Find Help “Help Me Choose” Decision Tool Data Analysis

1. Social Security Administration (SSA) • Ticket to Work (TTW) Beneficiary Access and • Support Services (BASS) Find Help “Help Me Choose” Decision Tool Data Analysis

2. The Find Help “Help Me Choose” Decision Tool provides beneficiaries with assistance in choosing the right service provider • The “Help Me Choose” tool on choosework.net asks a series of questions about goals and work history and then provides a list of recommended service providers • As of April 28, 2015, 7,422 site visitors have used the tool to completion • This analysis will report data and insights from the tool

3. Respondents represent normal geographic distribution • Respondents inputted ZIP Codes from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and outside the United States • Respondents were concentrated in urban centers, but could also be found across the country

4. Most users of the tool understood program requirements • 96 percent of respondents currently received Social Security disability benefits. It is unknown whether the other 4% had received benefits before or did not receive benefits at all • 99.6 percent of beneficiaries were age 18 through 64 • 91 percent of respondents answered affirmatively when asked if they were “ready to take advantage of new opportunities to help you move towards employment at a level where you are able to replace your cash benefits with earnings” • After a message clarifying the purpose and protections of the Ticket to Work program and Work Incentives, an additional 5 percent affirmed their willingness to move to full time employment, bringing the number of respondents affirming this to 96 percent • Less than 1 percent chose to abandon the tool because they were unwilling to move toward full time employment. 2.4 percent were referred to WIPA because they were unsure

5. Some users were already working when they used the tool, and a smaller percentage were up for Continuing Disability Review • Employment • Almost 8 percent of respondents reported that they were already working • Of those working, 21 percent were already working full time • 79 percent of those working were working part time • Continuing Disability Review (CDR) • 8.8 percent of respondents had been notified that they would be going through the CDR process • Only .8 percent of those who were going through CDR abandoned the tool when told participation in Ticket to Work would not prevent a CDR if already scheduled

6. Users of the tool self-reported a diverse set of disabilities • Respondents indicated the presence of disabilities across all 19 categories as listed in the current Find Help tool • Psychiatric disorders were overrepresented, with over 42 percent reporting this category, compared to 35 percent as reported in the Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2013 • Over 34 percent reported the “Other” category which may imply the categories displayed are not easily understandable to beneficiaries • Musculoskeletal injuries were reported by almost 20 percent of respondents

7. Self Reported Disability(ies) of Decision Tool Respondents

8. A third of respondents require significant services that triggered a VR referral • 32 percent of respondents indicated they required significant services in order to work, such as: modifications to a vehicle, cochlear implants, repair or restoration of a vehicle, medical restoration such as prosthetics or eye surgery, a motorized scooter, or funds for college classes/degree • These beneficiaries were referred to VR as the Tiger Team indicated that these services would not be available from standard Employment Network

9. The majority of respondents report at least some college education • More than 67 percent of respondents* reported having at least some college education. This is a higher rate than the general population, age 25 and over (57.6 percent) (Census, 2014) • More than one third of respondents reported having an Associate degree or above. This is a lower rate than the general population, age 25 and over (41.89%) • 91 percent of respondents have completed high school. This is a higher rate than the general population, age 25 and over (88.3%) • *Note: Data is based on those respondents who had not already exited the tool based on significant need or not qualifying for the program

10. Self Reported Level of Education

11. A significant number of respondents have a job goal in mind or have prepared for work • 50.5 percent of respondents report they have a particular job in mind • 27.5 percent understand whether the work or profession they want to pursue requires additional training (52.4% don’t know) • 12 percent have already completed a training program related to work they want to pursue • 15 percent wish to be self employed (42% don’t know) • 6.3 percent are Veterans

12. A majority of the respondents have worked before, but not recently • 91.3 percent of respondents have worked before. 5.2 percent of respondents 25 years old or older have never worked. The remaining respondents were between ages 18 and 24 • Of those that had worked, 73.6 percent had primarily worked full time. 21.9 percent of respondents 25 years old or older had only worked part time. The remaining respondents were between ages 18 and 24 and had worked part time • Only 36 percent of those respondents with work history had worked in the last 3 years. 60.6 percent of those age 25 or older had not worked in the last 3 years • Of those that worked in the last three years, 45 percent had worked full time. 46 percent of those age 25 or older who had worked in the last 3 years had only worked part time

13. Comparison of Work History by Age

14. Based on the data, the Decision Tool seems to appropriately screen and refer beneficiaries, and more than half are referred to a standard or Workforce EN • Note: “Check for WF” means that beneficiaries were, once they were told an EN was a good option for them, given the • opportunity to check if a Workforce EN was available in their area. 39.8% decided to check if there was. There is no data on whether the respondent had a Workforce EN available to them or whether they would have selected one over a standard EN.

15. Conclusions and Next Steps • Data derived from the Find Help Decision Tool provides a portrait of those beneficiaries who can be considered to be actively interested in participating in the Ticket to Work program because of their taking the time to use the tool • Prospective beneficiaries are most likely individuals who understand the basic requirements of the program, have work history, a psychiatric disorder, a job goal in mind and at least some college education • The decision tool seems, based on the data, to sort beneficiaries appropriately to the types of service providers most likely to be able to help them • Data from the tool will continue to be analyzed on a periodic data to see if trends shift among the prospective Ticket participant population