Improving the Outcomes of Disabled Youth through Information

项目概要/摘要： 拟议的研究的目标是测试如何期望残疾的可用性 成年期的福利影响到对儿童健康的投资。尽管有证据表明 残疾入学影响同期劳动力供应，很少有证据表明， 预计未来可获得的残疾福利会影响目前投资于健康的激励措施， 人力资本PI将研究如何相信补充安全的可用性 成年期的收入（SSI）福利影响儿童期和长期的健康投资 弱势儿童的福祉。SSI是一个迅速扩大的计划， 美国130万低收入残疾儿童的福利和医疗补助资格，许多 他们有可能生活不好。近70%有精神问题的儿童 除智力残疾外，18岁时从SSI中删除，但定性证据 表明SSI家庭低估了从SSI中移除的可能性。的假设 激励这个项目的是，关于搬迁的不准确信念导致SSI家庭， 对子女的健康和人力资本投资不足。 最终目标是进行随机对照试验（RCT）， SSI儿童的家庭，了解SSI在18岁时被移除的可能性，以及 “推动”和资源，以促进健康和人力资本投资。PI将评估 RCT对健康和人力资本投资以及长期福祉的影响 成年后的孩子。为达致这个目标，首席执行官将1）进行一项有关家长的调查， 和儿童信仰不准确，以告知RCT的设计和2）试点RCT。调查 将服务于三个主要目的：通过提供定量证据填补文献空白 家庭是否高估了未来SSI福利的可用性;告知RCT 通过识别具有特别不准确的信念的亚群和识别障碍来设计 提供关于清除的“基线”信念，以便于分析和 RCT效应的解释。 此外，PI将试行RCT设计，包括书面沟通和 辅导员就清除的可能性和具体的“推动”和资源进行外联。为 书面沟通，PI将测试不同信件和信封的回复数量 的设计.对于辅导员电话，PI将比较几种方法的有效性， 联系家人，如冷电话与介绍性短信后打电话。在 此外，公共卫生机构将试行各种“助推”措施，以促进卫生投资，如向卫生部门派遣 填写职业康复服务的申请，将家庭转介到最近的 社区健康中心，并向残疾人支持团体提供付费订阅， 文学试行这些方法将提高成本效益和权力， 干预

Project Summary/Abstract: The goal of the proposed research is to test how expectations about the availability of disability benefits in adulthood affect investments in child health. Although there is evidence on how disability enrollment affects contemporaneous labor supply, there is little evidence on how the expected future availability of disability benefits affects current incentives to invest in health and human capital. The PIs will study how beliefs about the availability of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits in adulthood affect health investments during childhood and the long-term well-being of disadvantaged children. SSI is a rapidly expanding program that provides cash benefits and Medicaid eligibility to 1.3 million low-income, disabled children in the U.S., many of whom are at risk for poor life outcomes. Nearly 70 percent of children with mental conditions other than intellectual disability are removed from SSI at age 18, but qualitative evidence indicates that SSI families underestimate the likelihood of removal from SSI. The hypothesis motivating this project is that inaccurate beliefs about removal lead SSI households to underinvest in the health and human capital of their children. The ultimate goal is to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of providing the families of SSI children with information about the SSI likelihood of removal at age 18 as well as “nudges” and resources to promote health and human capital investments. The PIs will evaluate the effects of the RCT on health and human capital investments and the long-term well-being of SSI children in adulthood. To accomplish this goal, the PIs will 1) conduct a survey on parent and child belief inaccuracies to inform the design of the RCT and 2) pilot the RCT. The survey will serve three primary purposes: filling a gap in the literature by providing quantitative evidence on whether households overestimate the availability of future SSI benefits; informing RCT design by identifying subpopulations with particularly inaccurate beliefs and identifying barriers to investment; and providing “baseline” beliefs about removal to facilitate analysis and interpretation of the RCT effects. In addition, the PIs will pilot the RCT design, including written communication and counselor outreach on the likelihood of removal and specific “nudges” and resources. For the written communication, the PIs will test the number of responses to different letter and envelope designs. For the counselor calls, the PIs will compare the effectiveness of several approaches in contacting families, such as cold calling versus calling after an introductory text message. In addition, the PIs will pilot various “nudges” to promote health investment, such as sending pre- filled applications for vocational rehabilitation services, referring families to the closest Community Health Center, and offering paid subscriptions to disability support groups and literature. Piloting these approaches will improve the cost-effectiveness and power of the intervention.