Teenagers start jobs for research

SPRINGDALE -- Jordan Denzer, 17, looks forward to taking her family out for lunch with money from her first paycheck of a new summer job at a Harps supermarket.

Her sister, Peyton Denzer, 16, hopes to save enough money from her first job at Little Kids Preschool to buy contact lenses.

The sisters, who both have autism, are among 350 teenagers with moderate to severe disabilities starting summer jobs this month as part of a research project designed to study whether early work experiences lead to long-term employment and reduce their need for federal benefits as adults.

Sixty of the teenagers are from Benton and Washington counties. Most started working last Monday, with the rest due to begin this week. All of the participants receive Supplemental Security Income from the Social Security Administration.

The Arkansas Promise program, short for Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income, is supported by a five-year, $32.4 million U.S. Department of Education grant awarded in the fall 2013 to the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions and the Arkansas Department of Education.

The award for Arkansas was among $211 million in grants the federal agency awarded to five states, including Arkansas, and a consortium of six states. Funding also comes from the U.S. departments of Labor and Health and Human Services and the Social Security Administration.

Jordan Denzer, who will begin her senior year in August at Springdale High School, looks forward to prom and graduation. She plans to go to college to study photography and film. She wants to earn money as an adult to support herself, she said.

"I'm really glad they're helping kids like me with disabilities," Denzer said. "This way we can get a full experience. When I'm out of high school, I can know the environment and how a job really is."

A DIFFERENT APPROACH

The federal government can't sustain the demand for Supplemental Security Income for children and adults with disabilities, which was $51.7 billion in 2012, said Brent T. Williams, principal investigator of the study. Williams is an associate professor of rehabilitation education and research at UA-Fayetteville.

"You want to keep Social Security viable?" Williams said. "You've got to put money on the front end."

Of the estimated 20.3 million working-age adults with disabilities, about one-third reported having jobs, according to one-year data from the 2013 American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau. Of the estimated 174 million working-age adults without disabilities, about three-quarters were employed.

The average teen with disabilities receives $550,000 in benefits over his lifetime after turning 18, said Philip Adams, project director for Arkansas Promise. The cost of the grant for one teenager is $32,400 over five years for a temporary intervention designed to help him become a working adult.

Teenagers in the intervention group work with a team of people who help them and their families overcome potential barriers to work, such as transportation. The team also acts as a liaison with the teen's school and supports them and their employer. The level of assistance depends on need.

The goal is for the teens to work 400 hours over two summers in jobs that are related to their career interests, Williams said. The grant pays their wages.

If 65 of 1,000 teenagers in Promise maintain employment as adults and don't need federal supplemental income, they would save the government $35.75 million over their lifetimes, Adams said. That accounts only for the supplemental benefit, but also would lead to reduced costs for other federal programs, including Medicaid, food stamps and housing assistance programs.

When the teenagers are receiving paychecks, they pay state and federal taxes, including for Social Security and Medicare, Adams said.

"When families achieve long-term competitive employment and improve quality of life, society benefits from a reduced burden on all benefits programs, federal and state," Adams said.

The experiment in Arkansas involves recruiting 2,000 teenagers for the research study, with half randomly assigned to a control group not receiving any of the interventions or work experiences and half randomly assigned to the intervention group, according to Arkansas Promise.

The project has recruited 1,089 teenagers, with 553 youth assigned to the intervention group thus far, Adams said. Of those, 350 will work in jobs this summer and again in 2017. The rest will work in jobs in the summer of 2016 and 2018.

In the interim year when they are not working, the youth will receive training designed to help them be more successful when they return to jobs through Arkansas Promise the following summer, Williams said.

The Social Security Administration will track them for 15 years to see if the adolescents are able to maintain employment, Williams said.

SOMETHING NEW

Linda Denzer and husband Gary married in 1996 and live in Springdale. They have three children, the two girls and an older son, Russell, 18. All of them experienced developmental delays in childhood and were diagnosed with autism. Jordan was the most severe of the three and didn't speak until she was 4.

Jordan has a photographic memory, excels in math and can listen to a song and sing it exactly like she heard it, Linda Denzer said. Peyton is creative and has a desire to take care of everyone around her.

Both girls, however, primarily struggle in their interactions with other people, Denzer said.

Both Jordan and Peyton were accepted into the study and assigned to the intervention group.

A case manager, Renisha Rivers of Fayetteville, assisted the family in making sure earnings wouldn't affect the federal benefits Jordan and Peyton Denzer receive, Linda Denzer said. They meet with Rivers once or twice a month.

Rivers works with 17 teenagers, though she eventually will have a caseload of 20. The caseload is small compared with the 230 individuals with disabilities she worked with at her previous job as a vocational rehabilitation counselor for Arkansas Rehabilitation Services.

With Arkansas Promise, her primary goal is to help the teens and families overcome short-term obstacles and set goals, she said.

Federal benefits are confusing, Rivers said. She went with the family to the Social Security Administration and made sure they had all the necessary documentation to claim a student income exclusion so that the girls could work without affecting their benefits. As students, they can earn up to $7,100 per year, Rivers said.

Rivers can identify with the teenagers. She has a spinal cord injury and uses a wheelchair, she said.

"I want to be an example to show them there is a way to be successful in life," Rivers said. "You can't let your disability hold you back. I would like to make an impact on them becoming successful later in life."

Susan Daniel, operations manager for the nonprofit Northwest Arkansas Certified Development Company, is involved with the employers and oversees the job coaches, who sometimes go to the job site with the teenager.

The advisers assisted the teenagers in finding jobs that fit their interests, Daniel said.

Jordan and Peyton Denzer do not need one-on-one assistance at work, but have an employment and training adviser, Daniel said. The adviser makes sure the teenagers understand their role, provides any necessary support and helps to ensure time sheets are filled out.

"The employers we work with are excellent at helping our youth through any difficulties when it comes to their first job," Daniel said. "I do think when you give a kid some responsibility, it really enhances their confidence."

REPORTING FOR WORK

The week before Jordan went to work was an anxious one, Linda Denzer said. Jordan prefers structure and knowing what to expect, but there were some unknowns with starting a new job. Jordan has a hard time making eye contact and gets quiet when she is distressed, characteristics her mother worried would affect her in a job.

Jordan was still a little anxious after the first day and was very tired. However, she looked forward to going back the next day, Denzer said.

"Everybody right down to the store manager was very nice to her," Denzer said. "They took their time with her. They made sure they didn't rush through everything."

On Thursday, Jordan signed in for work and checked in with her manager for the day, she said. The day's tasks included wiping down freezer doors and returning misplaced items. She most likes straightening shelves.

"I love to organize," she said.

Going to work means she goes to bed early and wakes early, almost like a school day, she said. She's learned a few other things.

"Always be to work on time," she said. "Always call to let your boss now if you're going to run late. Make sure to pack a lunch. Always dress nice."

Peyton is working with 3- and 4-year-olds at the child care center. She reads them books, helps them with art projects and building with blocks -- "whatever they need to learn and be ready for kindergarten."

Peyton, who wants to be a veterinarian, also assists with taking care of the center's pet rats, guinea pigs and hedgehog.

"It helps us to learn what to do for the future," she said.

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS

Williams hopes the results of the study will lead federal lawmakers to support spending money on intense services for teenagers with disabilities so they can compete for jobs and stop living on checks from the Social Security Administration, he said.

The project already is making a difference by changing the perceptions of state officials, employers and nonprofit organizations about adolescents with disabilities, Williams said.

"All these agencies realize you can work with individuals with disabilities," Williams said.

The Denzer family has a new routine for summer with Jordan and Peyton going to work. Gary and Linda Denzer work at Chick-fil-A in Fayetteville. Russell will soon join his parents working at Chick-fil-A.

It will be the first time for all of them to have jobs, Linda Denzer said.

"It's going to be weird not seeing all of us at home during the day," Jordan Denzer said.

NW News on 06/14/2015