Social Security: Disability Programs Lag in Promoting Return to Work

摘要

In testimony before the Senate Special Committee on Aging on June 5, 1996, and intwo reports to the committee issued in April and July 1996, we discussed why so few DI and SSI adult beneficiaries with disabilities return to work and how strategies from other disability system could help restructure DI and SSI to improve return-to-work outcomes. This report updates the information in those previous reports that was based on surveys of private sector leaders in developing return-to-work programs; interviews with federal and state agency officials, experts, and advocates and officials in Germany and Sweden; analysis of SSA's administrative data; and focus groups with beneficiaries. Although we did not independently verify the data used in the analysis of this report, the data cited came from either U.S. government data systems or issue area experts. Except for this, our work was performed in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards in November and December 1996.