Promoting Work through Early Intervention Project (PWEIP)

Objective

The Promoting Work through Early Interventions Project (PWEIP) is a joint undertaking of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of this partnership is to understand the effects of interventions that aim to improve the employment and economic outcomes of individuals with little or no work history, current or foreseeable disabilities, and ties to the U.S. safety net, who have not yet applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The evaluations of each program will include impact evaluation and implementation research, and a selected number of evaluations will also include cost analysis.

Status

SSA signed the Jointly Financed Cooperative Arrangement (JFCA) on August 8, 2019, to support selected programs for evaluation and ensure those evaluations meet both agencies’ goals. In February 2021, SSA approved funding to evaluate eight programs. Additional information for each of these programs, including the study/organizations, location(s), enrollment periods, and completed enrollment numbers, is described in the Key Activities and Design section below.

PWEIP contract activities were initially set to expire in September 2023. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic effects that stymied enrollment, SSA and ACF agreed to extend the JFCA for an additional three-year period. Enrollment for the PWEIP programs ended in December 2024 (see details below). SSA expects to receive a final report on all PWEIP programs and evaluations in FY 2026.