SPRINGDALE -- One teen's summer job has the potential to save the federal government $550,000 over the teen's lifetime.
Sixty Benton and Washington county 14- to 16-year-old recipients of Supplemental Security Income are taking part in a program studying whether helping teens with disabilities work will lead to long-term employment and reduce reliance on federal benefits.
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Many of them start their first jobs Monday.
"If you are on Social Security benefits as a kid, when you turn 18, the odds drop tremendously that you will ever go to work," Philip Adams, project director for the Arkansas Promise Grant told members of the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District on Wednesday during the group's quarterly meeting in Springdale.
Adams said the lifetime Social Security benefits payout for a disabled teen after he turns 18 is about $550,000. More than 30,000 children younger than 18 receive benefits in Arkansas. Supplemental Security Income is part of a federal program that pays benefits to blind and disabled children and adults and low-income people 65 and older.
A $32 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education is paying for the Promise program, short for Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income. Funding is for five years and runs through September 2018. Researchers at the University of Arkansas' College of Education and Health Professions are spearheading the program working in 25 counties across the state.
Total program funding is $211 million in 11 states. Grant money pays for case managers, mentoring, mental health and medical services and workplace experience.
The statewide goal is to have 2,000 youths signed up, with half receiving the employment assistance. Research will determine if there was a difference in outcomes after the program is completed.
"Kids with disabilities don't get the same first work experience other kids get," Adams said. "The system is still stacked against people with disabilities, as it once was for women and people of color."
Susan Daniel, operations manager at the Arkansas Workforce Center in Fayetteville, is in charge of helping the 60 Benton and Washington county teens find employment. The grant pays each participants' wages for 400 hours divided into two summers of work.
She said more than 40 employers signed on including retailers, grocery stores and bike shops. Disabilities range from autism to physical handicaps.
"One thing you have to understand about these kids, if you saw them walking down the street, nine times out of 10 you would not have a clue that these youth have disabilities," she said.
Special education teachers will serve as job coaches for about 15 teens requiring special attention, she said.
"Most of these kids will have no trouble working," she said.
Janie Wheeler, workforce administrator for the Economic Development District, said the grant fits into her group's mission of getting people to work. She said hopefully some of these first jobs will lead to full-time positions.
"This is an opportunity for us to help. We are a support system for them," she said.
NW News on 06/04/2015