This article examines how child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) participation is affected over time by variation in the frequency with which the Social Security Administration conducts medical continuing disability reviews (CDRs). The authors use administrative data to explore whether the characteristics of children who underwent a CDR varied over time and to track the numbers of those whose payments were ceased because of a CDR and who later returned to SSI. They also conduct a policy simulation to estimate how the child SSI caseload might have differed with more consistent annual CDR volumes. The authors find that the characteristics of child SSI recipients are not greatly affected by CDR volumes, few children return to SSI following a CDR cessation, and varying CDR frequencies can explain the majority of child SSI caseload changes in recent years.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014 requires state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies to offer preemployment transition services (pre-ETS) to students with disabilities. Using data for 2010–2021 from the Social Security Administration and the Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration, the authors show that youths aged 14–24 with disabilities who receive Supplemental Security Income payments were more likely to apply for VR services, sign individualized plans for employment, and have higher annual earnings after WIOA enactment than before. The access to pre-ETS that WIOA provided likely contributed to higher youth engagement with VR and may be associated with better employment outcomes.