What's New In Program Development & Research

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November 10, 2009
ORDP Plans Seminar on Workers' Compensation and Social Security Disability Insurance

On November 18, SSA and the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) will co-sponsor a one-day conference on workers’ compensation issues at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.  The conference will explore the relationship between workers’ compensation programs and SSA disability programs.  There is ongoing interest in how the programs interact and the flow of applicants between them.  SSA staff will present new statistical information on Workers’ Compensation and SSDI receipt and will discuss administrative challenges in administering the offset.  SSA economists as well as industry researchers will discuss their research in this area.  To register for the event, see NASI's website: http://www.nasi.org/calendar_reg3634/calendar_reg_show.htm?doc_id=972812 Registration closes November 12, 2009.

November 10, 2009
Release of National Beneficiary Survey (Round 1) Public Use File

OPDR's newly-established Disclosure Review Board (DRB) has approved release of round one of the National Beneficiary Survey (NBS) public use file. The NBS collects data on a wide range of topics including employment, limiting conditions, experience with SSA programs, employment services, health and functional status, health insurance, income, and socio-demographic information. The DRB reviewed the data to ensure that it would not pose an undue risk of disclosure for NBS survey participants.

The data and documentation are now available at http://mwww.ba.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/publicusefiles.html.

October 1, 2009
Occupational Information Development Project

On September 16 – 17, the Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel held its fourth quarterly meeting in Los Angeles.  The panel spent the last seven months preparing recommendations for the development of a new Occupational Information System to replace the Dictionary of Occupational Titles currently used in SSA’s disability evaluation process.  During the quarterly meeting, the panel deliberated on the recommendations presented by the subcommittee chairs and voted on a final set of recommendations.  The panel submitted its final recommendation report to the Commissioner on September 30, 2009.  The entire report will be available on the panel’s website shortly.

For additional information, please visit the panel website at www.ssa.gov/oidap.

June 16, 2009
Pathways for Transition Site Visits

On June 4, 2009, Richard Balkus, Associate Commissioner for the Office of Program Development and Research, and staff accompanied a representative from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on site visits for the Pathways to Transition for People with Disabilities project. They visited Montgomery College’s Disability Support Services, St Luke’s Career Transition Program, a site in SSA’s Youth Transition Demonstration Project, and the MontgomeryWorks One-Stop Career Center. They met with students and staff to discuss transition experiences and practices. The goals of the Pathways project include identifying and sharing good policies and practices that achieve successful work and education transition outcomes for young people with disabilities. Nine countries are participating in the project.

June 2, 2009
2009 Youth Transition Demonstration Conference

On March 16-18, we held the Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) Conference in Buffalo, New York. Richard Balkus, Associate Commissioner for the Office of Program Development and Research, provided the opening remarks for the conference. The conference began with an intensive job development activity in which some YTD staff went out into the community and interacted with local employers. During the next two days, over 120 persons attended comprehensive workshops that covered many topics related to the YTD research and interventions. YTD family members attended and participated in a plenary session that focused on the importance of family involvement for YTD youth.

For additional information, please visit the Panel's website at www.ssa.gov/oidap.

For earlier headlines, visit the Disability Research News Archive.