Participation in Safety-Net Programs and the Utilization of Employment Services Among Working-Age Persons With Disabilities

Abstract

A comprehensive analysis of the 2009 Current Population Survey-Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS-ASEC) provides the first snapshot of the involvement of people with disabilities in a broad array of government programs. Focusing on the working-age population, this analysis reveals that people with disabilities represent one third of the persons who participate in safety-net programs. Among persons with disabilities, 65% participate in a safety-net program, compared with 17% of persons without disabilities. Among Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries, 38% participate in safety-net programs other than DI, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, and Medicare. Furthermore, results suggest that only 3% and 8% of low-income nonworking safety-net participants with and without disabilities, respectively, utilize employment services. Improved data collection on the use of employment services is needed to further evaluate the interaction of safety-net and employment services programs.

Living on the edge: Assessing the economic impacts of potential disability benefit reductions for Social Security disability beneficiaries

“…Overall, approximately 50 percent of SSA disability beneficiaries participated in other programs. These results are consistent with earlier estimates (Houtenville & Brucker, 2014). In comparison, 19 percent of working age people who were not receiving SSA benefits participated in safety net programs other than Medicaid and Medicare.…”

“…Past research has suggested that a large portion of SSDI and SSI beneficiaries also participate in additional safety net programs. Houtenville and Brucker (2014) estimated that 38 percent of SSDI beneficiaries participated in safety net programs other than SSI, Medicare, or Medicaid during 2009. Higher rates of cross-participation were found for SSI (54 percent) and SSDI&SSI concurrent beneficiaries (61 percent).…”

“…People with disabilities have been found to have higher rates of poverty She & Livermore, 2007) and to participate in government safety net programs at higher rates than people without disabilities (Houtenville & Brucker, 2014). Many working age people with disabilities who participate in disability benefit programs such as Social Secu-rity Disability Insurance (SSDI) and/or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) concurrently participate in public health insurance programs (Medicaid, Medicare) as well as other safety net programs (Borsiquot & Brault, 2013;Houtenville & Brucker, 2014;Rupp, Davies & Strand, 2008).…”

“…Many working age people with disabilities who participate in disability benefit programs such as Social Secu-rity Disability Insurance (SSDI) and/or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) concurrently participate in public health insurance programs (Medicaid, Medicare) as well as other safety net programs (Borsiquot & Brault, 2013;Houtenville & Brucker, 2014;Rupp, Davies & Strand, 2008). Safety net programs include energy, housing, nutrition and other forms of publicly funded assistance.…”

More Likely to Be Poor Whatever the Measure: Working‐Age Persons with Disabilities in the United States*

“…The extent of the disability gap in poverty rates, in other words, the difference in poverty rates between persons with and without disabilities, may, however, vary depending on the poverty measure under use. In considering resources, the SPM includes in-kind benefits such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and housing subsidies, which people with disabilities are more likely to receive (Houtenville and Brucker, 2013). Including these government transfers will boost the calculated inflow of resources to an individual, leading some (Fremstad, 2009) to suggest that the SPM would undercount poverty among people with disabilities.…”