May 14, 2002

Good morning, Chairwoman Mitchell and distinguished members of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel. Thank you very much for inviting me to provide testimony at this public meeting. I am a proud member of the National Council on Disability, and am honored to be here today on its behalf. I am also most proud to be "mom" to six wonderful boys, two of them with disabilities, and to serve the families of children with disabilities in my community as a professional parent advocate. I am happy to be here this morning to talk about why we at NCD support the disability community's belief about transition. Youth with disabilities transitioning from school to post-secondary education and work is an important national priority that requires immediate, concerted action.

NCD is an independent federal agency representing all people with disabilities, regardless of severity, and from all cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds. Council members are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Our charge is to make recommendations to the President, Congress and federal agency officials concerning ways to better promote equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities. We view this testimony to be one way that we are fulfilling our responsibility to advise federal agency officials.

As I told the members of the Senate HELP Committee in testimony at a recent IDEA hearing, students with disabilities and their advocates continue to fight some of the same battles that were fought in Brown v. the Board of Education. In 2002 students with disabilities are still discriminated against in our school systems. Congress crafted the precursor to IDEA in 1975 to halt these practices, and, if IDEA was faithfully implemented and consistently and effectively enforced across the country, it would indeed halt much of the discrimination. However, twenty-seven years later we are still seeking solutions.

My statement today and recommendations are based on a number of NCD reports focused on the IDEA and transition of youth with disabilities, as well as the 23rd Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of IDEA posted last week (May 9, 2002) by the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). In November 2000, NCD and the Social Security Administration released a transition-post school outcomes report on the status of transition for youth and young adults with disabilities. Entitled Transition and Post-School Outcomes for Youth with Disabilities: Closing the Gaps to Post-Secondary Education and Employment, this report presents an analysis of research on the status of transition, post-secondary education and employment outcomes for youth and young adults (14-22 years old) with disabilities over the past 25 years.

NCD's transition report highlights a number of factors that show transition planning and services must be redesigned to meet the increasing demand for effective services and ultimately better outcomes for youth with disabilities. I will mention four:

First, the overall numbers of children and youth served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) had increased to about 6,000,000 students when NCD's report was released. Of that number, nearly 45 percent were engaged in secondary school programs, and the numbers of secondary school youth were expected to continue to increase until the year 2010. OSEP's May 2002 report indicates a 2.6 percent increase over the 1998-99 school year figure for the overall number of students ages 6 through 21 served under IDEA. Unfortunately, there continues to be a lack of appropriate services, supports and/or post high school assistance to meet the educational and/or career training needs of teenagers and young adults.

Second, as reported in NCD's transition document, the total number of 18-to-24 year olds in the nation's population will rise steadily through the year 2010 outstripping the rate of growth for those 25 years and older. Racial and ethnic diversity will increase, as will job competition from young, foreign immigrants. Youth labor markets will be subjected to renewed pressures, and young adults will become susceptible to increasing demands for advanced skills (e.g., information technology) by industry.

Third, the number of out-of-school youth is steadily increasing, creating a pool of marginalized, unemployed, underemployed young people unable to obtain jobs. While this pool of youth and young adults is growing considerably larger each year, little to no new, concerted efforts have come forth from policymakers to address their situation. Our latest information showed that estimated 15 million youths ages 16-24 are out of school. Out of those 15 million, 70 percent have a high school diploma or less education. It is estimated that America loses $88 billion for each year's class of high school dropouts. These 15 million young people form a major source of human capital for the next century.

Fourth, there has been a dramatic increase in children and younger entrants to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) programs from 1975 to 1993 that has resulted in an increase in the expected duration recipients remain in the programs (Social Security Administration, 1996). While rates in children and younger entrants to SSDI and SSI programs since 1993 have not been as dramatic, there has been a slow and steady growth in the overall numbers of young entrants. Coupled with a miniscule 'return-to-work' rate, particularly among SSDI beneficiaries, this situation contributes to an increase in the overall numbers of underemployed and unemployed youth and young adults in this nation.

In summary, the NCD/SSA report shows that transitioning youth experience: (a) poor graduation rates from high school; (b) low employment rates after high school; (c) low post-secondary education participation; and (d) an increasing number of youth receiving Social security benefits and not leaving the benefits rolls. Again, we see lack of federal enforcement and accountability in IDEA transition service requirements.

OSEP's May 2002 report presents a "results" section with topics related to transition such as high school graduation and dropout rates and continuing unresolved "challenges" to providing secondary education and transition services. At first glance OSEP's report of an overall increase in the percent of students with disabilities graduating with a standard diploma and a decline in dropout rates may seem encouraging. However, beneath the surface are some disturbing results that point to unmet needs such as the need for appropriate transition services planning and implementation along with effective federal monitoring and enforcement. For example, in 1998-99 among students with disabilities, more than a third of Black or Hispanic students and over forty percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives dropped out of school. Across all ethnic/racial groups more than half the students with mental health needs or "emotional disturbance" and close to a third of students with specific learning disabilities dropped out of school. Combined, these disability categories accounted for nearly 60,000 of the more than 75,000 students with disabilities dropping out of school.

As NCD reported earlier, many of the thousands of students with disabilities who drop out before completing high school are destined for unemployment. Some will join the rolls of social benefit programs without much hope for future self-sufficiency. Again, the very law Congress designed to ensure protections and accountability for students with disabilities and their families, including transition from secondary school to post school activities still has not been effectively implemented or enforced. For young people with disabilities, parents, and advocates these findings are not only alarming, but also unacceptable!

The 1997 IDEA amendments require an individualized education program (IEP) team to formulate a statement of each student's transition service needs focusing on which courses will be necessary to help the student achieve long-term vocational goals by the time a student turns 14 years old. By age 16 (or younger, if the IEP team determines that it is appropriate), the specific transition services necessary to accomplish those vocational goals must be addressed through IEP team transition service planning. Despite these requirements, the Department of Education reports, "In the past three years, OSEP has found that noncompliance regarding transition requirements persists in many States. Although more IEPs for students age 16 and older now include transition content, the statements of needed transition services do not meet Part B requirements." ¹ Given the recent OSEP findings, it is clear that federal enforcement and accountability still leaves much to be accomplished.

To the detriment of children with disabilities and their families, the OSEP findings do not show improvement over the findings cited in the NCD/SSA transition report indicating that, for the majority of youth with disabilities, transition service planning and provision have been ineffective. For example, an increasing number of youth with disabilities apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) each year. According to the Social Security Administration in 1999, approximately 75,000 individuals between 18 and 24 years of age were awarded SSI or SSDI benefits, and as of June 2000 about 355,000 persons aged 18-24 were receiving SSI or SSDI benefits.² Of these about 36,000 were getting benefits from both programs.

Recent reports about the work patterns of disability insurance beneficiaries showed mixed information. For example, among SSDI recipients, less than one percent of recipients who continue to meet SSA's definition of disability ever leave the program to return to work, only 12% of the beneficiaries who were not previously working start jobs while receiving benefits, 43.8% of people with disabilities ages 18 to 34 tend to stop working. On the other hand, when compared to untrained people, youth with vocational or job training were less likely to stop work and return to SSDI rolls than were older disability insurance beneficiaries.

NCD urges the President and the Congress to ensure that the tools necessary for obtaining education and employment goals are provided to today's youth who will shape our nation's future. In the spirit of hope and with the expectation that many segments of American society have a stake in ensuring successful transitions for youth and young adults, NCD makes a number of recommendations for action at the local, state, and national level.

NCD Recommendations

Overall, NCD's recommendations for action at the state, local, and community level underscore the need to remove administrative disincentives for collaboration and coordination of efforts, document and share information about what works, including integration of preparation for transition into daily school life and greater involvement of community resources at all levels, and innovation in ways of reaching diverse cultures, underserved and unserved populations. More specifically, NCD's recommendations to the President and the U.S. Congress include the need to:

1. Establish a timeline for reports to Congress and the public on the review, revision and/or refinement of all relevant federal agencies' compliance and enforcement of programs that involve youth and young adults with disabilities. Include that each agency must provide clear and distinct incentives for compliance and enforcement, and specific and immediate sanctions for noncompliance and lack of enforcement, whenever necessary.
2. Require that all federal agencies redesign and/or redirect regional grants, contracts and/or cooperative agreements that are not producing results for youth and young adults with disabilities in secondary education, career training and employment preparation, and post-secondary education areas. Establish a timeline for carrying out the work and reporting the revisions.
3. Direct the Department of Education and the Social Security Administration to work together to: (a) set forth clear guidelines on the interpretation of the definitions of common terms in the federal laws impacting youth transitioning from high school; and (b) jointly fund and commission a national study for review and analysis of the SSI program purposes and the IDEA program purposes in relation to transitioning youth and young adults. One outcome of that study could be the design of a combined program with links to work incentive programs and other efforts that can lead to greater self-sufficiency for youth and young people with disabilities.
4. Ensure that the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Interior, and Labor, the Small Business Administration, Health Care Financing Administration, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Social Security Administration develop and implement actions needed to build and reinforce data - and information-sharing crosswalks within and across executive, legislative, and judicial branch agencies regarding the implementation of programs that involve youth and young adults with disabilities.
5. Ensure that the interagency coordination among the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Interior, and Labor, the Small Business Administration, Health Care Financing Administration, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Social Security Administration promote the infusion of knowledge about what works regarding transition and post-school services and supports for youth and young adults within and across all areas of federal, state, and local governments, public-private partnerships focusing on school and workplace improvements, and among all of America's citizens. Collect and disseminate timely and useful data and information about successful and unsuccessful strategies for youth and young adults with disabilities. Information needs to be meaningful to youth with disabilities, their families and the general public. Designate the President's Task Force on the Employment of Adults with Disabilities Subcommittee on Expanding the Employment of Youth with Disabilities for the leadership of this effort.
6. Ensure that all Department of Education and Department of Labor youth initiative grants, programs, and initiatives include dollars and resources for individuals with disabilities. A first step should authorize the Department of Education to implement a post-secondary education initiative that incorporates targeted scholarships and/or loans for youth and young adults with disabilities. Require that the initiative will provide effective outreach recruitment, relevant follow-along supports, and reasonable financial terms for repayment, when necessary.

Finally, NCD supports a Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) established as a non-paid advisory body to include youth and young adult perspectives in carrying out the mission of NCD. This Committee is a chartered advisory committee established to ensure NCD's activities and policy recommendations incorporate the needs of youth with disabilities, particularly as they relate to the implementation of critical civil rights legislation such as IDEA. One of the Youth Advisory Committee members, Rebecca Moore, will participate in a panel as well as the "What Works for Youth" roundtable on Thursday. Currently, this group is contributing to NCD's IDEA reauthorization activities by collecting information to capture the voices and experiences of young people reporting on their elementary and secondary school careers. This week, other youth with disabilities can access this IDEA Inquiry at NCD's website or through a number of organizations. If you know of any youth or young adult who may be interested in giving input, please encourage them to contact NCD-call or write-for a copy of the document.

The NCD Youth Advisory Committee members are part of a growing youth movement that includes the National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN), a five-year project involving the Department of Education, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Council on Disability. The project is research-oriented and designed to include annual leadership training for youth ages 16 through 24 with disabilities. NYLN conferences provide leadership training through discussions of ways young people can help the federal agencies (1) determine and update the impact of barriers to successful adult life, (2) identify what works and promising practices, and (3) highlight actions that should be implemented at the national, state, and local levels that reflect the perspective of youth with disabilities.

Again, I want to thank you for the opportunity to share these thoughts with you today on behalf of the National Council on Disability. NCD stands ready to provide you with any assistance that might be useful to you as you craft recommendations on transition of youth and young adults with disabilities.

NOTES

¹Twenty-third Annual Repost to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, May 2002.

²Annual Statistical Supplement to the Social Security Bulletin, 1999.