISE) is one of six programs that make up PROMISE. In April 2014, the Maryland Department of Disabilities led MD PROMISE and contracted with three organization to provide services to participants statewide, while a fourth organization provided technical assistance to program staff. MD PROMISE created and implemented an assertive case management system that included a multidisciplinary team that delivered person- and family-centric services in the community with program youth. The team provided paid and unpaid work experience, job search services, and employer outreach. When necessary, the team referred participants out to other providers to receive benefits counseling, financial classes, financial counseling, and financial coaching. Additionally, youth and their families were linked to adult and post-secondary education services. MD PROMISE served youth between the ages of 14 and 16 who had a disability and received SSI benefits.
Features of the Study
The study was a randomized controlled trial. Of the 1,866 eligible youth, 936 were randomly assigned to the treatment group and 930 were randomly assigned to the control group. The treatment group received MD PROMISE services while the control group received services that were available through their community. MD PROMISE was allowed to nonrandomly assign five youth to the treatment group; however, their data were not included in the analysis. Additionally, siblings of youth who were already enrolled in MD PROMISE were assigned to the same group as their sibling and were withheld from the study analysis. The analytic sample consisted of 738 youth in the treatment group and 748 youth in the control group. The sample was primarily male (65%) with an average age of 15.8 years. Most of the sample were non-Hispanic Black (53%) and had described their disability as other mental impairment (48%). Primary data sources included surveys administered at 18 months and five-years post-randomization to participants, SSA records, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) records, and Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) records. Study authors used statistical models to compare the outcomes of the treatment group and control group members.
Findings
Education and skills gains
- The study did not find a significant difference between the groups in obtaining a GED, high school diploma, or certificate of completion during the study period.
Employment
- The study did not find a significant difference between the groups in paid employment.
Earnings and wages
- The study did not find significant differences between the groups in earnings in the past year or during the 5 years since random assignment.
Public benefits receipt
- The study found that significantly more MD PROMISE participants received SSA payments and had significantly higher total SSA payments during the 5 years since random assignment than control participants. However, no significant difference was found in total SSA payments in the past year.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The study authors report a less stringent statistical significance level, considering p-values of less than 0.10 to be significant, though it is standard practice to consider statistical significance if the p-value is less than 0.05. Only results that demonstrate a p-value of less than 0.05 are considered statistically significant in this profile.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is high because it was based on a well-implemented randomized controlled trial. This means we are confident that the estimated effects are attributable to MD PROMISE, and not to other factors.