DOI: 10.3886/e211843v1-161921
title: Financial Engagement as a Gateway to Community Participation

description: This project examines the promise of ABLE accounts in increasing community participation for young adults with disabilities, including intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), receiving vocational rehabilitation services. The ABLE Act of 2014 allows an estimated seven million individuals with significant disabilities to establish tax advantaged saving accounts exempt from means-tested requirements for federal public benefits (SSI, Medicaid, and SNAP), and prohibits reduction of public resources when an account is established. Individuals who contribute to ABLE accounts are able to build financial independence and set goals for the future. This research represents the first empirical longitudinal study of the impact of ABLE implementation. The project goal was to enhance understanding of the benefits of financial health trainings to improve outcomes. A non-randomized controlled trial study examines the impact of (1) an ABLE account and (2) the joint impact of an ABLE account and the Good Life CAFE (Community Access and Financial Empowerment) training/financial coaching program on community participation. Objectives include evaluation of self-directed engagement in ABLE accounts, evaluation of facilitated engagement in ABLE accounts, and a comprehensive training program that assists in planning for the future and managing finances to reach goals. Outcomes include community participation and its related and antecedent outcomes: self-determination, financial capability, life satisfaction, and quality of life. Deliverables include evidence regarding interventions that improve economic self-sufficiency and community participation, and knowledge translation strategies to replicate interventions nationwide. <br>The project had three parts: an intervention with data collection, a survey of ABLE account owners (ABLEnow Survey), and a Survey of customers of Virginia's Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services entitled Survey Exploring my Life and Future (SELF). The three parts were all designed to study the relationships between financial capability, financial behaviors, financial self-efficacy, decision making, life satisfaction, and community participation/engagement among individuals with disabilities. <br><b><br></b><b>Intervention:</b> The intervention involved a 12-week intervention aimed at improving financial self-efficacy, employment outcomes, and community participation among young adults (ages 18-24) with disabilities who were receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and enrolled in the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) with an active Individual Plan for Employment (IPE). Participants completed a financial health assessment; participated in Charting the LifeCourse planning to set community participation, employment and/or life goals (LifeCourse Nexus, 2024); and received individualized financial coaching that was personalized based on the individual’s interests, experiences, abilities and exposure to select concepts. In addition to capitalizing on each individual’s interests and motivation, people were encouraged to involve familial and paid supports, as well as cultivating new supports within their communities. When possible, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors were updated on a person’s progress and goals, so that relevant topics could be woven into service provision, thereby strengthening the services that support their goals. Participants also received direct assistance with opening an Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account, which was initially funded with $50. ABLE allows account owners, whose disability began before age 26, to build financial resources to pay for qualified disability expenses without risking eligibility for means tested public benefits such as Social Security and Medicaid. Participants could earn additional deposits into their ABLE accounts by engaging in study activities.<br><br><b>ABLEnow Survey: </b>In collaboration with the ABLEnow program, the ABLE program in Virginia, we recruited ABLEnow account owners over the age of 18 by including an invitation to participate and a link to the survey in two consecutive ABLEnow monthly newsletters, which are emailed to about 14,000 account owners each month. To encourage participation, respondents were offered a $20 gift card incentive. A total of 253 individuals began the survey. After excluding incomplete responses, our final sample consisted of 208 cases.<br><br><b>Survey Exploring My Life and Future (SELF) Survey:</b> An invitation to participate with a survey link was distributed via email to about 17,000 customers of the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS), which serves as the state's Vocational Rehabilitation agency. As with the ABLEnow survey, participants were offered a $20 gift card. A total of 995 respondents began the survey. After removing cases with incomplete data, the final analytic sample included 644 participants<br><br><br>
description: None
description: Response Rates: <b>Intervention:</b> Eligible DARS clients received an email inviting them to participate in the intervention. 43 completed the onboarding process and baseline survey. 23 completed the intervention, 11 completed the follow-up survey.<br><b>ABLEnow:</b> Invitation to participate in survey was included in two consecutive ABLEnow monthly newsletters, which were sent via email to roughly 14,000 ABLEnow account owners. It is not possible to identify how many people saw the invitation. A total of 253 individuals began the survey. After excluding incomplete responses, our final sample consisted of 208 cases.<br><b>SELF: </b>Invitation to participate was sent via email to roughly 17,000 DARS customers ages 18 and over. A total of 995 respondents began the survey. After removing cases with incomplete data, the final analytic sample included 644 participants.
description: Presence of Common Scales: All scales are described in more detail in the code books. <br>Except as indicated, the same scales are used in the Intervention, ABLEnow, and SELF surveys. <br><br><b>Financial Self Efficacy Scale (FSES)</b> is described in Lown, J. M. (2011). Development and validation of a financial self-efficacy scale. Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, 22(2), 54.Six self-efficacy questions scored from 1 to 4 are combined (mean score) for the composite self-efficacy score. <br><br><b>CFPB Financial well-being scale</b> is described in CFPB (2017, May) CFPB Financial Well-Being Scale: Scale development technical report. The composite score is the sum of 5 questions rated on a 5-point Likert scale. <br><br><b>Self Determination Inventory</b> was developed by Shogren and Wehmeyer, 2017. Respondents score a series of questions on a scale of 1 to 100. The subscores and overall score is calculated as the mean value of the components. <br><br><b>Community Participation Indicators</b> were developed by Heinemann, A. W., Lai, J. S., Magasi, S., Hammel, J., Corrigan, J. D., Bogner, J. A., & Whiteneck, G. G. (2011). Measuring participation enfranchisement. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 92(4), 564-571. Items are measured on a 1-5 scale and summed to get a total score for the subscale. In the second part of the CPI, for each activity, the respondent was asked three questions:In a typical week, how many times do you [do activity], Is [doing activity] important to you, and Do you believe the frequency of [doing activity} is enough, not enough or too much. Using a strategy described in Plow, M. A Finlayson, M., Gunzler, D., & Heinemann, A. W. (2015). Correlates of participation in meaningful activities among people with multiple sclerosis. Journal of rehabilitation medicine, 47(6), 538. , we computed ratio of the number of important activities engaged in often enough or too much (numerator) to the number of important activities (denominator) to provide a range between 0 and 1) <br><br><b>Satisfaction with Life Scale</b> (SWL)is described in Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of personality assessment, 49(1), 71-75. The respondent answers five questions on a 7 point scale. The composite score is calculated as the sum of the five scores. <br><br><b>Choice Questionnaire</b> was developed by Stancliffe and Parmeter (1999) Stancliffe, R. J., & Parmenter, T. R. (1999). The Choice Questionnaire: A scale to assess choices exercised by adults with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 24(2), 107-132. Respondents were asked how much choice they have in 17 different situations on a three point scale. The composite score is calculated as the mean of the scores. The Choice questionnaire is used for the intervention but is not included in the ABLEnow and SELF Surveys. <br><br><b>The Supported Decision Making Inventory System (SDMIS)</b> was developed by Shogren et al. Shogren, K. A., Rifenbark, G. G., Wehmeyer, M. L., Dean, E. E., Killeen, M. B., & Karsevar, J. (2020). Refining the supported decision making inventory. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 17(3), 195-206.The SDMIS has six subscales; Feelings, experiences, opportunities, supports, making decisions, implementing decisions. The composite for each subscale is computed as the average value of the items within the subscale.
description: <b>Intervention:</b> No sampling. The data includes all participants in the intervention. <br><b>ABLEnow:</b> Convenience sample<br><b>SELF: </b>Convenience sample
description: <b>Intervention: </b>Virginia Vocational Rehabilitation clients, age 18-24 with disabilities, including intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.<br><b>ABLEnow:</b> ABLEnow account owners over age 18.<br><b>SELF: </b>Customers of Virginia DARS over age 18. . Smallest Geographic Unit: None
description: face-to-face interview; telephone interview; web-based survey;