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 New York State PROMISE (NYS 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 New York site. Using participant surveys and administrative data, the authors conducted statistical models to compare the outcomes of the treatment and control group members.
- The study found that NYS PROMISE participants were significantly more likely to receive job-related training and have paid employment compared to control participants.
- This study receives a high causal evidence rating. This means we are confident that the estimated effects are attributable to NYS PROMISE, and not to other factors.
Intervention Examined
New York State Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (NYS 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 New York State Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (NYS PROMISE) is one of six programs that make up PROMISE. NYS PROMISE was led by the New York States Office of Mental Health which was implemented in three geographic regions across New York state in October 2014. Seven research demonstration sites were contracted to provide NYS PROMISE services statewide. The research demonstration sites provided case management to youth, while local community providers were used to deliver employment and education services, benefits counseling, financial literacy training, and access to parent centers to provide family coaching and training to parents. NYS 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 that assigned 1,967 youth into a treatment or control group. The treatment group received NYS PROMISE services while the control group received services that were available through their community, but NYS PROMISE assigned each control group youth a case manager. NYS 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 NYS PROMISE were assigned to the same group as their siblings and were withheld from the study analysis. The analytic sample consisted of 853 youth in the treatment group and 838 youth in the control group. The sample was primarily male (67.9%) with an average age of 15.4 years. Most of the sample were Non-Hispanic Black (40.4%) and had an intellectual or developmental disability (57.3%). Primary data sources included an 18-month follow-up survey that was provided to youth and their caregivers, SSA administrative records, state Medicaid agency records, and state vocational rehabilitation 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 found that significantly more NYS PROMISE participants than control participants received job-related training (23.2% vs. 14.2%).
- The study did not find significant differences between the groups in school enrollment, obtaining a job-related credential, or obtaining a GED, high school diploma, or certificate of completion during the study period.
Employment
- The study found that significantly more NYS PROMISE participants than control participants had paid employment during the study period (28.8% vs. 23.1%).
- The study did not find a significant difference between the groups in weekly hours worked in paid jobs.
Earnings and wages
- The study did not find a significant difference between the groups in earnings during the study period.
Public benefits receipt
- The study did not find significant differences between the groups in total income (earnings and SSA payments) or total SSA payments.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
Since the control group received case management from NYS PROMISE, it is possible that the control group may have received access to more services than they normally would have had access to without study participation. This may have muted some effects that the NYS PROMISE had on outcomes. Also, 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 NYS PROMISE, and not to other factors.