Individuals receiving disability  benefits, including transition-age youth on SSI, are generally presumed  eligible for VR services and considered individuals with a significant  disability. Schools’ Role in Transition Planning for Youth with Disabilities

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides formula  grants to states, which pass them to eligible local education agencies to  assist in providing special education and related services. SSA’s Efforts to Encourage Employment Reach Few Transition-Age Youth and SSA Does Not Consistently Convey Information About Working

		SSA Administers Work Incentives, but Few Transition-Age Youth Benefit from Them

SSA’s role in encouraging employment for transition-age youth on SSI as  they move into adulthood is focused on administering work incentives and  other employment supports that allow them to keep at least some of their  benefits even if they have earnings. Few transition-age youth on SSI benefit from SEIE—the only SSA- administered work incentive targeted specifically to younger SSI  recipients. SSA  data show that few transition-age youth benefit from SEIE, in part,  because few have earned income. However, our analysis of SSA data found that even among those  transition-age youth with earned income, most often less than half  benefited from SEIE. 1.) However, SSA officials were unable to provide data on the  number of individuals who applied for and ultimately did not benefit  because the agency does not maintain these data in a format that would  allow for this type of analysis. SSA Misses Opportunities to Convey Information to Encourage Work and Allay Fears that Work May Result in Loss of Benefits

According to SSA officials, VR staff, and other stakeholders with whom  we spoke, transition-age youth and their families are often unaware of or  do not understand SSA-administered work incentives and supports, and  may fear that working will negatively affect their SSI or Medicaid  benefits. In addition, some stakeholders, including WIPA project and VR staff, told us that written material, such as a brochure, may not be  sufficient to convey complex information on work incentives and how  working affects benefits. SSA Does Not Have a Systematic Way to Connect Transition- Age Youth on SSI to Vocational Rehabilitation Services and Data Sharing is Limited

		SSA Does Not Have a Systematic Way to Connect Transition-Age Youth to Vocational Rehabilitation Services

Having access to individualized training and employment services  provided by VR agencies helps transition-age youth on SSI develop the  skills they need to transition to adulthood and the workforce. Specifically, in four of the five states, the percentage of transition-age  youth ages 14 to 17 on SSI with open VR service records was less than 1  percent. Without direct referrals from SSA and access to the Ticket to Work  program, the primary way that youth on SSI are connected to VR is  through their schools. 2). Federal standards for internal control state that  agencies should use quality information to achieve their objectives. Absent data on whether youth on SSI have IEPs that can help them  connect to transition services or additional options for connecting youth to  VR services, SSA cannot ensure that these youth are receiving or have  access to services they need to help them prepare for adulthood and the  workforce. However, SSA is well positioned to  work with Education to determine the extent to which transition-age youth  on SSI are not being connected to VR services for which they are eligible,  and to assess options to better ensure they receive them, as appropriate. SSA disagreed with our recommendation that it analyze options to  improve communication about SSA-administered work incentives and the  implications of work on SSI benefits. Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

This report examines 1) how the Social Security Administration (SSA)  encourages employment for transition-age youth on Supplemental  Security Income (SSI) as they move toward adulthood, and the  effectiveness of these efforts, and 2) the extent to which SSA helps  ensure transition-age youth on SSI receive vocational rehabilitation  services. To determine the extent to which youth benefit from SSA- administered work incentives or other employment supports, we  reviewed or analyzed available data from SSA on the number of  transition-age youth benefiting from various work incentives, as  follows:
For the Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE), the Plan to Achieve  Self-Support (PASS), Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE),  and Blind Work Expenses (BWE), we analyzed data provided by SSA  from its Disability Analysis File (DAF) for SSI recipients ages 14 to 17  for calendar years 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. To determine how youth on SSI and their families are informed about SSI  program rules, work incentives, eligibility for VR, and other supports, we  reviewed relevant procedures and information and notices provided by  SSA to SSI recipients, their families, and their representative payees. We also collected data from state VR agencies in the five states on the  number of transition-age youth on SSI with open VR service records in  calendar year 2015, to analyze the extent to which youth were receiving  VR services.
Why GAO Did This Study

The number of individuals with disabilities under age 18 receiving SSI benefits increased by about 44 percent from 2000 through 2016. Youth ages 14 to 17 with disabilities face many challenges achieving self-sufficiency as they transition to adulthood. GAO was asked to examine SSA's efforts to encourage employment for these transition-age youth.
This report examines 1) SSA efforts to encourage employment for transition-age youth on SSI as they move toward adulthood and their effectiveness; and 2) the extent to which SSA helps ensure these youth receive vocational rehabilitation services. GAO analyzed SSA data on work incentives for calendar years 2012-2015, the most recent available, and data from five state VR agencies for calendar year 2015; reviewed relevant laws, policies, and research; and interviewed SSA staff and state VR officials in several states chosen for their SSI youth populations and VR outcomes.

What GAO Found

The Social Security Administration's (SSA) primary approach for encouraging employment for transition-age youth (ages 14 to 17) with disabilities who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is work incentives that allow them to keep at least some of their SSI benefits and Medicaid coverage while they work. But few transition-age youth benefit from these incentives. SSI is a means-tested program that provides cash benefits to eligible low-income aged, blind, and disabled individuals. SSA administers several work incentives that allow SSI recipients to exclude some income and expenses when calculating SSI benefits. The work incentive targeted specifically to younger SSI recipients is the Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE), which allows income to be excluded from benefits calculations if a recipient is a student under age 22. However, less than 1.5 percent of all transition-age youth—and generally less than half of those with earnings—benefited from SEIE in 2012 through 2015. SSA does not analyze these data, and thus cannot determine why the majority of youth with earnings are not benefiting from SEIE, when they may be eligible. SSA data also show that almost no youth benefited from other incentives that allow them to exclude earnings used for specific purposes, such as the Impairment-Related Work Expenses incentive. The effectiveness of SSA-administered work incentives may be further limited because, according to SSA and other officials, youth and their families are often unaware of or do not understand them, and may fear that work will negatively affect their benefits or eligibility. SSA policy requires staff to provide accurate and meaningful information about relevant SSI policies to claimants and recipients. However, GAO found that SSA does not have sufficient procedures in place to ensure that information on work incentives and how work affects benefits and eligibility is consistently communicated to youth and their families. As a result, SSA may miss opportunities to promote work incentives and other supports, allay fears, and potentially reduce dependence of transition-age youth on SSI benefits.
SSA does not have a systematic way to connect transition-age youth on SSI to state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies that provide training and employment services under the VR State Grants program administered by the Department of Education (Education). Although youth receiving SSI are generally presumed to be eligible for VR services, GAO found that less than 1 percent had an open VR service record in 2015 in four of the five states from which GAO collected VR data. Legislation in 1999 created the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency program, which expanded the number and types of employment service providers for individuals with disabilities. However, SSA limited eligibility to recipients age 18 and older. While transition-age youth receiving special education services can be connected to VR agencies through their schools, the extent to which this happens—and whether they are on SSI—is unknown because data to make such determinations are not systematically collected by SSA or schools. Federal standards for internal control call for agencies to use quality information to achieve their objectives. Without relevant data or additional options for connecting youth to VR services, SSA cannot ensure that transition-age youth on SSI are being connected to these services, which can help to prepare them for adulthood and the workforce.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends SSA 1) analyze why youth on SSI with earnings did not benefit from SEIE, 2) improve communication about work incentives and rules, 3) work with Education to determine how many youth on SSI are not connected to VR services, and 4) explore options to further connect them. SSA agreed in whole or in part with three recommendations. SSA disagreed that its communication on work incentives and rules needs to be improved, stating field staff provides information to youth, and it has created new written material. GAO maintains SSA's communication could be improved as presented in this report.