BPA partnered with the Lewin Group to conduct a project that aimed to provide information to federal agencies to develop and inform policies that will promote the employment of people with significant disabilities. Much of the previous policy research on employment of people with disabilities had been quantitative in nature, which limits the type of information that could be analyzed and usually involved data from a single point in time. One of the primary purposes of the project was to collect and analyze extensive qualitative data on the employment experiences of people with disabilities. Key components of the project included:

• an extensive literature review on issues related to the employment of individuals with disabilities;
• creation of an inventory of public and private programs that support or promote the employment of persons with disabilities;
  
• interviews with policymakers, practitioners, and advocates about policies that affect employment among this group; and
  
• focus groups with individuals with a range of disabilities, who are both working and non-working, to gather information about their knowledge of work incentive policies, factors affecting their employment decisions, and the reasons for successful and unsuccessful attempts at finding and maintaining employment.
  

BPA was responsible for developing the program inventory, designing and conducting qualitative data collection, and analyzing the resulting data. The findings from the project were intended to complement other research being conducted by ASPE, the Social Security Administration, and the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research.