Hello and welcome to the Disability Law Lowdown’s ASL podcast. My name is Danny Warthling and I am one of your hosts for the ASL podcasts.

Today’s podcast is about the Ticket to Work program sponsored by the Social Security Administration (SSA).

The Ticket to Work program is a voluntary employment program. It is your choice whether or not to participate. Individuals with disabilities who already get SSDI or SSI can participate in the program to help them get employment.

SSDI stands for Social Security Disability Insurance. SSI stands for Supplemental Security Income. The Social Security Administration administers all of these programs – SSDI, SSI, and Ticket to Work. People who get SSDI or SSI can participate in Ticket to Work if they want to.

It’s a free program. Employers and service providers together are referred to as “employment networks”. Employment networks help people who use Ticket to Work get jobs.

For example, a business hires a Deaf employee. When they start working, the employer notifies the Social Security Administration and is paid for hiring someone through Ticket to Work. The goal is to reduce reliance on SSDI and SSI while increasing self-sufficiency.

So how exactly does it work? When a person gets either SSI or SSDI, that person will also get an actual piece a paper, a ticket, That is their “Ticket to Work”. They also get a letter from Social Security that tells about Ticket To Work and suggests they visit a website or talk to a person to look at the list of approved employment networks. They also suggest talking to some of the networks to find a good match. The person and the employment network will work together to come up with an IWP. IWP stands for “Individualized Work Plan”. When that’s done, the person has “assigned their ticket” to that particular employment network.

The employment network provides the services and supports that are in the Individualized Work Plan to help the person go to work. When that person starts working, the employment network collects evidence that the person is earning money and they then submit that proof in order to get paid. So essentially, employment networks are being rewarded for helping people get work and meet the employment milestones.

The Ticket to Work program is really about improving choice and opportunities for people so that they can get the support and services they need to go back to work.

There are almost 12 million people who get either SSDI or SSI.. More than 90% of those people who are of working age say they would like to be employed within five years, but less than one-half of one percent (.5%) actually go back to work. Hopefully, Ticket to Work will make it easier for people who want to work to actually do it.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the Ticket to Work program, you can go to the Social Security Ticket to Work website at www.ssa.gov/work.

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