Study Details | Pathways to Work

25441.25411.02- Study of Project Ne

Study quality: High

High

Reason for the rating: This study received a high study quality rating because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition, suggesting the findings can be attributed to the program.

Program: Project NetWork Case Management

Characteristics of study participants:

Public benefits recipients

Services provided:

Case management, Earned income disregards

Setting: Tested in multiple settings

Methods and Standards Protocol version used for review: Version 1.0

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Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

Participation in the evaluation was voluntary. All SSDI beneficiaries and SSI applicants and recipients were eligible to participate regardless of age and type or severity of disability. To recruit study participants, the evaluation team conducted outreach to the population served, and those who responded to the outreach received detailed information about participating in the evaluation. The individuals who volunteered to participate in the evaluation were randomly assigned to the program condition or the comparison condition. The study used administrative data to assess impacts of the program on earnings and benefits receipt. The study team also conducted a follow-up survey with a subsample of individuals (those who were randomly assigned on or after June 1, 1993, and who completed a baseline survey). This review examines the impacts of the program among individuals who received both SSI and SSDI at enrollment. Additional reviews examine impacts among individuals who received only SSI at enrollment and individuals applying for SSI. Impacts for individuals that were not SSI applicants or recipients at enrollment, including those who received SSDI but not SSI, were not eligible for review.

Time period of study:

Random assignment occurred from mid-1992 to mid-1994. The follow-up period was 36 months. All sites implemented the program for 36 months.

Primary outcome domains examined:

Increase short-term earnings, Increase long-term earnings

Other outcome domains examined:

Mental health; physical health; substance use; well-being; work limitations

Study funded by:

U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)

Results

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Outcome domain	Measure	Timing	Study quality by finding	Impact	Units	Findings	Sample size
Increase short-term earnings	Annual earnings	Year 1	High	41.00	1993 Dollars		1,092
Increase long-term earnings	Annual earnings	Year 2	High	-101.00	1994 Dollars		1,092

Short-term outcomes are those measured 18 months or fewer after participants are first offered services. Long-term outcomes are those measured between 18 months and 5 years after participants are first offered services. Very long-term outcomes are those measured 5 years or more after participants are first offered services.

Means are not displayed when not reported or not aligned with the impact estimates. For example, if the impact estimate is regression-adjusted but only unadjusted means are reported in the study, the unadjusted means are not displayed as they are not aligned with the adjusted impact estimate.

Impact estimates are not shown when the estimate units cannot be converted to natural units.

Findings quality key:

High
Moderate

Study quality terms?

The findings quality describe our confidence that a given study’s finding is because of the program. We do not display findings that rate low.

Findings key:

A moderate-to-large favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large favorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that might be due to chance
A favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A favorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that might be due to chance
An unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
An unfavorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size or direction
A finding of no effect that might be due to chance

Favorable findings are impacts in a direction that is socially desirable. Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a study finding is due to the program, rather than due to chance. Findings are described as moderate-to-large if the program produced a sufficiently large change in the outcome. An impact receives this designation if the standardized effect size is equal to or greater than 0.25 or equal to or less than -0.25.

Sample characteristics

Across the full sample included in the evaluation (including recipients of SSI, SSDI, and neither at study enrollment), ages ranged from 18 to 60 years old (with a mean age of 40 years), and 58 percent of the sample was male. The sample was primarily White (64 percent) or Black (26 percent). About one-fifth of study participants (21 percent) did not have a high school diploma, whereas 37 percent had graduated high school (only), and 27 percent had at least some college. Before random assignment, on average, study participants had received SSDI benefits for 36 months and SSI benefits for 28 months. The average monthly benefit amount of SSDI and SSI received was $610 and $291, respectively. Finally, the most prevalent primary impairment in the sample was a mental impairment (42 percent).

Age

Mean age

40 years

Sex

Female	42%
Male	58%

Race and ethnicity

Black or African American	27%
White	64%
Unknown, not reported, or other	4%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

Employment and public benefit status

Public benefits recipients

100%

Education

Had a high school diploma or GED	79%
Did not have a high school diploma or GED	22%

Specific employment barriers

Had a disability

100%

Program implementation

Implementing organization:

SSA offices; private vocational rehabilitation organizations; or New Hampshire and Virginia Vocational Rehabilitation agencies.

Program history:

Project NetWork did not exist before the evaluation. However, there was a three-month pilot period before the evaluation started in which the program procedures were tested and refined.

Program services:

The program consisted of case and referral management for providing rehabilitation and employment services to SSDI beneficiaries and SSI recipients and applicants who were disabled, blind, or both. The program included various methods of case management, with a different technique implemented in two of the eight sites included in the study. In six sites, case management services were similar, although the providers were different. SSA staff provided case management in Dallas and Forth Worth, private rehabilitation organizations provided case management in Phoenix-Las Vegas and Minneapolis, and staff from state vocational rehabilitation agencies were stationed in SSA field offices to provide case management in New Hampshire and Richmond. Using a less intensive model in Tampa-Carrollwood and Spokane-Coeur d'Alene, SSA provided referrals to outside providers instead of providing direct services to clients. In all locations, case and referral managers arranged for necessary assessments, developed individual employment plans, and identified and arranged for rehabilitation and employment services that clients needed to achieve the plan. The program also waived specific SSDI and SSI program rules that might have provided disincentives to work. The goal of these waivers was to encourage participation in Project NetWork and its return-to-work activities. These rules were waived in the same way for the program and comparison groups.

Mandatory services:

None

Comparison services:

Members of the comparison condition did not receive case and referral management services from the program, but they could receive any available services in their communities. The comparison group received waivers for the same SSDI and SSI program rules as the program group.

Service receipt duration:

Individuals participated in the program for up to 24 months.

Program funding:

U.S. Social Security Administration

Cost information:

The average cost of providing the intervention was $6,337 per participant. The average cost of providing comparison group services was $2,841 per person. The net intervention cost, or difference between the two, was $3,496 per person. This represents how much more it cost to provide intervention services compared to comparison services.

These figures are based on cost information reported by study authors. The Pathways to Work converted that information to a single amount expressed in 2024 dollars; for details, see the FAQ. This information is not an official price tag or guarantee.

Study publications

Kornfeld, Robert and Kalman Rupp (2000). The net effects of the Project NetWork return-to-work case management experiment on participant earnings, benefit receipt, and other outcomes, Social Security Bulletin 63(1):12-33. Available at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10951687/

Kornfeld, Robert, Michelle L. Wood, Larry L. Orr, and David A. Long (1999). Impacts of the project NetWork demonstration: Final report, Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates.

View the glossary for more information about these and other terms used on this page.

Pathways to Work refers to programs by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some program names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.

Study of Study of Project NetWork Case Management—Recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)