David Stapleton

Overview

David Stapleton is a senior researcher at Mathematica Policy Research (later the Center for Studying Disability Policy). His work focuses on longitudinal employment outcomes for DI and SSI beneficiaries, the Ticket to Work program, and fiscal sustainability of federal disability programs.

Key Contributions / Features

• VR-SSD pipeline (Stapleton and Martin 2012): First study to document SSD entry rates among VR applicants using matched RSA 911–SSA data. Found 17.8% of new VR applicants (2002 cohort) entered SSD within 60 months; SSI recipients at VR application had 94% SSD entry rate. Identified perverse institutional incentives: SSA cost-reimbursement payments and state Medicaid-to-Medicare fiscal incentives encourage VR agencies to accelerate rather than prevent SSD entry. See Vocational Rehabilitation and DI Entry.
• Longitudinal SSI return-to-work statistics (with Ben-Shalom, Phelps, Bardos 2012): full report covering 1996 cohort over 11 years (11.9% ever in 1619(b), 6× cross-sectional; 28.1% ever employed = same as DI); 2001 cohort 6-year summary (9.8% NSTW); cross-state variation (NSTW 6.4% WV → 19.9% AK; service enrollment r = 0.75 with NSTW years); DI-SSI parallel in longitudinal outcomes
• Young awardee composition analysis (with Ben-Shalom 2013): DAC share of young SSD awards rose 13% → 20% (1996–2007); SSI-as-child disabled workers are paradoxically the most work-oriented subgroup; documents Sullivan v. Zebley and baby-boom aging as structural drivers
• Longitudinal DI statistics showing roughly parallel dynamics between DI and SSI awardees (with Liu, 2011)
• Early work on determinants of DI and SSI caseload growth (with Rupp, 1995)

Related

• Yonatan Ben-Shalom
• DI Return-to-Work Milestones
• Vocational Rehabilitation and DI Entry
• Disability Insurance Program
• Social Security Administration

Sources

• Stapleton and Martin 2012 — Vocational Rehabilitation on the Road to Social Security Disability Longitudinal Statistics from Matched Administrative Data
• Ben-Shalom and Stapleton 2012 — The Work Experiences of New SSI Beneficiaries A Longitudinal Perspective
• Ben-Shalom and Stapleton 2013 — Trends in the Composition and Outcomes of Young Social Security Disability Awardees
• Ben-Shalom et al 2012 — Longitudinal Statistics for New Supplemental Security Income Beneficiaries
• Burkhauser Houtenville and Tennant 2014 — Capturing the Elusive Working-Age Population With Disabilities Reconciling Conflicting Social Success Estimates