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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 11 (Friday, January 17, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6042-6043]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01123]

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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No. SSA-2024-0019]

Youth Transition Exploration Demonstration

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Social Security Administration (SSA) is announcing the 
Youth Transition Exploration Demonstration (YTED) project for the 
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program under title XVI of the 
Social Security Act (Act). This project is a randomized controlled 
trial (RCT) of an employment intervention for youth with disabilities, 
who are transitioning into the adult workforce. SSA will modify the 
program rules that apply to income for certain project participants who 
receive SSI payments under title XVI of the Act. This modification will 
not apply to income for project participants who receive Old-Age, 
Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits under title II or 
receive concurrent benefits under title II and title XVI of the Act.

DATES: This project begins January 17, 2025 and ends by December 31, 
2028.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eunsong Park, Social Security 
Administration, Office of Retirement and Disability Policy, Youth 
Transition Exploration Demonstration, 6401 Security Boulevard, 
Baltimore, MD, 21235. Telephone: (410) 965-3570; Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Youth Transition Exploration Demonstration

    Under the YTED, youth with disabilities may receive enhanced 
counseling services and referrals to training programs and other 
employment services. We are conducting this project under section 1110 
of the Social Security Act, which authorizes the Commissioner to 
conduct demonstration projects that are likely to assist in promoting 
the objectives or facilitate the administration of the title XVI 
program. This demonstration will test the effectiveness of providing 
enhanced counseling and referral services to youth with disabilities in 
achieving long-term employment outcomes.
    Through SSA's Interventional Cooperative Agreement Program (ICAP), 
we acquired a cooperative agreement with Mathematica to implement and 
evaluate YTED. Mathematica is a research and data analytics consultancy 
driven by a mission to improve public well-being. Other partners for 
the YTED are the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) 
and University of Maryland's Center for Transition and Career 
Innovation.
    For the evaluation, we will modify the program rules that apply to 
certain project participants and provide individual level SSA data to 
Mathematica that will compare outcomes between treatment group and 
control group participants regarding benefits, earnings, and 
application frequency. Mathematica and OVR will recruit participants, 
and OVR will provide enhanced counseling and referral services.
    Potential participants are youth with disabilities ages 16 through 
24 who are eligible for services from OVR, but do not have an open case 
with OVR. They must be residents of the state of Pennsylvania in the 
following counties:
     City of Philadelphia,
     Montgomery,
     Chester,
     Delaware, and
     Bucks.
    Mathematica expects to recruit up to 700 individuals to participate 
in the YTED. Participation is voluntary and individual participants 
will sign an informed consent. Mathematica will randomly assign 
participants to a treatment group and a control group. The treatment 
group will receive enhanced counseling and referral services by a 
vocational rehabilitation counselor with specialized YTED training 
(VRC-YTED). The VRC-YTED will provide services, including connections 
to intensive training programs, submitting an application for training 
programs on behalf of the youth, coordinating placement with a program 
representative, and benefits counseling including information on 
waiving earned income counting and deeming. The control group will only 
be eligible for standard OVR services, such as case management, and 
will receive information on how to apply for the OVR services.
    Under title XVI of the Act, we make SSI payments to persons who are 
aged, blind, or disabled, and who also have limited income and 
resources. We expect that some YTED participants may currently receive 
SSI payments. Additionally, we expect some YTED participants may apply 
for SSI once they learn about the program and seek eligibility for 
benefits per 20 CFR 416.202. All participants can withdraw from the 
project at any time. We will apply all usual program rules, including 
reporting requirements, to all applicable participants no later than 
December 31, 2028. Especially relevant, SSI recipients must report 
changes in their work and generally must report their wages monthly. We 
will also apply the alternate rules, as described below, to those 
participants in the treatment group who consent to sharing their data 
with us in the informed consent and who are SSI recipients (not OASDI 
or concurrent recipients) no later than December 31, 2028.

Provisions of the Act and Regulations We are Waiving For the YTED 
Treatment Group

    We are waiving rules that offset SSI payments based on YTED 
participants' earnings. The following alternate program rules will 
apply to the YTED treatment group participants who are SSI recipients:
     The first waiver applies to earnings that directly affect 
participants' own benefits. SSA will not offset SSI payments for 
participants when the participants earn income. In other words, all 
earned income by participants is excluded from SSI income counting.
     The second waiver applies to any deeming that results from 
participants' earnings. For example, a participant's earnings will not 
count against the SSI benefit of their child who receives SSI or their 
spouse who receives SSI. However, if a person under the age of 18 is a 
participant, any income (earned or unearned) from their non-participant 
deemor parent(s) will still be subject to deeming. Additionally, if a 
participant is married, any income from the non-participant spouse will 
still be subject to deeming.
    Applying these alternate rules involves waiving or altering certain 
provisions included in sections of:
     Statutory Waivers

[[Page 6043]]

    Social Security Act 1611(a)(1)(A), (a)(2)(A), (a)(3)(A) as 
applicable to earned income; 1612(b)(1), (b)(3)(B), (b)(4); 1614(f)(1), 
(f)(2)(A) as applicable to earned income; and 1619(a)(1).
     Regulatory Waivers
    20 CFR 416.202 (c); 416.1104; 416.1110; 416.1111; 416.1112; 
416.1163 as applicable to earned income; and 416.1165 as applicable to 
earned income.

Authority for the Waivers Under YTED

    Section 1110(b) of the Act authorizes us to waive any requirements, 
conditions, or limitations of title XVI necessary to carry out 
demonstration projects. Consistent with the requirements in section 
1110(b)(2)(B) of the Act, participation in the YTED is voluntary and 
based on informed consent, and the voluntary agreement to participate 
may be withdrawn by the participant at any time.
    Carolyn Colvin, the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security 
Administration, having reviewed and approved this document, is 
delegating the authority to electronically sign this document to Erik 
Hansen, who is a Federal Register Liaison for the Social Security 
Administration, for purposes of publication in the Federal Register.

Erik Hansen,
Associate Commissioner, Office of Legislation and Congressional 
Affairs, Legislative Development and Operations, Social Security 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2025-01123 Filed 1-16-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P
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