Summary
State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies, under the Department of Education (Education), play a crucial role in helping individuals with disabilities prepare for and obtain employment, including individuals receiving disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). In a prior report (GAO-05-865), GAO found that state VR agencies varied in the rates of employment achieved for SSA beneficiaries. To help understand this variation, this report analyzed SSA and Education data and surveyed state agencies to determine the extent to which (1) agencies varied in earnings outcomes over time; (2) differences in state economic conditions, client demographic traits, and agency strategies could account for agency performance; and (3) Education's data could be used to identify factors that account for differences in individual earnings outcomes.
Our analysis of data on state agency outcomes for SSA beneficiaries completing VR found that state agencies varied widely across different outcome measures for the years of our review. For example, from 2001 to 2003 average annual earnings levels among those SSA beneficiaries with earnings during the year after completing VR varied across state agencies from about $1,500 to nearly $17,000. After controlling for a range of factors, we found that much of the differences in state agency earnings outcomes could be explained by state economic conditions and the characteristics of the agencies' clientele. Together state unemployment rates and per capita income levels accounted for roughly one-third of the differences between state agencies in the proportion of SSA beneficiaries that had earnings during the year after VR. The demographic profile of SSA clients being served at an agency--such as the proportion of women beneficiaries--also accounted for some of the variation in earnings outcomes. We also found that after controlling for other factors, a few agency practices appeared to yield positive earnings results. For example, state agencies with a higher proportion of state-certified counselors had more SSA beneficiaries with earnings during the year after completing VR. However, we were unable to determine what factors might account for differences in earnings outcomes at the individual level. This was due in part to Education's data, which lacked information on important factors that research has linked to work outcomes, such as detailed data on the severity of clients' disabilities. Although Education collects extensive client-level data, some key data are self-reported and not always verified by state agencies.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Daniel Bertoni
Government Accountability Office: Applied Research and Methods
(202) 512-4997
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To improve the effectiveness of Education's program evaluation efforts and ultimately the management of vocational rehabilitation programs, the Secretary of Education should further promote agency practices that show promise for helping more SSA disability beneficiaries participate in the workforce. Such a strategy should seek to increase: (1) the percentage of VR staff who meet state standards and certifications established under the CSPD, (2) partnership or involvement with area business communities, and (3) collaboration with other agencies that provide complementary services.
Agency Affected: Department of Education
Status: In process
Comments: In July 2007, Education stated that it agreed with GAO's recommendation and favored the promotion and adoption of promising practices to promote rehabilitations of Social Security disability beneficiaries. The Department said it agrees that it is important to ensure that VR staff meet state personnel requirements as reflected in the comprehensive system of personnel development. Education also said that it has a variety of initiatives underway to reach out to businesses and will continue to promote collaboration between business and rehabilitation communities. Additionally, Education said that it seeks to encourage and support the development of collaborative relationships, particularly at the service delivery level. The Department is making efforts to promote transition programming as it believes that collaborative relationships can be particularly valuable in this area.
Recommendation: To improve the effectiveness of Education's program evaluation efforts and ultimately the management of vocational rehabilitation programs, the Secretary of Education should reassess Education's collection of VR client data through consultation with outside experts in vocational rehabilitation and the state agencies. In particular, it should: (1) consider the importance of data elements that are self-reported by the client and explore cost-effective approaches for verifying these data, and (2) consider collecting additional data that may be related to work outcomes, such as more detailed data on the severity of the client's disability and past earnings history, collaborating whenever possible with other state and federal agencies to collect this information.
Agency Affected: Department of Education
Status: In process
Comments: Education will examine cost-effective approaches to verifying data elements, notably the self-reported earnings of program participants. To do this, it will consult with its grantees and experts and continue to work with other federal and state agencies to explore the possibility of using state unemployment insurance data as an earnings proxy. Education will also explore the expansion of the existing datalink between Education, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, and the Social Security Administration to allow for comparison of vocational rehabilitation clients self-reported earnings data with Social Security data on a national level. Education stated that while it would be possible to apply measures of functional capacity to rehabilitation program input criteria and output measures for purposes of reporting the severity of disability, the changes to do so would be far-reaching and complex. Therefore, Education believes these changes may be more appropriate through legislative action.
