Social Security Administration, Office of Acquisition and Grants, 1710 Gwynn Oak Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21207-0696

B -- DISABILITY PROCESS REDESIGN POC Jane M. Quinn Tel: 410-965-9495 The Social Security Administration (SSA) is in search of nationally recognized entity with qualifications suitable to provide oversight and review of the agency's research and development of a new disability decision process and the concomitant Disability Evaluation Study. Offerors must have high standing, independence, and credibility within the scientific, research, and policy-making communities, and must have extensive experience and expertise in these fields. Successful offerors will be expected to provide not only independent scientific scrutiny, but expert recommendations in approach and methods for SSA as it develops the new decision process and conducts relevant data-collection activities. In late 1993, SSA began an initiative to improve its disability process through business process reengineering. In September 1994, the Commissioner issued SSA's disability process redesign in the Plan for a New Disability Claim Process. That report discussed the need for a structured approach to disability decisionmaking that takes into consideration the large number of claims and still provides a basis for consistent, equitable decisionmaking by adjudicators at each level. As one part of the redesign, the Commissioner described a proposal for a new method for determining whether individuals are ''disabled.'' Using the current statutory definition of disability, the proposal was intended to assess disability by means of a simpler evaluation process that would focus decisionmaking more directly on the functional consequences of an individual's impairment(s). However, the Commissioner acknowledged that certain aspects of the proposed new disability methodology would ''require much study and deliberation with experts and consumers'' and made ''no conclusions about their ultimate place in the disability process.'' A November 1994 follow-up report, Disability Process Redesign: Next Steps in Implementation, described the proposed methodology as ''a conceptual framework'' and outlined the long-term research, consultation, development, and refinement that will be needed before deciding on and implementing a new disability methodology. SSA has begun its research and development by reviewing functional assessment instruments currently in use and assessing their potential application in the disability programs. Research is about to begin into methods of describing occupations according to their functional requirements. SSA will also study other factors that may help develop a final methodology, such as the decision processes used in other programs, both nationally and internationally, and the effect of age, education, and work experience on the capacity for work. Finally, SSA intends to test proposed methodology changes as they are developed and prior to any implementation. Originally conceived as a method to assess the size of the population that meets the SSA definition of disability and the potential long term impact on growth in the disability rolls, the DES has taken on added significance as part of the research plan to evaluate the impact of the redesigned disability methodology. The DES is to be a complex multi-year study of the distribution of mental and physical impairments in the population and the impact that such impairments, and combinations of impairments, have on the ability to function, both generally and specifically in the workplace. In a numberof respects the study will break new ground and use ''state of theart'' techniques. Accordingly, the DES will require oversight andreview using outside experts at various points during the conductof the study. At the present time SSA is preparing to requestproposals for a contract to finalize a preliminary DES designthat was developed under contract, to undertake the fieldwork,and perform data preparation and analysis. Ultimately this study will assess the size of the potentially eligible disabled population, assess the reasons some disabled individuals continueto work (and their means of support and assistance), and test different decision processes, such as the new, redesigned process. SSA must satisfy itself as to the validity, reliability, safety, practicality, and appropriateness of its disability decision methodology. To ensure that the research program will fulfill these goals and meet all of SSA's needs, it is important to incorporate in the broader study design a concurrent, parallel program of independent, credible oversight and advice of the highest order of technical competence to provide feedback on the research effort at each step, taking note of, and drawing attention to, potential strengths and weaknesses that may exist in the research. The organization chosen to perform this function will be required to perform the following tasks: o Review the research plan and timeline for developing a new decision methodology and offer comments, insights, and direction into the research; o Review the preliminary design of the DES, offering comments, identifying outstanding issues and methodological concerns, and offering direction; o Review the results of the research into existing functional assessment instrumentation, provide advice and direction in adopting or developing functional assessment instrumentation or protocol for the redesigned disability decision process; o Review and comment on future research proposals, offering advice and direction, and review and assess the results and findings of the research undertaken; and, o Issue a final report that reviews and provides feedback on the quality of the overall research and assesses the final proposal for the redesigned methodology. (0100)

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