Fast Track Processes Public Use Files
National Beneficiary Service (NBS) Public Use Files
Contact Information
For additional information, e-mail OPDR.PUF@ssa.gov.
The Fast Track Process Public Use Files
We are committed to providing benefits quickly to claimants whose medical conditions are so serious that they clearly meet our disability standards. Our two fast-track processes, Quick Disability Determinations (QDD) and Compassionate Allowances (CAL), use technology to identify claimants with the most severe disabilities and allow us to expedite our decisions on those cases while maintaining accuracy. These initiatives have been two of our greatest successes in recent years. We can approve some cases in a matter of days instead of months.
The QDD process uses a computer-based predictive model to screen initial applications to identify cases where a favorable disability determination is highly likely and medical evidence is readily available. By identifying QDD claims early in the process, we can prioritize this workload and expedite case processing. We have used QDD nationally since February 2008. We continue to refine the QDD predictive model to maximize its capacity to identify accurately these cases, so that we can expand the QDD process to serve additional claimants. For more information about the QDD process, see the Quick Disability Determinations homepage.
The CAL process is a way of quickly identifying diseases and other medical conditions that invariably qualify under the Listing of Impairments based on minimal objective medical information. The CAL process allows us to target quickly the most obviously disabled individuals for allowances based on objective medical evidence that we can obtain quickly. For more information about the CAL process, see the Compassionate Allowances homepage.
Description
The datasets provide, by state, the total number and percentage of initial disability fast‑track and electronic cases that were received and accepted by the Disability Determination Services (DDS), Extended Service Team (EST), or a federal site during the reporting fiscal years (FY) 2010 and 2011.
A case can include one or more claims filed by an individual.
Fast-tracked cases consist of those cases identified as Quick Disability Determination (QDD), Compassionate Allowance (CAL), or both.
FY 2010 and FY 2011 represent the reporting periods of September 26, 2009 through September 24, 2010 and September 25, 2010 through September 30, 2012, respectively. A reporting month runs from the last Saturday of the month through the last Friday of the following month.
One of the performance measures for the Agency is to “achieve the target percentage of initial disability claims identified as Quick Disability Determination (QDD) or a Compassionate Allowance (CAL).” This performance measure is a national percentage based on the cases identified as QDD or CAL for the reporting month of September. We derived the percentages reported in these datasets in the same manner as this performance measure except that we expanded the criteria to include fast-tracked cases for the entire reporting FY.
Data Collection Description
The datasets represent the agency’s programmatic disability data used to administer the disability process and are published in official agency reports.
Technical Documentation
We provide the datasets for FY 2010 and 2011 in an excel spreadsheet (.xls) and a comma-separated values (.csv) file. The data are summarized at the state level, sorted in ascending order by state, and include the following categories:
- State (Column A)
- State Abbreviation (Column B)
- Region (Column C)
- Total Fast-Track Receipts (Column D)
- Total DDS Electronic Receipts (Column E)
- % of Fast-Track Receipts (Column F)
Data Dictionary
|
Excel |
Description |
|
State |
A |
The state in which the Disability Determination Services (DDS), Extended Service Team (EST),1 or federal office resides. |
|
State Abbreviation |
B |
The universal abbreviation code for the state. |
|
Region |
C |
The regional location for the DDS, EST,1 or federal office that received and accepted the initial disability case after case transfer from the field office. |
|
Total Fast-Track |
D |
The total number of initial disability cases identified as fast-track that were received and accepted by the DDS, EST,1 or federal site after case transfer from the field office within the fiscal year. Fast-tracked cases consist of those cases identified as Quick Disability Determination (QDD), Compassionate Allowance (CAL), or both. |
|
Total DDS Electronic |
E |
The total number of DDS electronic receipts that were received and accepted by the DDS, EST,1 or federal site after case transfer from the field office within the fiscal year. |
|
% of Fast-Track Receipts |
F |
The total number of fast-track receipts divided by the total DDS electronic receipts, expressed as a percent. The percentage includes one decimal position. (Note: The value was calculated to the hundred-thousandths place, multiplied by 100 to express a percent, and rounded to the tenths place.) |
|
National |
N/A |
The total number of fast-track receipts, DDS electronic receipts, and percentage of fast-track receipts for the nation within the FY. |
1Extended Service Teams (ESTs) provide national case processing assistance to states most adversely affected by an increase in initial disability cases.
Data Files
The following data file is in excel (.xls) format.
Percent of Fast-Track Receipts for FY2010 and FY2011
The following data file is in comma-separated values (.csv) format.
Percent of Fast-Track Receipts for FY2010 and FY2011
The National Beneficiary Survey (NBS) Public Use Files
The National Beneficiary Survey is a component of the Social Security Administration’s evaluation of the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency program (TTW). The survey, sponsored by our Office of Retirement and Disability Policy and conducted by Mathematica Policy Research (Mathematica), collected data from a national sample of Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries and a sample of TTW participants. Mathematica conducted most interviews using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). For beneficiaries who did not respond to the CATI interview or who preferred or required an in-person interview, Mathematica followed up using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). Background, description of the surveys, sample sizes, and reports are available at NBS page. Codebooks, technical information, and public use data files are available below.
Background
The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 authorized TTW. TTW is a voluntary employment program for Social Security beneficiaries with disabilities. Congress designed the legislation to create market-driven services to help disability beneficiaries become economically self-sufficient. Under the program, we provide disability beneficiaries with a “Ticket” or coupon that they may use to obtain employment-support services, including vocational rehabilitation, from an approved provider of their choice (called Employment Networks or ENs).
We implemented the TTW program beginning in 2002 in three phases spanning three years. Each phase corresponded to about one-third of the states. We are conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the TTW program and the NBS supplements that evaluation by providing information that is not otherwise available on beneficiaries’ characteristics, their awareness of our work assistance programs, and their attitudes toward work. The initial NBS survey design called for four national cross-sectional surveys (called rounds) of Ticket-eligible Social Security disability beneficiaries— one each in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007—and cross-sectional surveys of Ticket participants in each of three groups of States (Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 States)—defined by the year in which the program was rolled out. In addition, the design called for us to follow the first TTW participant cohort in each group of Ticket roll-out states longitudinally until 2006. We subsequently revised this survey design to include all Social Security beneficiaries with disabilities (not just those who were Ticket-eligible) and to postpone the final round of the survey to 2010 to address the experiences of TTW participants under new TTW regulations that we implemented in July 2008.
The NBS is intended to meet five key objectives: 1. Provide critical data on the work-related activities of SSDI and SSI beneficiaries, particularly as they relate to TTW implementation; 2. Collect data on the characteristics and program experiences of beneficiaries who use their Tickets; 3. Gather information about beneficiaries who do not use their Tickets, and the reasons they do not; 4. Collect data that will allow us to evaluate the employment outcomes of Ticket users and other SSDI and SSI beneficiaries; and 5. Collect data on service use, barriers to work, and perceptions about TTW and other Social Security programs designed to help beneficiaries with disabilities find and keep jobs.
Though some sections of the NBS target beneficiary activity directly related to TTW, most of the survey captures more general information on our beneficiaries, including their disabilities, interest in work, use of services, and employment. As a result, both we and external researchers interested in disability and employment issues can use the survey data for other policymaking and program-planning efforts.
As part of an evaluation of the TTW, Mathematica conducted the first round of the NBS in 2004. The survey included a national sample of Social Security disability beneficiaries (the Representative Beneficiary Sample) and a sample of TTW participants (the Ticket Participant Sample). Mathematica collected data using CATI with computer-assisted personal interviewing follow-ups for CATI non-respondents and for those who preferred or required an in-person interview to accommodate their disabilities. We conducted additional rounds of the NBS as planned in 2005 (round 2), 2006 (round 3), and 2010 (round 4).
Sample members in both the Representative Beneficiary Sample and the Ticket Participant Sample received the same survey instrument. The NBS collects data on a wide range of topics including employment, limiting conditions, experience with Social Security programs, employment services, health and functional status, health insurance, income, and socio-demographic information. The survey instrument and other technical documents related to the NBS are available from us or Mathematica upon request.
Available Information
The public use files below are only for the Representative Beneficiary Samples for rounds one, two, three, and four. The Ticket Participant Samples are not available for public use. A relatively small proportion of our beneficiaries participated in the TTW program, and, as a result, the sampling rate for the Ticket Participant Samples was quite high. For this reason, our Office of Program Development and Research Disclosure Review Board believes releasing the participant sample would pose an unacceptable risk of disclosure for this portion of NBS survey participants.
Public use round one data file (released September 2009)
Documentation.
The following NBS documentation file is provided in PDF format:
NBS R1 PUF Codebook.pdf
Data Files.
The following NBS data file is provided in SAS 9.1 format:
r1puf093009.zip
The following NBS Data file is provided in CSV format (posted January 2010):
r1puf093009.CSV
For those who have an older version of Excel, the CSV file has been separated into the following four sections:
r1puf093009_1a.CSV
r1puf093009_2a.CSV
r1puf093009_3a.CSV
r1puf093009_4a.CSV
Public use round two data file (released December 2009)
Documentation.
The following NBS documentation file is provided in PDF format:
NBS_Codebook_12-16-09.pdf
Data Files.
The following NBS data file is provided in SAS 9.1 format:
R2puf102609.zip
The following NBS Data file is provided in CSV format:
r2puf102609.CSV
For those who have an older version of Excel, the CSV file has been separated into the following six sections:
r2puf102609_1a.CSV
r2puf102609_2a.CSV
r2puf102609_3a.CSV
r2puf102609_4a.CSV
r2puf102609_5a.CSV
r2puf102609_6a.CSV
Public use round three data file (released January 2010)
Documentation.
The following NBS documentation file is provided in PDF format:
NBS_Codebook_10_20_2010.pdf
Data Files.
The following NBS data file is provided in SAS 9.1 format:
r3puf121509.zip
The following NBS Data file is provided in CSV format:
r3puf121509.CSV
For those who have an older version of Excel, the CSV file has been separated into the following seven sections:
r3puf121509_1a.CSV
r3puf121509_2a.CSV
r3puf121509_3a.CSV
r3puf121509_4a.CSV
r3puf121509_5a.CSV
r3puf121509_6a.CSV
r3puf121509_7a.CSV
Public use round four data file (released June 2012)
Documentation.
The following NBS documentation files are provided in PDF format:
NBS R4 Data Editing(508).pdf
NBS R4 Editing, Coding,Weighting, and Imputation(508).pdf
NBS R4 NonResponse Bias(508).pdf
NBS R4 PUF Codebook(508).pdf
NBS R4 Questionnaire(508).pdf
NBS R4 User's Guide(508).pdf
NBS R4 User's Guide Appendices(508).pdf
Data Files.
The following NBS data file is provided in SAS 9.1 format:
nbsr4puf.zip
The following NBS Data file is provided in CSV format:
NBSR4PUF.csv
For those who have an older version of Excel, the CSV file has been separated into the following five sections:
NBSR4PUF_1a.csv
NBSR4PUF_2a.csv
NBSR4PUF_3a.csv
NBSR4PUF_4a.csv
NBSR4PUF_5a.csv