Absent of conflict of interests.
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 Arkansas 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 Arkansas 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 did not find any significant differences between the Arkansas PROMISE participants and control participants on education, employment, earnings, or public benefits receipt outcomes.
- This study receives a high causal evidence rating. This means we are confident that any estimated effects are attributable to Arkansas PROMISE, and not to other factors. However, the study did not find statistically significant effects.
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 Arkansas Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (Arkansas PROMISE) is one of six programs that make up PROMISE. Arkansas PROMISE began in September 2014 and was led by the Arkansas Department of Education. The Arkansas Department of Education partnered with the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions to coordinate and implement the program within 25 of the 75 counties in Arkansas. The University of Arkansas contracted with five partner organizations to provide direct services to youth and their families. Arkansas PROMISE provided intensive case management, vocational evaluations and career readiness training, two-week summer work internships, and financial education. Case managers had access to discretionary funds that allowed them to aid youth families to cover transportation needs, school supplies, tuition, utilities, and phone bills. Arkansas 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 1,805 eligible youth, 904 were randomly assigned to the treatment group and 901 were randomly assigned to the control group. The treatment group received Arkansas PROMISE services while the control group received services that were available through their community. Arkansas 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 Arkansas PROMISE were assigned to the same group as their siblings and were withheld from the study analysis. The analytic sample consisted of 733 youth in the treatment group and 708 youth in the control group. The sample was primarily male (66%) with an average age of 15.4 years. Almost half were Non-Hispanic Black (48%), and 43% of youth described their disability as other mental impairment. 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 did not find significant differences between the groups in receipt of SSA payments, total SSA payments in the past year or during the 5 years since random assignment.
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 any estimated effects are attributable to Arkansas PROMISE, and not to other factors. However, the study did not find statistically significant effects.