Youth Transition Demonstration

Current: Colorado, Florida, New York (two projects), Maryland, and West Virginia Previous: California, Iowa, Maryland (one project), Mississippi, Vermont, and Washington

The Florida, Maryland, and West Virginia projects began enrollment in April 2008.

All other projects completed enrollment.

Summary

YTD projects currently are operating in six States. Three of these projects are from the group of seven original YTD projects that began in September 2003; three are new projects that began full implementation in April 2008.

The YTD project staff developed service delivery systems to assist youth with disabilities to successfully transition from school, which may include post-secondary education, to employment and economic self-sufficiency. The staff established partnerships to improve employment outcomes for youths aged 14-25 who receive SSI or SSDI payments based on their own disability, as well as youths at risk of receiving such benefits. They provide a broad array of transition-related services and supports to participants.

Waiving certain disability program rules and offering services to youths encourages them to work and/or continue their education. Services include:

• Individualized work-based experiences,
• Youth empowerment and family supports,
• System linkage facilitation services,
• Social and health services, and
• Benefits counseling.

Detailed Description

View the Detailed Description of the Demonstration online.
Print out a Detailed Factsheet.



Related Links

YTD Help
YTD New Projects Announcement
YTD Project Descriptions
Profiles of the Random Assignment Projects Report (December 11, 2008)
YTD Modified SSI Program Rules (Waivers) Descriptions

Status

We awarded a national evaluation contract to Mathematica Policy Research (MPR) in September 2005. MPR along with its partners MDRC, the Cornell University Institute for Policy Research, and TransCen continues to develop and evaluate the YTD projects. The Colorado, Florida, New York (two projects), Maryland, and West Virginia projects use a random assignment model. The Florida, Maryland, and West Virginia projects began enrollment in April 2008. All other projects have completed enrollment. The California and Mississippi projects completed implementation of non-random assignment models in 2007. Staff from all projects met in Buffalo, New York for the annual conference in March 2009. The YTD national evaluation will run through 2014.