Hawai‘i Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) 
Service Outcomes

Preliminary Report

Summary Statistics for 

Federal Fiscal Year 2005

October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005

Robert M. Schacht, Ph.D.
Research Director
Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research & Training Center

March 2006

Hawai‘i Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Service Outcomes
Summary Statistics for Federal Fiscal Year 2005
October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements	iii
Executive Summary	1
Data Sources	2
Limitations	2
Part 1. Summary Statistics for the 2004 Federal Fiscal Year	3
Findings	3
Total Number of Cases Known to VR	3
Number Actively Served	4
Number and Percent Closed by VR Status	4
General Performance of Employment Closures	5
Part 2.  Performance Indicators and 2004 Findings	7
Findings	7

Tables		
Table 1. Number and Percent of Persons Known to VR by Status 	4	
Table 2. Type of Closure: Frequency and Percent by Status	6	
Table 3. Medical Insurance Coverage at Application and Closure	7	
Table 4. Case Service Costs by Status	7	
Table 5. Performance Indicators: FFY 2002 Data, 2003 Data and RSA Standards	8	

Acknowledgements
	This report continues a series conducted by the Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (PBRRTC) for the Hawai’i Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division (HVRSBD). This report continues a series, and was prepared with the assistance of Kay Yoneshige, VRSBD Staff Specialist, and Nancy Koneshiro, Data Processing Systems Analyst IV, Department of Human Services, who provided the data on which this report is based. 

The standards used in this report are those defined by “Instructions for Calculating State VR Agency Performance on Standards and Indicators Reports: PD 04-04,” a document provided by John Noland as an e-mail attachment on June 20, 2005 that was sent originally by Roseann Ashby, U.S. Department of Education, earlier the same day under the heading “FY 2004 Standards and Indicators Package.”

The analysis of the quarterly satisfaction data will be submitted separately.

Hawai‘i Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) 
Service Outcomes

Executive Summary
Hawai’i Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Division (HVRSBD) provided their annual RSA-911 Case Service Reports and quarterly extracts to the Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (PBRRTC) for analysis. Based on this data, the purpose of this report is to summarize HVRSBD case work for the 2005 fiscal year, to provide VR agency administrators and staff with information that can be used to: 
a) assess and improve services, in general, 
b) compare and contrast selected program performance and outcome indicators with annual program performance, and 
c) explore relationships among selected variables. 

This report summarizes agency performance in relation to selected variables and measures of performance and outcome. Findings are presented in three parts with some duplication.  

•	Part 1 reports information describing general program performance.  

•	Part 2 focuses on reporting requirements and presents findings as compared to performance and outcome standards. The standards used in this report are those specified by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) for use in evaluating VR agency performance. Five of the six performance indicators exceed evaluation standards, and the sixth comes close. As a result, HVRSBD achieved successful performance on Evaluation Standards 1 (Employment Outcomes) and 2 (Equal Access).

•	Part 3. The one indicator for which HVRSBD fell a little short was Performance Indicator 1.1: Year-to-year change in number of employment closures, which decreased from 738 in FY2004 to 695 in FY2005. All other Performance Indicators exceeded their target values.

Finally, Appendix A provides technical details on how the source databases were combined and matched, and how duplicate case records were removed.

Data Sources
There were two main sources of data: 

1.	The Annual RSA-911 case reports (“RSA-911”) filed by HVRSBD with the Federal government, summarizing information on cases closed during the Fiscal year. Data for the RSA-911 is defined by a Federal codebook attached to an RSA Policy Directive, the most recent being RSA-PD-OO-06 (March 16, 2000). A unique identifier is provided by the SSN field.

2.	The second main source of data are the Quarterly Extracts of VR case information (identified in this report as “QuExt”) provided by HVRSBD, which include a new case record each time a client changed status. This data therefore included open cases as well as closed cases. 

For more details on these sources of data and how they were combined, see Appendix A. 

Limitations
This report is limited to the presentation of brief descriptive information; analysis is limited by the availability of data. No attempt has been made to describe cases closed before services were provided, or post-employment services. No special analysis of cases with service interruptions was conducted. Description and analysis were limited, except where noted, to data elements defined by the current RSA-911 Case Service Report Manual (RSA 2004), and to data for the 2005 Federal Fiscal year. 

Part 1. Summary Statistics for the 2005 Federal Fiscal Year
Findings
Data describing general Vocational Rehabilitation program performance during the period of time between October 1, 2004 and September 30, 2005 are summarized below. 

Total Number of Cases Known to VR
Cases known to VR during the past year, for this report, were based on the two sources described above, include active cases as well as closed cases.  Selected data, representing 7,646 cases, were available for analysis. This is an unduplicated count (no case appears more than once; no person appears more than once unless that person had multiple closures; This year, there were about 33 persons with multiple closures). Table 1 displays the number of cases reported by Hawai‘i VR during the FY and at year’s end (September 30, 2005), by VR status code, but does not include cases in extended evaluation (Status 06; n=1) or post-employment services (Status 32; n=15), cases for which services were interrupted (Status 24; n=103) or cases closed in post-employment (Status 33, n=10).

Table 1. Number and Percent of Persons Known to VR by Status (September 30, 2005)
VR Status (excluding Statuses 06, 24,32,33)	Number	Percent of Total	
(00) Referral	12	0.2%	
(02) Application	503	6.6%	
(08) Closed Not eligible*	355	4.7%	
Total Pre-active or closed pre-active	870	11.4%	
(10) Eligible; Plan development	963	12.6%	
(12) IPE completed	202	2.6%	
Total Eligible or In Planning	1,165	15.3%	
(14)-(18) In services	2,977	39.0%	
(20) Job ready	493	6.5%	
(22) In employment	511	6.7%	
Total In IPE Implementation	3,981	52.2%	
(26) Closed Employed	686	9.0%	
(28) Closed Pre-employment	492	6.5%	
Total Closed Post-service	1,178	15.5%	
(30) Closed Pre-service	430	5.6%	
Total Closed Eligible	6,754	88.6%	
TOTAL All Statuses	7,624	100.0%	
* Includes ?32? cases with QuExt “Current Status” = 08, but RSA-911 “Type of Closure” = missing

Active Caseload (Quarterly Extracts)
Table 1 was based entirely on data from the combined QuExt files. The “Active In Planning” and “In VR Services” caseloads at the end of the FFY included 5,146 persons in VR Statuses 10 through 22.  An additional 1,608 eligible individuals were actively served and/or closed in Statuses 26, 28 and 30 during 2005. 

There were 109 multiple closures, and each multiple closure was used in Table 1. The previous closures were closed in a variety of statuses, the most common being Status 30 (??%) (Closed eligible but before IPE was developed). 

Number Actively Served 
Pre-service statuses 
Cases may close before eligibility is determined (i.e., closed in Status 08) and not all persons eligible for VR services (Status 10) complete the individualized planning process (Status 12). Service-eligible persons leaving the program prior to receiving services are identified as closed pre-service or in Status 30. 

Completed services
All persons served by VR, however, do complete an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE); that is, individuals were in Status 12 or higher before the end of the federal Fiscal Year or closed in Status 26 or Status 28 during the year. The number of persons served includes: a) 3,981 cases in Statuses 14 through 22 at the end of the year and b) 1,178 cases closed post-service in Statuses 26 or 28. 

Active cases
At the end of the Federal Fiscal Year the active number of cases in planning (963 in Status 10) and services (2,977 in Statuses 14-18) totaled 3,940.  This total does not count 1 case in extended evaluation (Status 06) or 15 in post employment services, ??? cases for which services were interrupted, or were closed in post-employment services.

Number and Percent Closed by VR Status 
Table 2 displays the number of cases reported closed in FY 2005 by type of closure, based entirely on the RSA-911 data. In total, 1,949 cases were closed. Among those closures, 332 cases (17%) represented persons closed not eligible (Status 08), that is, closed from categories 00, 02 or 06 as unsuccessful (Type of Closure codes 1 and 2). This is 23 cases fewer than the 355 cases identified as Status 08 in the quarterly extracts for the same period.

Table 2. Status at Closure

Type of Closure (RSA-911)	Equivalent Status	Frequency	Percent	
1-Exited as an applicant	08 from 02	328	16.8	
2-Exited during/after a twe/ext-eval	08 from 06	4	.2	
3-Exited with an employment outcome	26	695	35.7	
4-Exited after receiving services, no job	28	492	25.2	
5-Exited after IPE, before receiving services, no job	30 from 12	32	1.6	
6-Exited from an order of selection waiting list	?	0	0	
7-Exited after eligibility, before IPE, without job	30	398	20.4	
Total		1949	100.0	

The number of cases fully served and closed with employment (Status 26) was 695 or 35.7% of all closures. This is 9 cases more than were reported in the quarterly extracts for the same period.  Persons served but closed before obtaining employment through VR (Status 28) included 492 cases or 25.2% of VR closures. Persons eligible but closed before receiving vocational services (Status 30) included 430 cases or 20.4% of all closures.

General Performance of Employment Closures
The objective of VR services is employment. There were 695 cases closed with an employment outcome in the year. It should be noted that the RSA-911 case reports do not distinguish cases by “Status” category, but the QuExt database does, in its “Current Status” variable. For example, the RSA-911 Manual (2004) does not distinguish between closures in Status 26 and Status 33 cases closed in employment in the “type of closure” codes. Instead, both were considered closure types that “exited with an employment outcome.” In subsequent tabulations, accordingly, “employment closures” may include both Status 26, and Status 33 cases that were closed in employment. Subsequent tabulations about case outcomes will rely on the RSA-911 data.

Of the 695 employment closures, 679 (97.6%) were in competitive employment, and 683 (98.1%) had reported both weekly hours and earnings. For cases closed employed with reported earned income, average weekly earnings at closure were $322.93 and the average number of hours worked at closure was 31.33. The average or mean hourly wage at closure was $9.86; the median wage was $8.00. Wages ranged from $5.88 to $41.88 per hour. Among those with reported earnings, 75% (n=510) earned at least the minimum wage in Hawai’i, which has recently increased to $6.75/hour. Of course, raising the minimum wage has the effect of lowering the percent receiving at least the minimum wage.

At the time of application, 17.8% of cases closed with employment were relying on their own earnings as a major source of income. At the time of closure, 85% reported personal income as their major source of income. 

Table 3 summarizes the number and percentage of cases closed employed (i.e., Type of Closure = 3) covered by medical insurance before and after service. The table also shows that some VR clients had no insurance, public or private, at application, but that by closure, all VR clients were insured. Some participants even had double coverage. [Exact numbers not yet identified, but totals imply that at least ?? had double coverage.] The table also shows that at closure, fewer clients were relying on public insurance, and most had private insurance (mainly through their own employment).

Table 3. Medical Insurance Coverage at Application and Closure (N=695)

Medical Insurance	Number and Percent at Application	Number and Percent at Closure	
	N	% of 695	N	% of 695	
Medicaid 	225	32.4	131	18.8	
Medicare  	57	8.2	52	7.5	
Public Insurance (Other)	44	6.3	19	2.7	
Private Insurance (own Employment)	38	5.5	417	60.0	
Private Insurance (Other)	164	23.6	90	12.9	
Total	528	76.0	709	101.9	

Average Cost of Purchased Services 
Case service costs were analyzed for individuals served and closed in employment or without employment. As shown in Table 4, median and mean costs for Status 26 employment closures were $2,078 and $4,364.91 respectively. 

These costs were significantly higher than for Status 28 closures. These include substantial numbers of cases with minimal ($1 or less) purchased service costs. [Do Status 28 closures include cases where planned services were begun but not completed? The significant difference in service costs could be an indication of either incomplete services, or IPEs that did not include sufficient services.] 

Table 4. Case Service Costs by Closure Type

Type of closure	Last Status	N	Number of Minimal Cases	Maximum*	Median	Mean	Standard 
Deviation	
Employed	26	695	45	$103,024	$2,078	$4,365	7,760	
Not employed	28	492	119	33,331	470	1,955	4,053	
*Note: Cost outliers are included. 

Part 2.  Performance Indicators and 2004 Findings
This part of the report focuses on performance indicators described in the requirements for submitting data to the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). Data analyzed were limited to “cases served,” defined as individuals eligible for VR who have completed an Individualized Plan for Employment (i.e., moved beyond Status 12) and closed employed (Status 26 and 33) or served but closed before obtaining employment through VR (Status 28). Individuals closed in Status 30 (i.e., before their IPE was completed and implemented) were not considered “served” by Hawai‘i VR. 

Findings
Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) data were compared to standards set by 34CFR361.84, 361.86, & 361.88 (Revised as of July 1, 2002), and defined in detail by Instructions for Calculating State VR Agency Performance on Standards and Indicators Reports: PD 04-04, for assessing program performance. Findings are briefly outlined below and summarized in Table 5. 

Table 5 also shows 2005 performance in comparison to the previous year (2004) and the RSA performance standards. In summary, HVRSBD met or exceeded every Federal standard and indicator except Performance Indicator 1.1(= Table 5, “A”): Year-to-year change in number of employment outcomes. Consequently, HVRSBD exceeded statutory requirements for standards and indicators in FFY 2005.

Table 5. Performance Indicators: FFY 2004 & 2005 Data, and RSA Standards

Performance Indicators	FFY 2004	FY 2005	Standard	
A.	Year-to-year change in number of employment outcomes (Type of Closure = 3)	738	695	≥
previous	
B.	Of all individuals who exit the VR program after receiving services, the percentage who achieved an employment outcome 	50.45%	59%	55.8%	
C.	Percentage of 26s closed in competitive, self, or BEP employment with minimum wage. 	98%	74%	72.6%	
D.	Percentage of competitive, self, or BEP with minimum wage who have significant disabilities. 	79%	81%	62.4%	
E.	Average hourly earnings for competitive, self, or BEP with minimum wage as ratio to State average.	.57	.62	0.52	
F.	Individuals in competitive, self, or BEP with minimum wage: Percentage difference with own income as primary source of support before and after service.	58.5%	71.7%	53.0%	
G.	Service rate for individuals with disabilities with minority backgrounds as a ratio to service rate for individuals from non-minority backgrounds. 
]	1.21	1.08	0.80	

The Standards, as specified in the Instructions for Calculating State VR Agency Performance on Standards and Indicators Reports: PD 04-04, are lettered and underlined below, where they are described in more detail.  
A. Performance Indicator 1.1: The number of individuals exiting the VR program who achieved an employment outcome during the current performance period compared to the number of individuals who exit the VR program after achieving an employment outcome during the previous performance period. (Standard = equal or exceed performance in previous year).
•	During the 2005 FFY 695 cases were closed by the Hawai’i VRSDB program with an employment outcome (Type of Closure = 3, i.e. mostly Status 26). Compared to the previous year’s total of 738, there were 738-695 = 43 fewer employment closures, representing an decrease of 6% (43/738) from the previous year. Therefore the standard was not met.
•	Whether or not the Branches met this standard is unknown, because last year’s results were not subdivided by Branch.

Table 6. Type of Closure After Services By Branch 

Performance Indicator 1.1
Standard: Equal or exceed performance in previous year	Branch	Total	
	Hawai`i	O’ahu	Ho’opono	Kauai	Maui	 	
Type of Closure	2005	2006	2005	2006	2005	2006	2005	2006	2005	2006	2005	2006	
3-Exited with an employment outcome	?	113	?	424	?	19	?	64	?	75	?	695	
4-Exited after receiving services, no job	?	53	?	361	?	4	?	24	?	46	?	488	
Total	?	166	?	785	?	23	?	88	?	121	?	1183	

B. Performance Indicator 1.2: Of all individuals who exit the VR program after receiving services, the percentage who are determined to have achieved an employment outcome. (Standard = 55.8%).
•	During the FY a total of 695+492 = 1,187 cases completed the VR program after receiving services.  More than half or 58.55% (695/1187) achieved employment outcomes at closure. Table 7 shows the cases with an employment outcome as a percentage of all cases closed after receiving services. 
•	Table 7 shows that each branch except O’ahu surpassed the Standard. The calculations are slightly different because branch designations were not available for 4 of the cases closed with an employment outcome, so that the number of cases that exited after receiving services, but without an employment outcome was 488 rather than 492.

Table 7. Percent Employment Closures By Branch
Performance Indicator 1.2
Standard: 55.8%	Branch	Total	
	Hawai`i 	O’ahu	Ho’opono	Kauai 	Maui 	 	
3-Exited with an employment outcome	68.07%	54.01%	82.61%	72.73%	61.98%	58.75%	

C. Performance Indicator 1.3: Of all individuals determined to have achieved an employment outcome, the percentage who exit the VR program in competitive, self-, or business enterprise program (BEP) employment with earnings equivalent to at least the minimum wage. (Standard = 72.6%).
•	Of the 695 cases with an employment outcome, 513 (74%) were closed in competitive, self, or BEP employment with minimum wage. The average hourly wage for this subgroup was $9.88. The Hawai`i State minimum wage was recently raised to $6.75 per hour from $6.25, and this made a big difference when compared with this Indicator for 2004 (98%).
•	The next 3 standards and indicators all relate to this same group of 513 cases, i.e., “all individuals who exit the VR program in competitive, self-, or BEP employment with earnings equivalent to at least the minimum wage.” We will refer to these as the “subgroup.”
•	All of the Branches met the standard except Hawai`i and Ho`opono (Table 8).

Table 8. Type of Closure by Branch (subgroup)

Performance Indicator 1.3
Standared: 72.6%	Branch	Total	
	Hawai`i	O'ahu	Ho'opono	Kauai	Maui	 	
Type of Closure = 3	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	
Competitive, self, or BEP employment with minimum wage	76	67.3	309	72.9	12	63.2	56	87.5	60	80.0	513	73.8	
Total cases closed with employment 	113		424		19		64		75		695		

D. Performance Indicator 1.4: Of all individuals who exit the VR program in competitive, self- or BEP employment with earnings equivalent to at least the minimum wage, the percentage who are individuals with significant disabilities.   (Standard = 62.4%).
•	Among the 695 individuals who closed in competitive, self, or BEP employment, 513 were earning at least State minimum wage; 418 of the 513 or 81% had disabilities that were identified as significant.
•	All branches exceeded the Standard (Table 9).

Table 9. Significant Disability by Branch (subgroup)

Performance Indicator 1.4
Standard: 62.4%	Branch	Total	
	Hawai`i	O'ahu	Ho'opono	Kauai	Maui	 	
Competitive, self, or BEP employment with minimum wage	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	
Significant Disability	64	84.2	238	77.0	12	100	53	94.6	51	85.0	418	81.5	
Total	76		309		12		56		60		513		

E. Performance Indicator 1.5: The average hourly earnings of all individuals who exit the VR program in competitive, self-, or BEP employment with earnings equivalent to at least  the minimum wage as a ratio to the State’s average hourly earnings for all individuals in the State who are employed (as derived from the Bureau of Labor Statistics report “State Average Annual Pay” for the most recent available year). (Standard 0.52).
•	Individuals who closed in competitive, self, or BEP employment with earnings equivalent to at least the State minimum wage (n = 513) earned an average of $11.04 per hour. Based on the most recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average hourly wage for the State of Hawai`i was $17.67 (BLS, 2004). The hourly earnings ratio of the VR subgroup was $11.04/$17.67 = 0.62.
•	All branches exceeded this Standard (Table 10).

Table 10. Hourly Wage by Branch
Performance Indicator 1.5
Standard:  0.52	Branch	Total	
	Hawai`i 	O’ahu	Ho’opono	Kauai 	Maui 	 	
Average Hourly Wage	10.59	11.00	19.00	10.52	10.69	11.04	
Ratio to State Average ($17.67)	0.599	0.623	1.075	0.595	0.605	0.625	
Sample size	76	309	12	56	60	513	

F. Performance Indicator 1.6: Of all individuals who exit the VR program in competitive, self-, or BEP employment with earnings equivalent to at least the minimum wage, the difference between the percentage who report their own income as the largest single source of economic support at the time they exit the VR program and the percentage who report their own income as the largest single source of support at the time they apply for VR services. (Standard = 53.0%). 
•	At the time of application, 105 (20.5%) of the 513 cases closed in competitive, self, or BEP employment and earning at least the State minimum wage had reported their income as the primary source of support.
•	By the time their cases closed, this number had increased to 473 or 92.2% of the 513 cases. The difference between the percentage at closure and at application was 92.2%-20.5% = 71.7%
•	Of the branches, only Ho’opono failed to meet the Standard.

Table 11. Primary Source of Support by Branch 

Performance Indicator 1.6
Standard = 53.0%	Branch	Total	
Primary Source of Support =
Personal Income	Hawai`i	O'ahu	Ho'opono	Kauai	Maui	 	
At Closure	% within Branch	92.1%	92.2%	100.0%	89.3%	93.3%	92.2%	
At Application	% within Branch	-18.4%	-20.1%	-66.7%	-19.6%	-16.7%	-20.5%	
	Difference	73.7%	72.1%	33.3%	69.7%	76.6%	71.7%	

G. Performance Indicator 2.1: The service rate for all individuals with disabilities from minority backgrounds as a ratio to the service rate for all individuals with disabilities from non-minority backgrounds.  (Standard = .80).

The current method of identifying ethnic or racial backgrounds (RSA 2004), consistent with the procedures used for the Census 2000, is to allow people to identify more than one background. In our data, approximately 43 of the 1,949 people for whom race or ethnicity was available identified with more than one background. For the purposes of this Indicator, Federal guidelines define “minority background” as anyone who has any minority ancestry. However, there is no majority race or ethnicity in Hawaii, as none of the coded races or ethnicities is identified with more than 50% of the population. The most numerous race or ethnicity was “White,” so “Minority” will be understood as “Non-White.” No attempt was made to assess “how much” minority background a person had. 

•	As with Standard 1.2 (“B”), of all persons with disabilities who received VR services and closed (1,187), 838 (71%) had minority backgrounds. The service rate for all individuals was 59%; for those from minority backgrounds the rate was 59.9%, compared with 55.3% for individuals from non-minority backgrounds. The overall minority to non-minority rate ratio was 59.9/55.3=1.08.
•	The breakdown by branch was similar, but the numbers were slightly different because as previously noted, branch information was not available for all cases. Overall, the service rate was 502/835=60.1%. This signifies that “Minorities” were closed in employment at a higher rate than “Whites.” This was true in all Branches except Hawai`i, but even there, the service ratio was far above the standard of .80

Table 12. Branch by Type of Closure by Minority 

Performance Indicator 2.1	Branch	Total	
Standard = .80	Hawai`i	O'ahu	Ho'opono	Kauai	Maui	 	
Type of Closure	3	4	3	4	3	4	3	4	3	4	3	4	
Minority	63	31	324	257	16	3	44	15	55	27	502	333	
White	50	22	100	104	3	1	20	9	20	19	193	155	
	Minor.	White	Minor.	White	Minor.	White	Minor.	White	Minor.	White	Minor.	White	
Service rate	0.670	0.694	0.558	0.490	0.842	0.750	0.746	0.690	0.671	0.513	0.601	0.555	
Ratio M/W		0.965		1.138		1.123		1.081		1.308		1.084	

Part 3.  Selected Demographic, Service, and Outcome Variables
[2. Table 8, Outcome by referral source.  I would like to see how each branch did.
3. Table 13. Outcome by cause of impairment.  I would like to see how the branches did on "Depressive and other mood disorders" and "Schizophrenia and other Psychoses".
]
 In addition, we analyze and discuss relationships among selected demographic, service, and outcome variables. 

Findings
Basic Demographics
The following findings were based on the combined data for cases closed in the FY, or still active during that period. 

Gender
The majority of those served were male (55.6%). Females, however, were a little more likely to obtain employment (51% closed in Status 26, vs. 50% of Males). The difference, however, was not statistically significant.

Age
The average age of all VR participants in the FY was 33.8 years, but the age curve has a significant spike at age 17, and another mode around the age of 45 (Figure 1). The cases shown in Figure 1 include open cases as well as all closed cases.

The average age at application of individuals closed with employment (Status 26) was 36.3 years. Persons served but closed prior to employment (Status 28) were on average several years younger at application (33.5), and this difference was statistically significant.  The large number of teenagers is striking. That is, the spike in frequency at age 17 deviates to a considerable degree from the bell-shaped normal distribution curve (shown in Figure 1). This implies that some unusual event or policy is affecting that age group. The explanation for this distribution might relate, for example, to special policies encouraging the recruitment of teenagers with disabilities for school to work transition assistance.