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Special Needs Populations

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Journal Article
Older Adults, New Mobility, and Automated Vehicles
Many older adults have fewer transport options, even as the transportation landscape is rapidly shifting. What are the potential benefits and harms to older adults that arise from the introduction of autonomous vehicles?
Feb 22, 2021
Report
Educating Students with Disabilities: Lessons from the Pandemic
A survey of U.S. educators sheds light on the obstacles that teachers and principals faced—even before the pandemic—that make supporting students with disabilities especially challenging in the COVID-19 era.
Mar 3, 2022

Explore People with Disabilities

Periodical
RAND Review: May-June 2023
The cover story commemorates RAND's 75th anniversary. One feature article explores what it would take to eliminate racial wealth disparities in the United States; another highlights a promising mental health first aid initiative in New York City.
May 12, 2023
Commentary
Long COVID Is a Mass Disability. The Labor Market Is in Denial
Forget the work-from-home revolution or quiet quitting: The COVID-19 pandemic's biggest impact on the U.S. labor market will be as a mass disability event. It's a shock that the economy is not well prepared to handle.
Dec 7, 2022
Journal Article
Low Exposure to Home- and Community-Based Services Among U.S. Adults: Cause for Concern?
A lack of knowledge about HCBS is a barrier to access, and exposure to HCBS users is one source of knowledge. There are no contemporary estimates of exposure in the U.S. population. Overall, service exposure was more home- than community-based.
Oct 11, 2022
Journal Article
Explaining Heterogeneity in Use of Non-wage Benefits: The Role of Worker and Firm Characteristics in Disability Accommodations
Using administrative data in Oregon, we document significant dispersion in accommodation rates across workers and firms. We decompose the variance in accommodation use, finding that firm characteristics explain 29% of this variance.
Aug 24, 2022
Journal Article
Effects of Medicaid Automatic Enrollment on Disparities in Insurance Coverage and Caregiver Burden for Children with Special Health Care Needs
We analyze how Medicaid automatic enrollment policies for children with special health care needs who are enrolled in Supplemental Security Income reduce disparities in health insurance coverage and caregiving burden.
Aug 23, 2022
Journal Article
Stepped Care for Depression at Integrated Chronic Care Centers (IC3) in Malawi: Study Protocol for a Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
This study will compare the effects of an evidence-based depression care model versus usual care on depression symptom remediation as well as physical health outcomes for chronic care conditions.
Mar 29, 2022
Research Brief
Fit for Duty: Alternative Approaches for Determining Department of Defense Disability Compensation
RAND researchers evaluated four hypothetical alternative U.S. Department of Defense disability compensation approaches that would support a simpler disability evaluation process by reducing reliance on disability ratings.
Feb 9, 2022
Journal Article
Trends In Home Care Versus Nursing Home Workforce Sizes: Are States Converging Or Diverging Over Time?
Since 2009, most states have increased the size of their home care workforces and decreased the size of their nursing home workforces, but there is substantial variation across states. More targeted efforts may be needed to ensure that people with disabling conditions can have their needs met in their desired setting across the nation.
Feb 8, 2022
Report
Recouping Separation Pay from U.S. Service Members and Veterans Who Later Receive Veterans Affairs Disability Compensation
The authors study how many service members and veterans experience recoupment -- or withholding -- of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs compensation due to receipt of military separation pay and how much more money they would receive but for recoupment.
Feb 7, 2022
Report
Earnings Losses and Benefit Adequacy in California's Workers' Compensation System: Estimates for 2005–2017 Injury Dates
This final report in a series is part of an effort to monitor wage losses of injured workers in the California workers' compensation system between 2013 and 2017. It updates estimates of trends in earnings losses reported in the interim reports.
Feb 3, 2022
Report
U.S. Department of Defense Disability Compensation Under a Fitness-for-Duty Evaluation Approach
In this report, the authors evaluate four hypothetical alternative U.S. Department of Defense disability compensation approaches that would support a simpler disability evaluation process by reducing reliance on disability ratings.
Jan 28, 2022
Journal Article
Understanding What Works: Measuring and Monitoring Quality in Medi-Cal's Home and Community-Based Services
This issue brief describes challenges and opportunities related to measuring, reporting, and monitoring the quality of HCBS sponsored by Medi-Cal.
Jan 26, 2022
Journal Article
Improving Mental Health Guardianship: From Prevention to Treatment
The authors sought to identify the most promising strategies for improving the mental health guardianship process in Los Angeles County for adults with mental illness who are gravely disabled.
Dec 7, 2021
Journal Article
Absenteeism and Presenteeism Among American Workers
We analyze the relationship between absences, presenteeism, and work outcomes using data from the American Working Conditions Survey.
Aug 10, 2021
Research Brief
Post 9/11 Trends in Medical Separation and Separation for Service Members with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury
Trends in military medical discharges and disability ratings can help the U.S. Department of Defense set goals for diagnosing, treating, and evaluating service members with posttraumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury.
May 10, 2021
Report
Trends in Department of Defense Disability Evaluation System Ratings and Awards for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, 2002–2017
The authors conduct an empirical analysis of trends in diagnosis, treatment, and disability evaluation for posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury among military service members between 2002 and 2017.
May 10, 2021
Periodical
RAND Review: May-June 2021
The cover story highlights the value of invention, analyzing the economic and social impacts of winners of the Lemelson-MIT Prize. A second feature focuses on human rights abuses against ethnic Uyghurs in China and what we know from satellite images.
May 6, 2021
Commentary
The American Rescue Plan Is a Chance to Support Students with Disabilities. Here Are Some Investments Worth Considering
National surveys of K–12 teachers provide insight into challenges for effectively educating students with disabilities during the pandemic and beyond. Understanding these challenges can help identify important funding options to address gaps.
May 5, 2021
Blog
Trust in the CDC, Teaching Students with Disabilities, Russian Mercenaries: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses declining trust in the CDC, insights from educators about teaching students with disabilities, Russian mercenaries, and more.
Apr 9, 2021

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RAND Topic:
People with Disabilities

Topic Synonyms:
Special Needs Populations

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Stephanie Rennane

Economist

Stephanie Rennane (she/her) is an economist at the RAND Corporation. As an applied microeconomist, her research interests fall at the intersection of labor and health economics and she has particular expertise in the area of disability policy and related health and social insurance programs.…
Yael Katz

Policy Analyst

Yael Katz (she/her) is a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. She most recently completed an IPA with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau where she researched reservists and their SCRA rights. Katz is an IES WWC certified reviewer. She has worked on a variety of different topics at RAND,…

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