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Youth with disabilities transitioning from high school to adulthood experience barriers in achieving competitive integrated employment outcomes comparable with peers without disabilities. Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE) in the state of Wisconsin (WI) serviced 2,024 youth and families, with 1,018 accessing services and supports, including, but not limited to, soft skills, self-advocacy, benefits counseling, career counseling, and paid work experiences. This qualitative, multiple case study purposively selected four youth participants and their families to represent one of four categories: engaged and acquired paid employment, engaged and did not acquire paid employment, unengaged but did acquire paid employment, and unengaged and did not acquire paid employment. Results indicated that participants across all four case studies expressed the desire to work and were optimistic about the future resulting from their experience with WI PROMISE. This study will go beyond the results and provide lessons learned and implications for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experience of transitioning into adulthood is a critical phase in life. The navigation of government benefits adds further complexity that can affect employment outcomes for youth with disabilities. Some individuals hesitate to work out of fear to losing access to monetary, disability, and related health care benefits. However, using available work incentives while pursuing employment and career paths can provide opportunities to work and address poverty without forgoing needed services. The Wisconsin Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE) research grant aimed to positively change youth readiness to work through the use of Motivational Interviewing, work incentive benefits counseling, financial capability building, shifting expectations, and help in navigating transition resources. To measure the impact on readiness to work, 126 transition-age youth receiving supplemental security income (SSI), 188 of their family members, and 411 Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) counselors working with the youth and families completed a modified Stages of Change Scale survey. Results indicated that youths' work readiness and positive feelings about work significantly increased from baseline to follow-up, along with an increase in employment rates. The implications of these findings highlight the utility of incorporating the stages of change theory into the design and implementation of services and supports to increase work readiness for youth with disabilities in transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saving participation in adolescence is crucial for young adults to achieve financial well-being over their lifetime. Yet, very little is known about the factors that encourage saving participation among youth with disability, including youth who receive supplemental security income (SSI). This study examines relationships between personal and family factors, transition services, and participation in Wisconsin Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE) individual development account (IDA), within a sample of youth with disabilities who receive SSI. Results of the hierarchical binary logistic and hierarchical multiple regression analyses suggests that the PROMISE interventions variable sets emerged as the most frequent predictors of IDA saving participation among youth receiving SSI. Specifically, work incentive benefits consultation services, financial capability-focused financial coaching services, and self-advocacy training were significant predictors of a youth's IDA saving participation. This study's findings offer important implications for transition planning and building financial capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inter-agency data systems can improve data-based decision making across service systems. The Promoting the Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE) federal research demonstration projects required inter-agency collaboration to provide needed support to youth receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and their families. Wisconsin PROMISE built a system that gathered data from multiple agencies and provided a holistic picture of participants for use in evidence-based decision making. The inter-agency management information system (MIS) supported both formative evaluation of operational activities and short- and long-term impact analyses. Wisconsin PROMISE provided services and collected participant data using information technology (IT) systems distributed across eight different state agencies and multiple divisions within those organizations. The framework implemented for the Wisconsin MIS met the project objectives for an interorganizational data system and addressed the inherent challenges of collecting interorganizational data. The MIS was used for sharing data for both service delivery and research, while providing insight into the effectiveness of PROMISE project initiatives and all agencies serving the individual and their families. The purpose of this article is to share an example of how a MIS was built so others can replicate and/or use lesson learned to build something similar for their own purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) has been used to assess functional impairments in various disability populations and has been shown to be applicable to the youth population. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule II–Youth Version (WHODAS-Y). Results of the study revealed a two-factor solution, including the socio-cognitive index and self-care index. The WHODAS-Y measurement appears to be a reliable and valid measure of function impairment in transition-age youth with disabilities in a community setting. This assessment tool can be integrated in vocational rehabilitation practices and guide rehabilitation counselors in identifying needs and facilitators related to education and employment-related services, as well as understanding health care needs in youth with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]