Jayme>> Here for today.

Pat>> Thank you Jayme. Good afternoon and welcome everyone to today's Ticket to Work webinar, "Choosing a Service Provider That's Right for You." As Jayme said my name is 
Pat Van Nelson, I'm a member of The Ticket to Work team and I'll be your moderator today on behalf of Social Security and the entire Ticket team. Thank you for joining us to 
learn about the Ticket Program and the many types of service providers that you can call upon to help you as you start or expand your path to financial Independence to work. 
We'll be providing some practical information about how you can decide which provider might be best for you wherever you are on your path, and we'll also show you how to find 
them. I think one of the best things about Social Security’s program is that the Ticket Program recognizes that we're each unique individuals and every one of us creates our 
own path. Today our hope is that we can provide you with information that will help you create yours.
So let's get started. We want to make sure that you get the most out of today's presentation, so we've got a few tips for using this webinar platform. First, there's the audio. 
You can manage your audio using the audio option at the top of your screen. The audio option is an icon [that] looks like a microphone or a telephone. 
When you click on it there's a drop down menu; choose select speaker from the menu options as noted in the speaker image on the screen. Now, just a reminder everyone attending
will be muted during the webinar, except for me of course and then of course our speaker. When it asks how you want to join the meeting's audio, pick device speaker if you want
the sound to come through your computer. And of course be sure to make sure your speakers are turned up or plug in your headphones.
If you'd rather Listen by phone you can dial 1-800-832-0736 and enter an access code 4189148 and then the pound sign. You can also join the meeting audio to receive a phone call,
as you'll see in the image on the screen and enter that same number and access code. 
All right. Now, let's move to cover some information about the webinar's accessibility. On the Adobe Connect platform you'll notice several different boxes on your screen.
These boxes are called pods. We have the presentation pod, and this is where the slide deck appears, and of course that's the biggest one below that's an open space where we 
put the closed captioning. Top right corner is a q a pod, and below that's the Web Links Pod. We'll talk a little bit more about those pods in a bit. But first we want to make
sure we cover the accessibility. Navigating this Adobe Connect an accessibility user guide has a list of controls available and it's on the website at 
http://bit.ly/adobe-accessibility. A link to the Adobe accessibility user guide is also available in the Web Links Pod on the bottom right of your screen. 
It's called Adobe accessibility user guide, so if you want that one you can go into the Web Links Pod and access it now.
Real-time captioning is available and it's active and you should see it in the captioning pod below the slides. You can show it or you can hide it, and you can choose the 
text size syntax color combinations that best meet your own vision. You can open closed captioning by selecting the CC option at the top of the menu bar. The captioning link 
can also be accessed in the Web Links Pod under the title "web captioning." You can also access captioning online in a separate viewing window, choice is up to you
and how you want to look at it.

If you're fluent in American Sign Language and you'd like support during today's webinar, please follow the link that provides instructions on how to connect with an 
interpreter through the Federal Communications Commission's video relay service. The ASL User Guide is available in the Web Links Pod too under the title "ASL user guide."
We're going to be pausing for questions at two different points throughout the webinar so please send your questions to us at any time during the webinar. Just type them into 
the Q & A pod. I'll direct the questions to our presenter during the Q & A portions of the webinar. I'm going to try to do my best to get to as many as possible. If you're 
listening by phone and you're not logged into this webinar platform, you can ask your questions by sending an email to webinars@choosework.ssa.gov.
Another useful item in this Web Links pod that I've been mentioning; it has the links for the resources we'll cover today, just select the ones that interest you to learn more.
If you're listening by phone, you can email us at webinars@choosework.ssa.gov for a list of those available resources. You can also look at your confirmation email for today's
webinar to access those resources. Just a reminder Social Security can’t guarantee and isn't responsible for the accessibility of external websites, if you happen to go to 
one of those. We're recording today's webinar, and we'll post it within two weeks on the choosework website and that's https://bit.ly/wise_ondemand. This link can also be 
found in the Web Links Pod called Wise Webinar Archives.
We sure hope that you have a good experience during this webinar and that your technology cooperates; however, if you do run into technical difficulties just use the Q & A 
pod to send us a message or use that same address webinars@choosework.ssa.gov and our team will help you.
As today's moderator I have the pleasure of introducing my colleague on the team, Derek Shields, so let me tell you a little bit about him. Derek has a master’s degree in 
management and Disability services from the University of San Francisco and has spent the past 25 years in the areas of Disability Inclusion Employment and Accessibility. 
In addition to his work on the Ticket Program, Derek is also president of ForwardWorks Consulting and is a co-founder and current board advisor of the National Disability 
Mentoring Coalition. During today's webinar, Derek's going to cover the Ticket to Work Program, the many service providers that are available to you, how to choose among them,
and finally how to locate and find them. I hope what you take away from this session is a better understanding of the Ticket to Work Program, who's eligible, and how to use 
your Ticket. We'll introduce the different types of service providers and provide you with resources so you can choose a service provider to help you meet your own employment 
goals. I'll be back with you during the Q & A session, so remember to put your questions in that Q A pod. It's now my pleasure to turn the microphone over to Derek.

Derek>> This is Derek speaking. Pat, thank you very much for setting the stage for today's webinar and for your generous introduction. It's wonderful to be back with everyone 
for this month's webinar, and we're going to get started uh with the Ticket Program as Pat said and really focusing on supporting your path to work. All of our sessions 
talk about it because we really want to help you in support in the on your path to work to become independent of your benefits. We do have a lot of content today so I'm going 
to jump right in, and we'd like to start out by covering the two Social Security Disability Benefits programs. They're significant because you know you have to be involved 
with those to participate in the Ticket Program, and we need to understand what they are. 
So we have Social Security disability insurance; the first one called SSDI and just note there this is a disability insurance program and this is something that people have 
been paying into or could be paying into while working, and if you have worked and you've noticed FICA taxes being withheld from your paycheck that's what is being used to 
fund disability insurance benefits, and so your amount of benefits that goes into this depends on really things like how long you've worked or perhaps how much 
you've earned. Those are two significant things to think of. And there there is a maximum to this amount and it is important to note that everyone's benefit for their 
disability insurance is going to be different, like if you've had a longer history of work maybe sometimes up to 10 years to become insured and this varies but with SSDI 
recall that's insurance and when you've worked in the past you pay into the program. And with SSDI we're not really focused on your resources we're not focused on you know 
unearned income that you may have because that's insurance program you're paying into it. 
Now we can contrast that with the second one listed here Supplemental Security Income or SSI. Notice it doesn't say "insurance," so in this program this is a needs-based 
program provided by Social Security to people who have not worked enough to be insured for the disability insurance program, or they don't have a work history at all. 
So many folks have had a disability and not been able to work so they could qualify for SSI and that's very very different. It's also going to look to see if you have a very 
low resource amount or income amount. Social Security administers the SSI program as well and pays those monthly benefits to people with limited income and resources who are 
either blind or have a qualifying disability and that's important. It's also important to note that it is available, SSI, to people who are 65 or older or are children with 
disabilities or who are blind because they can also get SSI. So we have the two benefits programs and it's important to know what they are and, of course, which one or ones 
you might have so with that in mind you would say, "I'm not exactly sure. How could I find out?" And we have a couple ways for you to do that, um, you know so before you 
approach your employment team you would want to have this information. And on this side, we talked to you about how to sign up for a my Social Security account um this is one 
way that you can find out about your benefits. So you can look at one of these accounts they they're called my SSA accounts. I'll say that again my SSA standing for "Social 
Security." These accounts have to be set up on the Social Security website and they're going to ask you for some personal information like when you sign up for other accounts,
but I want to assure you that this is a safe and protected space to sign up. I've done the process and you know they have government security measures on the website to 
protect that process. 
What will also happen um when you know you do that it's going to give you a long information list about your work history; it's going to tell you if you're eligible for 
Social Security disability insurance, how much you will receive, you know, if you've been putting into the fund through work in the past, and it will tell you how much your 
family members will actually receive if you have dependents. I look at mine from time to time. I looked at it last month. I logged into my SSA account online, and I read my 
Social Security statement. Some of you might recall, you know, receiving that in the past in the mail um you know I can look at mine online and it has my projected disability 
benefits through disability insurance and projected survivor benefits, and I also saw eligibility for benefit status so this is important, you know, on the SSI side. It would 
clarify that your benefits are SSI and how much those benefits would be for you. 
So all of that information is really good to have in advance of, you know, taking this path to work and engaging this employment team that we're going to be talking about, 
especially the benefits planners that are on that team. So if you don't have one of these accounts, I highly recommend it. Sign up for a my SSA account and you can do an 
internet search for that or go to ssa.gov/myaccount. There's a lot of great information there to explore and you know if if that isn't for you you could also find out some of
this information through our help line, and I'm going to cover how to do that in a little bit. 
Okay so we've covered the two benefit programs and we talked about how to check on that through the my SSA account, you know, let's now turn to starting this journey. Pat 
mentioned this. You know you need to make the right choice for you and that's what's really wonderful about the flexibility in kind of when you start how you start and who you
choose to work with to plan and go along your your road map to work and your entire employment team is here to really help guide that process by giving you the right 
information with the right projections at the right time and we hope that you will probably be able to project what will happen before it happens on this journey to to work. 
So speaking of work you know we asked the question of "why choose work?" and you know in short, a good Mantra or seem can be "work works." We say this often but it really does
work for people; it helps people get out of poverty, it helps people really have the ability to make choices for themselves, you know you could have more 
flexibility in life, you have more choice if you're working and earning more when that rises above your benefits, and you may have that extra money to do the things that you 
want. And that allows you some flexibility outside of work, so earning a living through employment is something everybody can do, and these programs -- The Ticket to Work 
Program and the other Work Incentives we'll talk about will afford you the flexibilities to find a way if work is the choice for you. 
You know, there is a disability standard that's out there and it's a tough one but when you do look at the opportunity of earning a living through employment and considering 
these free services and supports that are available you may believe that all of the rewards of working will outweigh the risks and we know through many of our success stories 
that that is the case and so we hope when you consider this journey to work you can think about the success stories of those that have used the Ticket Program prior and think 
about how you can benefit from it as well, so let's now talk about the Ticket to Work Program itself. 
You know the Ticket Program is free and voluntary, notice that we bold this word "voluntary" you know this is completely your choice, you don't need to participate or have to 
participate, um, and you know you do not need the Ticket to make use of the Work Incentives that Social Security has either. We do care to be eligible that the career 
development services and supports are for people that are age 18 through 64 who received the Social Security Disability Benefits that we covered first and really want to work,
so you have to have that end goal as well and if you want to work you can get these voluntary support services and start to map out your pathway, and if that sounds like 
something that matches what you want to do we have some really important Career Development offerings that you should consider continuing on the Ticket Program getting into a 
little bit more detail about the services and supports that we talk about as Employment Services, you know, if you choose this is right for you you know we're 
going to need a little bit of information to help craft kind of how to move forward but if if you've decided that working is the choice for you you know you want to join the 
workforce and you want to realize the benefits of employment from um offering you know your skills and services to an organization, perhaps joining a team to make a 
contribution to an organization's mission that matters to you then it's really taking those next steps. So when we think about preparing for work you know you might need to 
consider consider some training or education that would help prepare you. The Ticket Program can do that and then when you come to you know once you're prepared for the next 
step in finding a job then you have to think about uh well what are the steps out there to explore where there are openings that will work for me and how can I ensure that 
when I do go to interview that I've I'm ready for that. Some of us, if you haven't worked for a little while, perhaps you know you need some preparation assistance 
with the resume and the interview prep and all those things can help and a lot of these service providers have great connections to employers that can match um their need for 
talent like you. So you can think about that as well. And then at the end of course, succeeding at work -- that's an important one; We want to make sure that you you kind of 
begin with the end in mind and that if it is going to be a pathway to work that that full-time employment that is allowing you to access the benefits of work the employment 
team has helped you access the job and support you moving forward what's perhaps a little you know on-the-job coaching it can be there to to tell you about kind of like well 
yeah there's a way to do your task but then there's other ways to perhaps communicate with supervisors and do the things that allow you to retain your position and succeed at 
work. The Ticket Program's designed to do these four things and is something that we really want you to consider as one of our offerings and of course 
we'll talk about how the employment team comes in support of the Ticket Program as well.

Um okay you know I've been providing a lot of information and about uh you know the Ticket Program and understanding um ways to check on your benefits through the my SSA 
account um I want to tell you if this gets at some point to be a lot of information today, one of the things that we recommend you do is to contact the Ticket to Work help 
line. So the Ticket Program offers this toll-free helpline to support you on your journey so if that's figuring out what did Derek say in the WISE webinar about my SSI 
benefits? Do I qualify? I have a question about the employment team. All of these questions can be brought to the help line's attention and the beneficiary support 
Specialists that are there Monday to Friday from 8 AM to 8 PM Eastern Time so you could reach out to them the number is 1-866-968-7842 and if you are a TTY user the number is 
1-866-833-2967. It is important to remember that this help line is designed for the Ticket Program; it's not associated with the Social Security administration’s more General 
toll-free 1-800 number, but if you have Ticket Program related questions go ahead and reach out they can answer those questions and help connect you with your employment team
at any point.
Okay speaking of your employment team, obviously that's our focus today. So now we're going to move into the second section of our content and focus on the members of your 
employment team who can help you achieve your work goals. Well, through the Ticket Program you'll have an access you'll have access to a variety of these partners. Your 
service providers are partners on your path to work and they include a variety of different ones and we're going to cover five of them in detail today. 
So we have Employment Networks, and we call those EN or ENs and then we have the Workforce System Employment Networks. We'll go into a little bit more detail on those. We have
your state Vocational Rehabilitation agencies; I'm sure many of you are familiar with those. VR partners. And then we have the benefits counselors coming through the Work 
Incentives Planning and Assistance projects or the WIPA Projects; and last we have the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security -- these are organizations 
we call them the PABSSS, and they each have an icon here on the bottom of the screen. We point those icons out: triangles of different colors, a circle, and a diamond. They 
are also on the choosework website and they're on some fact sheets. So you'll see these, and you might get familiar with them. 
So we have these five different entities and we're going to go through each of them right now. The first one is the EN or the Employment Network. An EN is a private or public 
organization that has an agreement with Social Security to provide free employment support services to people who are eligible for the Ticket Program. When you think back 
about that eligibility we talked about, you know, receiving Social Security benefits SSDI or SSI and between the ages of 18 and 64. So keep those in that in mind. We also 
have, you know, the your more traditional Employment Network is a service provider could be a non-profit organic excuse me non-profit organization or a for-profit organization
we also have the Workforce ENs and those I mentioned before they are part of the state public Workforce system that includes things like American job centers; this comes out
of the U.S Department of Labor and their approach to support with training and other Workforce preparedness and Readiness. so we have ENs and Workforce ENs. It's important
to know that they're all across the country and you can have them in covering an entire state or some might be a like a zip code area and then others serve the entire country.
Really the choice is yours. If you want some you know if you're living in in the state of Maryland do you prefer somebody that's in your neighborhood or it doesn't matter
if they're in Denver like they can serve you virtually but that choice is yours and we're going to talk about how to use our Tools in our help line a little bit later in the
process of choosing the right provider for you but keep that in mind. It's also important to know that you know this you don't need to pay for the Tickets 
you just call the help line, or you look up online and you could find out from those ENs if you qualify and then you could start to tap into kind of what they offer.

On the next slide on ENs it covers the the area. I mentioned Maryland or or national so that there is a local community; or a Statewide approach and then some ENs cover 
multiple states kind of more of a regional approach; and then we have National ENs that actually serve any Ticket eligible individuals across the whole country, and you could 
approach these in person, virtually and we could do that by by telephone or email. And then there's some that do both so maybe you start out by going in person and then you 
end up you know for ongoing service doing more virtually so there's a lot of flexibility here when you're looking at an EN and it's just trying to figure out, you know, what's
your personality type what do you prefer, and what works best in many ways.
When we speak about the services those employment support services and supports that ENs can help you with on this slide we focus a little bit more about what's designed to 
help you on the path to financial Independence and so we have five services and supports areas that are really important for the Employment Network. So if you're thinking 
about I want to reach out to Employment Network but what am I actually going to do with them these are the types of things that you should consider. The first one is 
important you know identification of your work goals you know if you're returning to a career after perhaps acquiring a disability you know you might be deciding um well how
do I re-enter the workforce and it's been a little bit of time and you know things have changed, technology has changed, our business model. So I have to think about 
transitioning my role or I want to get back to where I was or maybe there's some of you that are considering work for the first time and if you have an interest in a field 
like you've always had an aspiration to be in a specific field and have that job and career then you can work with the end around that maybe it's a customer service or 
customer experience role or perhaps it's a non-office job and you prefer to have like a trade skill those choices are yours and the end will help you in identifying those 
work goals mentioned before. 
You know writing and reviewing a resume it's important if you haven't been you know doing that for a little while um the EN could help you well what do I do with that time 
gap what's the strategy to you know include experiences I've gained from perhaps school or community service and portray that in a way that shows skills that the employer 
could could want? Preparation for interviews we mentioned before requesting reasonable accommodations you know if you're if you have a disability and you're trying to figure out 
well which part of this should I disclose in an interview or during an onboarding process. The EN can work with you around you know what you choose to do in in effect if you 
need a reasonable accommodation to do an essential job function a task you may disclose some of your disability to request that reasonable accommodation but then there's other
disability elements or identities that you may choose not to. That choice again is yours and the EN can be a great partner in thinking that through and the last one is 
benefits counseling and some ENs have certified benefits counselors that you can talk to, or they would refer those organizations to you and we'll talk about those 
organizations quite soon.
So next let's move to the second service provider that is part of your employment team and that's the state Vocational Rehabilitation agency. The VR agency provides a wide 
variety of services to help people with disabilities return to work or enter new lines of work or as we've mentioned enter the workforce perhaps for the first time and they 
can also offer benefits counseling and so and maybe some of you have received that from State VR agencies there's a wide variety of services that's available through the VR 
agencies so if you're kind of thinking about well you know I suppose like what if I want to do something different now you can you know tap into the state VR agency to make a 
path you know through Vocational Rehabilitation or training and education that would prepare you for that new possibility in a person you know might need to learn different 
things to do jobs differently because of the disability and the state VR agency is a fantastic resource to help with that along with Benefits planning. And when it comes to 
that training and education itself you know if you have a certain level of education but you're looking at a career track where your destination really the the work goal would
be a position that required an associate's degree or a bachelor's degree you may need to go through you know some further education station to acquire that in the state VR 
agency could help you know create a plan to do that; tell you if you qualify and help Implement that that plan to acquire that education. So it is important to remember that 
VR agencies look different in each state but they are available in each state. Some states have TWO agencies: a VR Agency for individuals who are blind or visually impaired 
and then another agency for all other qualifying disabilities. So you can find them online we're going to show you a little bit later how to do that.
Okay let's move to the third um service provider in the employment team. Now these are the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance Projects these are what we call WIPAs. If 
you haven't heard of them people call them WIPAs, and they're staffed by professionals who have been trained in this field and certified. We call them Community Work 
Incentives Coordinators. Another acronym for you, CWICs. These folks provide free benefits counseling to eligible Social Security Disability beneficiaries. You know that's you
know the folks receiving SSDI and SSI like we talked about. They're also able to talk about all of the other benefits like the impact on Medicare, Medicaid -- we talked about
that in a recent WISE webinar that's now in our on-demand area if you're interested. the the WIPA and the CWICS that work for them will help you understand all of the Work 
Incentives if you're not familiar with them there's over 20 of the Work Incentives. We'll cover a little bit of that today but really the the Work Incentives information is 
accessible online and you can dive more deeply into it and when the time is right you could talk to a WIPA about which one which ones the Work Incentives could be right for 
you um so that's important to know, um, they will also explain the potential benefits of employment and help dispel these myths. And there are myths or long-standing myths 
about, um, you know kind of the inability to go to work and keep access to health care benefits and you know it isn't correct and the benefits counselors can talk to you about
how to bust those myths to say you know well if you have work goals this would be the impact of income on your work and the length of time and in some cases we're talking 
seven to nine years that you could keep access to health care benefits and still work before ever fully transitioning off of these benefit programs and moving to like an 
employer option. So WIPAs are great to dispel those myths and would do so in a way that gives you kind of less less nerves in making your decision and knowing that you can go 
down the paths to achieve your your goals and aspirations and live the life you want to including work in a career, so it's important WIPAs help you decide if the Ticket 
Program and those services and supports can be right for you and those benefits planners those CWICs can really be great team members on your employment team.
All right I mentioned the Work Incentives and these make it possible for you to work and still receive benefits so they're really important to understand how many and what 
kind out of these over 20 Work Incentives you can use really depends on you know who you are and the type of benefits you're receiving and so you know it's important to 
explore them. You know today we talk about you know they could include keeping your Medicare or Medicaid having access to these individualized supports and services as well 
and keeping some or all of your benefits payments as you transition to work the issue around the Work Incentives is that you know there's a lot of variation in them so we 
asked the WIPAs and some of our printed materials and those ENs that have the benefits counselor that are certified by SSA to assist you in navigating those Work Incentives 
so they are a very key team member on your employment team and we encourage you to explore the Work Incentives with the support of the WIPA programs.
Um it is important to also know who the WIPA projects can serve so when you think about when is the right time to approach different employment team members this is um some 
good information for you to to consider right now the WIPA projects serve people who are currently working or currently self-employed people who have a job offer pending like 
you've been offered a job and you're kind of waiting to start phase and people who are actively interviewing for jobs so that would mean you know if you've had an interview 
scheduled in the next couple weeks or you had an interview in the past 30 days so it's important to think about the right timing to approach the WIPAs for benefits planning 
and counseling assistance you have to be working or self-employed, have a job offer pending, or actively interviewing. Based on these definitions, if that is you and you're 
really interested on the impact of work on your benefits, then you can reach out to The Ticket to Work helpline and they will refer you to a WIPA project if you qualify you 
know you're receiving SSDI or SSDI related Medicare SSI or SSI related Medicaid, so it's important. There is another group though that can be served by WIPAs right now and 
it's important if you're on listening to the webinar and you're focused on age 14 to 25 this is the earliest stages of considering work but these young adults or use in 
transition to work are eligible for WIPA services as well so something to keep in mind.
Okay and on to our final service provider as part of the employment team, this group is called the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security or PABSSS; 
another acronym for you. The PABSSS organizations provide free legal assistance to people who receive Social Security disability benefits and who have disability related 
employment issues. Disability of report related employment issues are around these specific areas of legal support advocacy and resolving employment related concerns with 
employers, you know, so if you're a beneficiary and you’re trying to resolve something with an employer or Social Security or these other service providers that we've talked 
about then the PABSS is as our colleague says the legal wing of the project and I think when you think of the PABSS you know you can think about this like well you know legal 
support and advocacy and employment related concerns um you know the PABSS services can help with protecting your rights and sometimes it's hard for us to know well what are 
my exact employment rights. It seems like maybe something isn't quite right here, then you could get legal advice about your rights and specifically, you know, if you're 
trying to figure out how to advocate for a reasonable accommodation they could talk about yes this is your legal right to request a reasonable accommodation, you know, for a 
class or with an employer but they could also talk to you about how to advocate for yourself for those rights and for reasonable accommodation in a way that maybe it becomes 
less of a, you know, a contentious situation one where there isn't the employee and the employer working together but they they find a mutual path to an outcome and the PABSS 
could help train you on that. 
And the last one is addressing other disability-based legal issues that are barriers to employment and again here this is where perhaps there's a level of discrimination and 
the PABSS can help you understand that and give you legal advice over what to do in that situation so they round out the employment team and really frame that your path to 
success could be designed with five service providers as your employment team partners and I think when we talk about our path to financial Independence through work when 
everyone's path is different is different it's really important to have that team to pull in at the right time when you need advice on making the next choice and so then you
can forecast well I'm I have a a crew around me that's going to help me achieve my dreams so once you do decide to to pursue it you know the the providers can help you create
the plan understand your responsibility and implementing the plan around reporting work and earnings and then help you stick to your plan and remember if the choice was yours
in designing the plan then the outcome the celebration of that would be success work earnings and the benefits of employment that the plan that you created designed so a lot
of possibility there from your employment team. 
And with that what I'd like to do now is move to our first question break and ask Pat to come back in to see what kind of questions have come up so far. Pat?

Pat>> Thanks, Derek. We do indeed have some questions when you were talking about the difference between SSI and SSDI you mentioned using the my SSA account but is there any
other way to find out which one of the benefits that I have?

Derek>> Yeah, this is Derek. Thanks, Pat, it is a good question. It's a common question and I think it's important you know the help line is there. It really is a a great 
option so you do have options and the Ticket to Work helpline um might be the preferred option for a lot of folks and you know I mentioned the number I'll repeat it the help 
line is at 1-866-968-7842 or tty1866-833-2967 the help line or the my SSA account you can verify your eligibility with SSI or SSDI you know whether you're receiving one or 
both through either method so and I encourage you the beneficiary support specialists at the help line they're going to explain to you also how the program works you know if
you're not sure about an employment team member that I just reviewed, one of the five the beneficiary support Specialists will help you kind of review those options and even
provide you a list of service providers that are tailored to your requirements. And then the last one you know you can also go on the Find Help tool, and you know from there
and we're going to talk about that a little later but yeah my SSA account or the help line and you're going to get benefits verification either way. 

Pat>> Oh okay okay and so if I understand if I'm on SSI or SSDI doesn't matter I can still join the Ticket program. So let me just hear that. 

Derek>> This is Derek, so it doesn't matter um you just have to be eligible. So I'm if I understand the question right you have to be a Social Security disability beneficiary
receiving one of the the benefits that we covered in between the age of 18 and 64. So or you could be receiving both benefits SSI and SSDI for some folks but the key really
is um you know being a recipient of Social Security disability benefits and being between the age of 18 to 64. And that way you can tap into the Ticket program and the other
Work Incentives.

Pat>> Got it thank you. Another question for you Derek is do I need to use the Ticket program to find work? I mean what if I find a job that I'd like can I just apply to it?

Derek>> This is Derek. You know that's a great question. You know this is all voluntary and we remember that word was in bold, so you don't need to use the Ticket program to 
find work. You know if you find a job that's out there and you want to apply for it um that choice is yours and you can apply for it. I think what we care about is you 
understanding when you do make that commitment to apply, the impact work and earnings will have on your benefits so that one of the keys about using the Ticket and really 
using your employment team is that working together they're going to help you navigate a transition into work away from benefits and over a long period of time you know you 
would understand how to transition off of benefits. It is possible to do this without the employment team so really to the answer you can apply to a job and find work on your 
own um so something to consider again if you're uncertain about that the helpline is a great resource to talk to a beneficiary Supports Specialists and really navigate what's 
the right decision for you. Should I use the Ticket Program, or you know should I go the other direction?

Pat>> Thanks Derek I've never had a job. Can the Ticket Program help me? That was one of our questions. 

Derek>> Well I'm… Thanks Pat, this is Derek. I think it's a good question and um you know there's a lot of people who haven't been able to work yet and if you're one of those
people that are with us today you know the Ticket program and the other employment providers that we covered in the last section can definitely help you. I like just because
you haven't worked before doesn't mean you can't and it's really up to you what you can do. And I think you know the Ticket program is designed to include you and so think
about you know you could call the help line or we'll go through how to use our website to find an Employment Network but I would encourage you to explore a conversation with
them if you are mapping out your first work goals, they would be able to assist you really with you know that process. Maybe you've never had a chance to have that discussion
for the first time. What are things you're good at, what have you always dreamed about doing, and how could we find a bridge between those skill sets and the careers or job
jobs that are in those things that you want to do and then make a pathway to get there? The Ticket program is definitely designed to help you if you're considering work for
the first time.

Pat>> Thanks Derek. That again um question you listed a lot of providers. How do I know which one I should pick? 

Derek >>Yeah it's a it's a good question. I you know… this is Derek. I I think that we understand um best by engaging with the ones at the time that they feel right and so if
you heard a description today about an Employment Network or maybe Vocational Rehabilitation or training in education with VR and there was something about it that was like
that seems like where I'm at and we would suggest that's where you would start like there's not only one way to start; everyone's path is a little different, and we want you
to feel comfortable in starting at a place on your journey that feels right. So my recommendation would be if you had a feeling that that one's right then to try that first.
If you don't know where to start we recommend you start with the Ticket to Work help line because the beneficiary support specialist listen to that name they're there to
support you and so if your question is “they’re going to ask you a few uh I don't know second level questions to try to get to know your situation a little bit better, and
then they'll make a recommendation. And if that sounds right to you then you would go to that member of the employment team. If you're not able to talk to a benefits planner
because you're not you know qualifying you're not working or you're not interviewing you know or 18 to 25 then that is probably not the place to try to go it's probably
better to try to look to a state Vocational Rehabilitation agency an Employment Network or a Workforce Employment Network and begin there um Pat I don't know you know
hopefully that helps but the key there is there's a lot of flexibility and the flexibility is designed to meet the beneficiary where they are.

Pat>> Thanks Derek. Um I'm working with a VR now can I work with an EN too?

Derek>>This is Derek. That's a good question, uh, again I and it is one I've heard before, you can. So the answer is yes but they're really not designed to work with at the
same time. It's more common that somebody will work with the state VR agency and receive let's call it the training and education services and then when there's a what they
call a case closure you know your your services will be done at the VR and if you are in the Ticket program and the VR agency you know even had your Ticket assigned then that
would be closed but the VR program can then in effect have a handoff for what we would look at as consecutive services to in the end and then you would get the benefits of
both, so not at the same time but you could get training Education Services through VR, kind of change your knowledge base, build new skill sets, and then transition over to
an Employment Network, and get more of those work goals more of the resume building an interview prep. Or importantly if you are working those ongoing supports and those are
the things that ensure we keep, the job so VR can help you get ready the end perhaps could help placement and help you retain your employment.

Pat>> Thanks Derek. I think we probably need to move on to the next part of your presentation. I just want to remind folks that we'll have another Q & A session in a bit so
keep those questions coming.

Derek>> Thanks. Hey thanks Pat. All right. So next I appreciate the questions I um I hope everyone's getting something out of this and now we're going to move into an a 
section called choosing the service provider and you know we've talked about the five employment team members, the different service providers. I think what we need to come up
with now is well how do we choose the right one and we're getting at that a little bit with some of the questions so hopefully some of these answers will assist you. Um I 
it's important you know the choice is yours but it's also um you know you can in effect look around at service providers and ask questions to find what's the right match so 
you know if you're reaching out to a service provider like do you serve others who have the same disability this could be really important if you need some customized support
and they don't have experience with your disability as a segment perhaps serving individuals who have a hearing impairment or individuals who have intellectual disabilities.
There's a wide range and you want to have confidence in your provider with who you are from a disability identity and experience that's a good one. 
The next one you know what types of jobs have you found for other people with similar experience or skill sets. You know, here you're interviewing your service provider to
make sure they're going to be able to you know get you a type of job if you want to be in the entertainment industry and you know you've had some you know theater training
and you went to an Employment Network that doesn't have any relationships with jobs that are in that sector then you would be like you know this might not be the right place
for me; however, if you went there and you asked them you know have you had luck in placing people in the entertainment industry specifically in you know these types of
positions including some acting roles and it was a match then you'd say this is the right place for me and you know I think the other two that are here…

Jayme>> Everyone, this is Jayme. We are just going to go ahead and try and get Derek reconnected we'll be with you in just…

Derek>> I just got… Hi everyone I'm back. I had a complete internet outage for about a minute I want to confirm that captioning can hear me and can Jayme confirm that I can
be heard.

Jayme>> Yeah Katherine can hear you as well. 

Derek>> My apologies I will proceed. Um next what services do you need to achieve your work goals I mean this is another section of like when you want to figure out the right
Employment Network or the right service provider, so you know what services are you really focused on. We've talked about them: resume writing, interview skills, and benefits
counseling. These are important that will take you in a different direction and importantly thinking about the why you're looking for these services. I'm at this point in my
path and I need this support in order for me to really get to the next part of my employment journey. And then the service provider should be able to say how they would help
you in that step or next activity on your path to achieve your work goals and so when you do in effect interview the service providers you can use these question sets to help
you explore. And they're important to keep in mind as you're mapping out you know your own path. 
On this next slide we have some questions to also keep in mind to ask yourself not asking others but you know kind of to have an internal gauge um you know after you talk to
a service provider you know did they seem friendly are they really going to be flexible and willing to work to achieve your goals in the way that you need to or was a more 
rigid model. You know you have some in choice of your team and you need to make sure that it's a good match from your perspective. Some ENs or state VR agencies provide a
broad list of services and supports that's a menu that would meet your needs and a service provider may not provide all the services that you're really seeking so it's 
important to to explore that along with if the service provider you know compares well with others in effect you could make a a bit of a checklist that says you know these 
are the five most important things that I'm looking for and I'm going to talk to three service providers and then I'm going to look at my notes and rate them and that would 
help you have confidence. “Well this is the right direction for me to go in.” 
Um and the last one is you know do you know anyone who's worked with the service provider? Sometimes service providers can put testimonials on their website and you can read
about those other individuals in their experiences or if you're working with the more local one perhaps you know you have somebody in your local network that could refer you,
a family member or a friend because they had a positive experience there these are important things to keep in mind when you're trying to filter through you know which 
service provider is right for me at this point of my path to work. 
All right next we've learned a lot about the employment team. We've talked about how you would select a service provider now we'd like to explore how to find the right one and
if you're ready to find one you know we encourage you to do that and we have a few ways to do it on this screen we have the recommendation to visit our website 
choosework.ssa.gov/findhelp and at the at this site you can search the website through a variety of options and you know this starts with zip code so you can think you know
in your backyard what's close to me you can also look at the types of services that are offered. You know I mentioned also disability type you could look at languages. If
you're looking for you know options outside of English delivery and you can also of course select the provider type and here we have the five providers we covered today:
ENs, Workforce ENs, VRs, WIPAs or PABSS. And again we have this image of the map with the different icons there representing each one so that's the find help online process
or if that's not for you you know we have help line representatives that are available. If the Internet isn't your thing we encourage you to call The Ticket to Work help line
and you can get a list of service providers and that number is listed here at 1-866-968-7842 or for tty1866-833-2967. Those beneficiary support Specialists are available
again Monday through Friday 8 A.M to 8 pm it's a great option for figuring out how to you know what what service providers are available based on the criteria that I provide.

Oh what we wanted to do today is something a little different. We wanted to walk through a couple different ways online that you could explore this find help tool, so if you
go to that website that I just gave you know you get to this find help tool and there's two ways to search for service providers and the first one is a guided search. This
is where there's a series of questions you respond to that help you determine in effect what we'll call program readiness, you know, and it provides a list of service
providers from the team that might be a good fit. If you aren't sure what you need the guided search is a great option to use because it asks questions to kind of lead you
to frame what would be the right organization so that you know Pat asked the question during our break, you know, “what if I don't know where to go?” you could take the
guided search at the find help tool and that might help you kind of better frame what you're doing. So that's an option. 
There's also the second option at the find help tool and that is the direct search option. Do you know what service you want? If you want to start contacting an EN then you
could click on that website selecting where your search is going to give you only ENs and then you could look by ZIP code and or disability type and just really go directly
to the contact you want because those results get narrowed down by the check marks by the categories in different expertise areas that you select and so what we want to do
now is to review an example of how the search process works if you use direct search on the find help tool. 
So on this next slide we want to introduce you to Ben. Ben is our beneficiary, and he is from Jackson Heights, New York and so Ben is actually in a zip code that we're going
to use in our direct search. So he's looking for a local service provider in the Jackson Heights area and he wants to meet someone in person for the service provider that
can help him prepare for his job hunt and he wants someone that can understand his needs. He is somebody that has a mental impairment, so these are these three qualifiers
that Ben is going to use in the direct search. So now I've brought up on the screen the search options if you haven't seen the find help tool or visited it this is a bit of
the layout on the choosework website. First we have the basic information and you know on that category you know since Ben is from Jackson Heights it was really important to
have somebody near him he decided to go down under providing services and select in-person services and put in a zip code of 11372 so this is a New York area ZIP code and
then he set the distance is 10 miles because he didn't want to go very far and then he selected you know the provider type because um you know he's looking for an EN that
can help him find work and he's ready to define his work goals and do the steps needed to start applying. So there you see checks the box for Employment Network but you can
also have in that category VR, WIPA, or PABSS. So you have some flexibility there if you if you want the others. 
Next under service Services provided remember he's looking for employment services Ben selects direct employment, job placement assistance, and direct job placement. Ben does
not select career prep Services; he's a bit beyond that at this point, and he does not select on the job services because he doesn't have those needs yet. He's waiting for
that and he doesn't select any other services below and on the right side Ben selects mental impairments under the category A population served disabilities served you know
other individuals could select caring impairments or visual or impairments in the fourth category of other and he leaves the other areas blank no specializations like young
adults veterans and he leaves languages blank as well like no need to qualify there for Ben. 
So he's put all this data in and after doing that then he selects in the middle of the field update results and on this next screen we can see Ben's search results and Ben
looks at his options are sorted out by distance and then you know he can determine from these options which ones are right for him on on the screen. here we have Goodwill
listed first, America Works next, The Bridge third, and then at the bottom one a nice Jewish Board of Family and Children. So there's four options that come up that are
within 10 miles and they give us a contact name, a phone number, an address, and an email address. And importantly for Ben it even lists how close they are and there's an
EN that's two miles from Ben's home. So we can use this information to then reach out perhaps through an email open up to show more details of their options and and you know
if you want an extra research Ben could maybe find a website and you know look up some more but this allows them to provide that that review of direct search gets me to ENs
that are in my backyard. 
Now Ben at the same time decided “Well maybe I'll try a different approach.” And so he did the virtual Services search and then this time he decided to meet virtually with
the provider that can help him find self-employment and so he put in the find help tool he's looking for virtual career preparation services and again self-employment
opportunities. So Ben decided in this search to try a different approach and he went inside and tagged ENs, VRs and WIPAs and then of course virtual, still put a zip code
in but then said any distance from zip code under Services provided. Ben's trying self-employment so he's not started it yet so he selects all career prep Services, career
planning, job coaching, and resume writing, and then leaves those employment services and on the job services empty. Under populations served he selects mental impairments
with the check mark and then for specialization self-employment because that's his objective and Ben selects the blue button update results and he gets his results and here
Ben has completely different options, right? He has self-employment career prep services available through what appeared to be at least three ENs that serve virtually the
first one being pull Circle, second Abbott and Associates, and third D.L. Kuskey. Ben also has contact name, phone numbers, and addresses along with an email address. And
you'll notice that this one is 86 miles from another 400 something miles so but these are virtual services and now we can contact them, interview them a little bit to see
which is the right fit for him and ensure that the ENs can make sure that Ben is the right fit for them too. 
Um now if the direct search thing isn't right again remember you can contact the help line and the help line will assist in providing a generated service provider list that
does the same thing the find help tool does but you're talking to someone on the telephone and those beneficiary support Specialists can generate and mail you a list that
would do the same as the find help tool results

Okay those are the virtual services and now we've come to our second Q & A so I'm going to ask Pat to rejoin us, and once again I apologize to everyone for our technical break there. Pat? 

Pat>> Thank you, Derek. This is Pat. It scared me as I was looking at my headset going it's it's okay it's broken where did he go? I imagine everybody had a similar reaction.
Um somebody wanted to know if they were using the find help tool, can they do it on the on a smartphone does it have to be a computer?

Derek>> They can do it on a smartphone the this is Derek. They can do it on a smartphone it's mobile friendly as they like to say it was designed for different types of
platforms, so you can use computer you can use your smartphone if you like to use like the tablet or an iPad type thing you can use one of those too.

Pat>> Thanks Derek. Another question is um I don't think we touched on this one before and it's can a service provider help get the equipment I need to work can I get me a
laptop or a phone or something like that?

Derek>> This is Derek. That's a really good question. Yeah I mean there's a lot of different providers that are out there and so it's they they can help get the right tools
to help you get the right work I think it's important to you know clarify through kind of the the Ticket to Work help line how to go about doing that so you can you know
inquire like this is my need and then they could provide some options that are there there's other great resource options too that are in the community there's a lot of um
Computer Resources including assistive technology resources that are funded through many states, so these service providers could also assist with pointing you in the right
direction. But you know if you don't have the the technology that you know you think you need there are options out there. What we suggest is starting because if you don't
start then somebody can't figure out how to help you so you could get in touch with the service provider and they're going to be able to help troubleshoot that.

Pat>> Thank you another one um it has to do with working from home. He says I live in the country and would like to work from home, can service providers work with me on
that?

Derek>> Thanks Pat, this is Derek again. He has some service providers provide those Services Across the Nation virtually. Remember the the search with Ben for the virtual
services on self-employment um that very well you know could be the example there's other service providers in that team who specialize in really understanding the supports
needed for people focused on remote work or work from home, so the answer is yes; it's finding that right match. So if we use the approach of how do I know which service
provider is right for me and then you know talk to the help line about remote work, work from home options, and then the type of work you're looking to do then you know the
help line team could generate a list of service providers that could provide virtual support for finding virtual work and you could do what Ben did -- go to the find help
tool, check the boxes that fit your descriptions, and then look for remote work through those service providers as well. So a lot of options out there and we know there's
a lot more remote work available, so if that's your thing… highly encourage you to start your path to employment by connecting with one of the service providers. 

Pat>> Thanks Derek, Pat again. I I remember when uh you were doing your presentation you talked about some ENs or service providers had benefits counselors how do you find
them?

Derek>> So yeah this is Derek. If you're looking for an Employment Network specifically that has a benefits counselor um so there's there's fewer of those but if it's a 
service provider with a benefits counselor in general, I recommend using the find help Tool Direct search. So you know you put in the required options and then you get a 
results list, and in there you're going to see you know ENs that have benefits counselors. You're also going to be able to of course to get benefits counselors that are at
the WIPAs -- those Community Work Incentives Coordinators -- so you can get a list that would be both um you know and again you know we say it a lot but there's an option
too that if you don't like that tool and you know sometimes the internet's not easy to navigate for some folks then you can call the help line and the beneficiary support
specialist would be able to help point you to um benefits counselors that are service providers that can help you. there's that caveat in there of course like for some of
them that you have to be eligible right now for their services so something to consider when asking.

Pat>> The question is that again it's a little different the question is do I have to tell anyone if I start if I've started working?

Derek>> Yeah by myself… this is Derek. Yeah, it sounds like somebody maybe could have started working and now they're asking that question. It's an important one. If you
started working the important thing to do and you're receiving Social Security benefits (SSI or SSDI) it's important to update Social Security with your employment status 
and report your wages. So I mean we're not telling you you know you have to do it but um if you haven't started working yet but when you do start working then you need to
update Social Security so if you receive SSDI or SSI payments you may be able to also report those wages those earnings that we're talking about through that my Social
Security account, so it's good to research you know what benefits am I receiving and then as you work you may be able to report your earnings or those wages through the
online wage reporting service, and um you know that application that you can get to my SSA account allows you to report so it's really important to think about that. You
can also if you receive SSI, SSI recipients or you know some approved others like spouses or parents or approved representatives can also report your wages. You could do
it through a telephone or a mobile app as well. So for SSI and then with the telephone Social Security representatives can talk about wage reports as well so there's some
options it you know you can call Social Security representatives to talk about that at 1-800-772-1213 or they have a TTY line that's 1-800-325-0778.
So a service provider like an EN, remember those on-the-job supports can help you navigate all this, like when is the right way to report your wages or earnings and when do
you have to start doing that. So I mean like if you're asking that question and you just started working and you don't have an EN, well that's a great benefit of having an
EN because then they can help you create a calendar for all these activities. We do not want you to go to a field office for like in-person reporting, we encourage you to
report through that my SSA account or the mobile wage reporting for SSI or the Social Security telephone numbers that I gave you, so I hope that helps. It's a really
important question when you earn you and you're on the benefits SSI or SSDI you need to start updating it Social Security with your employment status and reporting your
wages.

Pat>> Very important information, uh Derek. I think we told people you know a lot today. If you were to make a recommendation for somebody who was interested, where would 
they start? What do they do next?

Derek>> Yeah that, Pat, thanks for this I know that it is a lot of information and it's one of the things that we hope shows that there's a broad and flexible team available 
for people to help them map out their next steps on their path and journey to work. I think the important part is I'd encourage you to take your next step, and there is no 
exactly same and right step for everybody um at the end of all of it if you're unsure then we really recommend that you visit the choosework website and you know explore 
that content and call The Ticket to Work help line. I think when you have the team at the help line talking to you they're going to help determine kind of well let's let's 
go in this direction because I hear you say that that's where you're at you're in career preparation an Employment Network could be a good option for you is that what I'm 
hearing, and then you verify that they could mail you a list of ENs, but it's important to start where you're at and we're not at the same places but we all want the same
destination so the most important part is to begin and reach out to one to us one way or another and we'll help get you to that right member of your employment team.

Pat>> Thanks Derek. I think we've run out of time for questions, and I really want to thank you for providing all this information about the Ticket Program the service 
providers and how to find them. We've given people a lot of information yeah if you if you take away anything from the webinar, I hope it is that there are people that are 
ready and willing to help you and supports that can smooth your journey to work. 
Now before we end the call I'd like to take a couple minutes to share a little more information and resources with you now we've talked to be probably a lot about the 
Ticket to Work help line the the help line staff with highly trained support specialists who can give you the kind of personalized information that we can't provide on a 
national webinar. They can they can deal with your individual situations and give you some some guidance on that that we just can't provide you know when we're talking to 
a large group that because everybody's an individual, so the lines are open Monday through Friday 8 to 8 Eastern time, and the number is 1-866-968-7842 or for TTY 
1-866-833-2967. You can visit the Ticket to Work website anytime at choosework.ssa.gov and there you're going to find a lot more details about what we've covered today and
more.
You can also find us on social media. So you can subscribe to our blog or email updates by visiting https://choosework.ssa.gov/contact. The link’s also in the Web Links Pod
that we've talked about before under Ticket to Work contact information. You can choose any way you want to connect with us, it's your choice, and what we encourage you to
do is reach out to any of us any of these ways to explore a little bit more about how to begin your path to employment.
Another exceptionally valuable resource is Social Security’s Redbook. The Redbook is a comprehensive guide to all things related to employment supports that are available to
people who receive SSDI and or SSI we talked earlier about Work Incentives. The Redbook is a great resource for specific information about the many Work Incentives that are
available.
In addition to social media and email another way to get information about the Ticket program is to opt in to receive our text messages just text Ticket t-i-c-k-e-t to 474747.
Standard messaging rates may apply. You can opt out at any time. It's important to note that if you need to contact Social Security’s office of employment support
-- that's the office that manages the Ticket to Work Program -- please do it electronically instead of by postal mail. You can email us at support choosework.ssa.gov and 
just remember remember please do not include any personally identifiable information in your email.

We'd also like to have you join us for our next webinar “Ticket to Work for people with a mental illness” It will be on June 21 from 3 to 4 30 Eastern Time. Registration is 
now open at choosework.ssa.gov/wise or you can call the Ticket to Work help line to register. 
Finally, you can help us plan future webinar topics and provide your feedback by taking our survey. A link is going to pop up after the webinar or you can find the survey in
the Web Links Pod, or you can visit the Ticket to Work program at choosework.ssa.gov/surveys/wise. I'd like to thank you all for taking the time today to learn more about 
the program and the services and supports that are available to you. I hope you'll take advantage of some of them. This concludes today's webinar. Thank you so much.