Demonstrations
According to SSA.gov:
TThe Social Security Administration (SSA) conducts numerous research and demonstration projects to study ways to improve services to our current and future beneficiaries. We support a number of demonstrations and projects intended to address the broad needs of beneficiaries with disabilities. These projects can lead to ways to better serve individuals with disabilities including potentially changing program rules to allow for better coordination among other Federal and State programs. We also receive funding for projects through specific congressional mandates. These projects support specific program changes or outreach activities targeted to populations in particular need.
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SSA's Demonstrations:
01.
POD tested simplified work incentives and a benefit offset in the SSDI program to determine its effects on outcomes such as earnings, employment, and benefit payments. Section 823 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 directed the agency to carry out POD.
02.
The purpose of the Benefit Offset project was to determine the effect of various interventions, in combination with a benefit offset, on employment outcomes including wages, benefits, hours worked, and job retention. We tested a $1 reduction in benefits for every $2 in earnings over substantial gainful activity levels, in combination with benefits counseling, with the goal of helping beneficiaries with disabilities return to work.
03.
The HOPE initiative focused on assisting eligible, chronically homeless individuals in applying for SSI and SSDI benefits. We developed the project to test the effectiveness of using skilled medical and social service providers to identify and engage homeless individuals with disabling conditions and assist them in filing for benefits within current policy.
04.
MHTS evaluated the impact that better access to treatment and employment support services would have on outcomes such as medical recovery, functioning, employment, and benefit receipt for SSDI beneficiaries with a primary impairment of schizophrenia or affective disorder.
05.
​SSA partnered with the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to fund eighteen State demonstrations to develop innovative projects to assist individuals with disabilities in their efforts to reenter the workforce. These awards helped States develop State-wide programs of services and support for their residents with disabilities that increased job opportunities for them and decreased the dependence on benefits, including SSDI and SSI.
06.
The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) appropriated funds to design, develop, and implement an early intervention demonstration to test innovative strategies aimed at helping people with disabilities remain in the workforce.
07.
We held a virtual state of the science meeting in June 2021 to discuss the lessons learned from our past demonstrations. To find out more about the event, including accessing the slides and learning about the planned release of a published volume of the papers in the fall, please see our Lessons Learned project page.
08.
More Demonstrations coming soon
TBD
