Staying Employed: Early Intervention for Adults with Potentially Disabling Conditions
Thursday, March 18, 2010

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Speakers:
Henry Ireys
Gilbert Gimm
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Patricia Owens
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Overview: Henry Ireys presented an overview of the Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment (DMIE). This initiative, sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is intended to help states assist workers with potentially disabling conditions. Ireys discussed the rationale for DMIE, reviewed its core goals, and described how four states have implemented the program. Gilbert Gimm presented preliminary quantitative and qualitative findings from the national DMIE evaluation. He reviewed the evaluation design and use of random assignment, discussed program impacts on employment and federal disability outcomes, and highlighted lessons learned. Patricia Owens commented on the implications of the findings for disability policy.

Is a Makeover Needed for Federal Funding of Vocational Rehabilitation Services?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010

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Speakers:
Todd Honeycutt
"Closures Are the Tip of the Iceberg: Exploring Variation in Who Receives State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services"
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Yunsian Tai
"Vocational Rehabilitation Funding Formula"
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Overview: The speakers discussed variability in the funding and delivery of state vocational rehabilitation (VR) services and present options for changing the federal funding formula. Todd Honeycutt described recent findings on the extent to which people with disabilities are likely to receive VR services depending on where they live and their demographic characteristics. Yunsian Tai presented options for changing federal funding of VR services based on a new report from the Government Accountability Office. Carl Suter discussed these issues in terms of their policy implications.

Disability and Poverty: What Is the Connection and What Should We Do About It?
Thursday, December 3, 2009

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Speakers:
Gina Livermore
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Shawn Fremstad
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Pamela J. Loprest
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Overview: The speakers presented the policy implications of recent statistics about the extent to which (1) people who live in poverty have disabilities, and (2) those with disabilities experience economic hardship. Gina Livermore shared findings from several recent Mathematica studies focusing on these issues. Shawn Fremstad and Pamela Loprest discussed the implications of these findings for public policy and the official measurement of poverty.

Current Status and Policy Implications of the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Demonstration
Thursday, September 24, 2009

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Speakers:
Carol Irvin
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Debra Lipson
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Discussants: Ruth Katz and Ronald Hendler

Overview: States have been striving to increase the capacity of long-term care systems to help more people with disabling conditions stay in the community rather than in institutions. The MFP demonstration, administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), represents the next major step in these efforts. The program has important implications for people with disabling conditions, particularly during this period of health care reform. Mathematica senior researchers Carol Irvin and Debra Lipson presented an overview of the program; described where states began in this process and the opportunities MFP presents to improve home and community care options; discussed the progress of state MFP programs; and explained the challenges states face in the early stages of implementation. The speakers also highlighted the potential of state MFP programs to relocate long-term institutional residents under age 65 versus those older than 65. Ruth Katz, Associate Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, discussed how the MFP demonstration fits into the evolution of policies and models designed to rebalance the long-term care system. Ronald Hendler, Technical Director, Division of Advocacy and Special Initiatives, Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group, CMS, provided a brief overview of the MFP demonstration.

Making Government Work for People with Disabilities: Data-Driven Policy
Thursday, May 28, 2009

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Speakers:
David Stapleton
“From National Disability Data Disorder to National Disability Data System?”
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Andrew Houtenville
“Counting Working-Age People with Disabilities: What Current Data Tell Us and Options for Improvement”
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Craig Thornton
“Making Government Work for People with Disabilities: Data-Driven Policy”
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Discussant: Daniel Bertoni
“Policy Value of Data”
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Overview: How can data inform government policy for people with disabilities? Can data be used to measure and improve the effectiveness of government programs? How can we collect more informative data? These and other questions are addressed in the new book, Counting Working-Age People with Disabilities: What Current Data Tell Us and Options for Improvement, highlighted in this forum. David Stapleton, a co-editor, provided an overview of the book and presented its key conclusions. His co-editor, Andrew Houtenville, discussed what we know about working-age people with disabilities from current data. Craig Thornton, an author of a chapter on federal program data, discussed innovations in the use of administrative data to inform disability policy, and Daniel Bertoni talked about how disability data might be better used to improve government programs.

How Will Health System Reform Address the Needs of Working-Age People with Disabilities?
Thursday, March 26, 2009

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Speakers:
David Stapleton and Su Liu
“How Will Health System Reform Address the Needs of Working-Age People with Disabilities?”
Discussant: Peter Thomas
“Will Health Care Reform Eliminate the Holes and Make Patches Unnecessary?”
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Overview: Two researchers from Mathematica’s Center for Studying Disability Policy presented key policy issues concerning health care coverage for working-age people with disabilities, based on findings from two recent studies. David Stapleton presented findings on the experiences of workers with disabilities before, during, and after their entry into the Social Security Disability Insurance program. Su Liu discussed findings from analyses of the Medicaid Buy-In program, an optional program that was designed to address coverage issues for workers with disabilities. Peter Thomas, a lawyer specializing in the areas of health care, rehabilitation, disability, and employment, discussed the extent to which major health reform proposals would address these coverage issues.

Addressing the Needs of TANF Recipients with Disabilities: Opportunities Within and Outside of TANF
Thursday, January 15, 2009

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Speakers:
LaDonna Pavetti
"TANF Recipients Living With a Disability: Policy Framework, Prevalence and Service Strategies"
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Rebecca Blank
"Providing a Safety Net for the Most Disadvantaged"
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Wendi Copeland
"TANF and Disability: Lessons from the Field"
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Overview: This forum covered a mix of policy-relevant information and practical opportunities and challenges involved in serving TANF recipients with disabilities. LaDonna Pavetti reviewed data on the number of people with disabilities receiving TANF, described the policy environment, and discussed innovative state approaches. Rebecca Blank summarized a proposal to create a new program to address needs of TANF recipients living with disability who may not qualify for Supplemental Security Insurance. Wendi Copeland provided comments from a practitioner’s perspective.

Cash and Counseling: An Innovative Model for Consumer Choice Policies
Thursday, November 20, 2008

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Speakers:
Randall Brown
"Innovative Moddel for Consumer Choice"
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Kevin Mahoney
"Lessons from the Cash and Counseling Replication in 12 States"
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Pamela Doty
"After the Evaluation: Cash and Couseling's Policy Impact"
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Vidhya Alakeson
"The Cash and Counseling Model in Mental Health"
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Overview: The findings from Mathematica’s evaluation of the Cash and Counseling Demonstration suggest that giving people with disabilities an allowance to pay for special services and counseling can be a cost-effective way to improve their lives. The speakers reviewed the demonstration findings, described the post-demonstration expansion of Cash and Counseling programs, and discussed promising opportunities for applying this approach in other settings.

The Employment and Work Aspirations of People with Disabilities
Friday, September 12, 2008
Speakers:
David Wittenburg
"Measuring Employment of People with Disabilities"
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Gina Livermore
"Employment and Work Expectations of Social Security Disability Beneficiaries"
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Discussant: Henry Claypool

Overview: Data from a variety of sources indicate that rates of employment among people with disabilities continue to lag behind those of people without disabilities. David Wittenburg summarized employment statistics for people with disabilities, including reasons for the variation in estimates that exist in the literature and government publications. Gina Livermore discussed key features of public programs that are at odds with work activity and profiled the employment and employment aspirations of SSI and SSDI beneficiaries, based on a five-year evaluation of the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work program.