Jayme >> Good afternoon and welcome to today's WISE webinar. My name is Jayme Pendergraft and I'm the Director of Communications and Outreach for Social Security's Ticket to Work program. Thank you for joining us today. It's my pleasure to introduce today's moderator, Patricia Van Nelson. Pat is the Deputy Director of the Ticket Program Manager and has over 30 years of related experience to bring to today's topic and discussion. Pat, take it away. 

Pat >> Well, thanks, Jayme. Don't like that 30-year remark, but we'll move on. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to today's topic, Working from Home with Ticket to Work. As Jayme said, my name is Pat Van Nelson, and I'm a member of the Ticket to Work team and I'll be the moderator today. And on behalf of Social Security and the whole Ticket team, thanks for joining us to learn more about the program. Today's topic, Working from Home, is a personal one for me. I consider myself lucky to have the opportunity to work from home, although I have to tell you my home office looks nothing like the photo on this slide. Mine's a lot more cluttered and usually has one or two big dogs in it. For many years, I commuted to an office, but working at home has given me flexibility in scheduling my time, saved me money on gas and clothes, and best of all, it's close to the kitchen. 
As jobs working from home have become more available, some people have taken advantage to move to new geographic locations. Some have even changed jobs based on where they can work. On the other side of the coin, more remote work has turned out to be a point of friction among businesses, cities, real estate planners. I mean, you've probably seen or heard news stories about how office building vacancies are hurting city revenues or how many employers are now trying to entice people to come back to the office. While some movement towards returning to in-person work is probably going to happen, I don't think working remotely is ever going away. We've simply gotten too good at it, both as employees and employers. 
In fact, the Harvard Business Review last month reported that a survey of senior executives at 500 American businesses revealed that they expect remote and hybrid work to continue to grow. We chose today's topic for that very reason. If working from home is the work and lifestyle that you want, there are opportunities, and we want you to have all the tools and advice we can provide. Today we'll go over some of the occupations that offer remote work, the advantages and disadvantages of working at home, and how the services of the Ticket Program can help you pursue that type of work. 
Some of you may already know how special the Ticket Program is. Maybe you've read some of the stories we’ve shared on our website where you found all sorts of people who, despite their disabilities, decided they wanted to work and become financially independent. And when they joined forces with the Ticket Program service providers, they made that a reality. The Ticket Program recognizes that we're each unique and every one of us creates our own path. In the context of today's webinar, what that means is that if you want to try working from home, we've got you covered. Although your situation is unique to you, I think some of the answers we provide today will be helpful and meaningful to your situation. 
So let's get started. Before we jump into the heart of the presentation, I want to make sure that you can get the most out of the information we're going to share. So we have to talk about 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, and it looks like a speaker. When you click on it, there's a drop-down menu. Choose select speaker from the menu options, just like you see on the screen. Just a reminder, everyone attending today will be muted, except for me and, of course, our presenter. 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, be sure to turn on your speakers or plug in your headphones. If you'd rather listen by phone, you can dial 1-800-832-0736 and enter access code 418148 and then the pound sign. You can also use the 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. 
On the Adobe Connect platform, you'll notice different boxes on the screen. For some reason, those boxes are called pods. We have the presentation pod, and this is where the slides appear. That's the largest portion of your screen. Below that is an open space for closed captioning. The top right corner is the Q&A pod, and below that is the Web Links pod. We'll talk about these pods in a little more detail in just a bit, but now let's talk about accessibility. 
If you need assistance navigating the platform, there's an accessibility user guide that has a list of controls. It's available on the website at http://bit.ly/adobe-accessibility. A link to this 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 to the Web Links pod and access it now. Real-time captioning is available. It's displayed in the captioning pod below the slides. You can show or you can hide the captioning display, and you can also choose the size and color of the text to meet your own vision preference. To open closed captioning, select the CC option from the top menu bar. The captioning link can also be found in the Web Links pod under the title Web Captioning, and you can also access captioning online in a separate viewing window. The choice is up to you in how you want to see it. 
If you're fluent in American Sign Language and you'd like support during today's webinar, you can follow the link that provides instructions on how to connect with an interpreter through the Federal Communication Commission's video relay service. The ASL user guide is available in the Web Links pod under the title ASL User Guide. We're going to be pausing to answer your questions at two different points in this webinar. You can send your questions to us anytime during the webinar by just typing them into the Q&A pod. I'll then direct your questions to our presenter during the Q&A portion. My job is to get to as many as possible. 
If you're listening by phone, you can ask your questions by sending an email to us at webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. I've already referred you to the Web Links pod a couple times. That's where you'll find the links for all 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 webinars@choosework.ssa.gov for a list of those resources. You can also find them in your confirmation email that you got for today's webinar. As a reminder, Social Security can't guarantee and isn't responsible for the accessibility of external websites. We're recording today's webinar. So if you missed something and you want to go back and listen again or you know someone who couldn't attend today, we'll be posting it within two weeks on the ChooseWork website at https://bit.ly/wise_ondemand. This link's also in the Web Links pod called WISE Webinar Archives. We hope you have a good experience during this webinar and that your technology cooperates with you. However, if you do run into technical difficulties, you can use the Q&A pod to send us a message. Or you can email us at webinars@choosework.ssa.gov and our team will help you. 
In a minute, you'll hear from my colleague and today's presenter, Derek Shields. Derek's no stranger to the intersection of disability and work. He's spent the past 28 years working in the areas of disability inclusion, employment, accessibility, and reasonable accommodations. Derek has a master's degree in management and disability services from the University of San Francisco. And in addition to his contributions to the Ticket Program, he's also president of ForwardWorks Consulting and a co-founder and board advisor of the National Disability Mentoring Coalition. And more to the point of today's topic, Derek also works from home. I'll be back with you during the Q&A session, so remember to put your questions in that pod. It's now my pleasure to turn the microphone over to Derek.

Derek >> Thank you so much, Pat, for setting us up today with this great context about remote work and for that kind introduction. It's fantastic to be back with everybody, and we appreciate your interest in the Ticket to Work Program and remote and working from home opportunities. With that helpful context in place, you know, I'm going to review the content that I'll be going through, and then we're going to jump right in because we know your interest is in the details that we've brought forward here today. 
As always, we're going to cover Social Security's Ticket to Work Program, you know, who's eligible, what it is, and how to get involved. And then we're going to follow that up with four sections that are really customized about this title of working from home. Considerations. Why consider working from home? We'll cover those. Then I'm going to jump into what type of work from home jobs are available. What are the trends for the types of jobs that are out there? So if you're considering searching, you'll know what's out there. And then some ideas about actually finding those work from home jobs. It's one thing to be qualified. It's another thing to know what types are out there. And then, of course, we have to find them. And then last, we have four tips that if you are going to work from home, some different tactics that we pulled together that we think you'll find of use. 
So with that, it's time to jump into the content. And thanks again for joining us today. You know, starting out with the Ticket to Work Program and support that is available on your journey to work. When we do that, we need to begin with an overview of the Social Security Disability Benefits programs, and I'm going to review two of those programs. First, we have the Social Security Disability Insurance Program. That's called SSDI. And that is an insurance program. Note the word insurance is in there for SSDI. And this is a program that people have paid into while working. So if you have worked and you've paid FICA taxes in the past and that's been withheld from your paycheck in the past, that's what's being used to fund the Disability Insurance Benefits or that SSDI program. And your amount of benefits as an individual is going to depend on how long you've worked and how much you've earned and how much you've contributed into that fund. There is a maximum to the amount, and it's important that, you know, everyone's amount's a little different because of that. You do need to have a fairly long history, working perhaps up to 10 years, in some cases, to become insured. And with that, though, it can vary. But with SSDI, recall it's insurance, and when you've worked in the past, you've paid into the program, that's how you can access it. And this isn't about your resources. You know, we're not looking at unearned income that you might have. It's about I paid into it, I can't work now, and it's an insurance program. So, you know, when thinking of a Ticket to Work, these are important. You have to participate in SSDI or in SSI. 
So in contrast in the insurance program, there's the Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, benefit. And notice that doesn't say insurance. So this program is a needs-based program, and in that regard, you know, it's not about having worked enough to be insured for SSDI, or you don't have to have a work history at all in some cases. So it's very, very different, SSI, compared to SSDI. It is going to look to see if you have low resource amounts and low-income amounts. And Social Security administers the SSI program and pays monthly benefits to people with limited income and the resources who are blind or have a qualifying disability. It's also available to people who are 65 or older, and also for children with disabilities or individuals who are blind can also have access to SSI. So that's the benefits programs, and it's important that you understand them, because in a moment we'll find out that you have to, you know, be receiving one or both in order to participate in Ticket to Work. 
So with that in mind, if you're unsure, one question we commonly get is, well, how do I know if I'm receiving SSDI or SSI? How do I find out which benefit I might be on? And there's a few different ways to do that, and we want to encourage you to take this one up. If you don't have a My Social Security account, we recommend looking into that, a My Social Security or My SSA account. These accounts are set up by the Social Security Administration, and you can access that through their website. They're going to ask you, when you do that, for some personal information. And, you know, I've done this, and you can be assured that it is safe and secure. They're going to be able to access any information about your past work history, and it's going to tell you if you're eligible for SSDI, how much you will receive if you're eligible. It's also going to tell you, if you have family members, how much they would receive if you have them as dependents. So there's a lot of great information out there if you're not currently enrolled, or if you are enrolled, they're going to tell you what you're receiving. I look at mine from time to time, logging into my SSA account and reading my personal Social Security benefit statement, and it has projected disability benefits and projected survivor benefits. I also have easy access to look at my benefit status, and that's what we're getting at here. If you don't know yours, I encourage you. You can also, on the SSI side, clarify that your benefits are SSI and how much those are, and it actually lets you create a letter that you can print out and share with others. So if you don't have an account yet, I really recommend it. Please go to ssa.gov/myaccount. That's ssa.gov/myaccount, and there's a lot of great information there to explore about things you can do online and it's also in the Web Links pod at item number eight, my Social Security account. 
All right, so we covered the benefit programs, and I told you how you could check on your own status. With all that in mind, it's now time to start the journey to work and to potentially to work from home. It's important that we share that this is a personal choice and only you can decide if that's the right choice for you. You will also need to know that there's an entire Employment Team that is available to help guide you through the process, answering your questions, and helping point you in the right directions, projecting what might be around the corner, and providing ideas and solutions that you could use in your journey to work. It's important to consider the Employment Team and all of this being available to you as you start your journey to work and self-sufficiency. 
So why choose work? We love to say because work works. It's pretty straightforward sounding, but it does work for people. It connects us to others in our community. It gives us a sense of purpose in supporting a mission, and it can help in some cases get people out of poverty by earning more money than their benefits. So you have that choice, and it can lead, in some cases, it does lead to people earning excess money. And when you have that paycheck and you're contributing to a mission, you know, something you really enjoy doing, that feeling, it can really make us feel good about ourselves. And so work can actually be good for mental health as well. We do know that earning a living through employment isn't something for everybody, and that is why the benefits exist. You know, the Social Security Disability Standard is tough, and there's a reason for it. However, you have a choice here if you're receiving benefits and eligible to consider that return to work. And in today's case, we're going to talk about doing that through the free services and supports with the Ticket to Work program that that program brings to you and how they can also bring the flexibilities of working from home. 
So let's talk about the Ticket to Work and build a bridge between how the program operates and where it connects in to working from home. On this slide, we covered the Ticket Program. It is a free and voluntary Social Security program. It serves people ages 18 through 64 who receive a disability benefit. Remember from Social Security, I just covered the Disability Insurance Program or the Supplemental Program. So those are SSDI or SSI or both of them. And the key here is individuals who want to work. So we're looking for people that are receiving one or both of the benefit programs, ages 18 through 64, and seek work. And if it sounds like you, we've got some great services and supports to offer in the journey, including in your search for work from home. 
If it is the right time, as we look at more information about what the Ticket Program offers, you could connect with Free Employment Services, and they're going to offer a few things that could support you. Importantly, if you're struggling with that idea, is work the right choice for me, the Employment Team that we'll talk about can help you decide if work is the right choice for you. So we give you the information, and then you're able to make that decision, and it becomes a more informed decision with your Employment Team surrounding you, because you know what's going to exist and what's best for you, but they have resources and ideas and opportunities that you might not be aware of yet. When you think then about the types of services after you decide to proceed, they go into these next three: preparing for work, finding a job, and succeeding at work. For preparing, you know, you might need some rehabilitative preparation. The Ticket Program can assist with, you know, getting you some training that might better position you or to compete for a job. And then next on that, you know, helping find a job, the Employment Team includes some service providers that have relationships with employers. And so when we talk about this model today about work from home, we want you to consider these service providers as channels to employers who need talent, and they're searching for talent that is working from home for many of their positions. The service providers really know their territory, and they have those relationships, so they're going to point you in a direction that perhaps sometimes is hard to find. Using those service providers will help, in effect, find better matches between you and an employer that would want to hire you. And so the last one is succeeding at work. Once you do start working, the employment services will continue. You know, sometimes we get on the job, and we're not sure how to interact with our new team or our supervisor, and those service providers will provide on-the-job supports. And really whatever you need to be successful and stay with you over a period of time. So if you want to learn more about the Ticket to Work Program, there's a couple of different ways to do that. We encourage you, the links on this slide will lead you to a couple places. You know, one is an article, and then the other is a self-guided tutorial. You know, these are at Web Links pod number 9 and 10. The self-guided tutorial is fantastic. If you want to go through deciding, preparing, finding, and succeeding in more detail, we encourage you to check those out on your own. You can just select them through the Web Links pod or go to our website, which we'll give a little later as well. 
So when you think about the Ticket Program, and I mentioned these service providers, you know, we won't go into them in depth today because we do that on some other webinars. But if you do decide to participate, it's important to know that you have a variety of Employment Team partners coming to you through the Ticket Program. These are authorized Ticket to Work providers, and they're different types. There's an Employment Network, or an EN, and they could be a local provider or a regional provider or a national provider. And they have great services and supports like I've described, and we encourage you to consider them on your Employment Team. 
In the middle here we have the WF icon. That's for a workforce Employment Network. So the American Job Centers that are across the country as part of the workforce system, many of them participate in the Ticket to Work Program, and you could receive services through them. And another partner are the State Vocational Rehabilitation agencies, or the VR agencies, and many of them participate in the Ticket to Work Program and in a program called Partnership Plus, too, where they might provide services to you. Let's say you want to go to community college and get a degree, you could do that through Vocational Rehabilitation, and then as you go to work, they would transfer your ticket over to an Employment Network. 
So there's a lot of collaboration that goes on through these organizations, and you should know that they're all available, and others, to be part of your Employment Team supports and really help you prepare and also answer all of your questions during your journey to work. So with the service providers, you know, in a little bit more detail, all of the ones that I just described, they offer free employment support services for anyone that's eligible. Let's go back to eligibility, ages 18 through 64, receiving SSDI and/or SSI, and want to work. And so if that's you, then they offer the supports and services, and they can help you identify and apply for work from home and other job opportunities. And not only can they, they are doing this across the country for many, many, many ticket holders and beneficiaries. So this is something that if you want to join in, others are doing it, and it's the work that the Employment Networks and other service providers do on a daily basis. When you think of identifying kind of specific things they do, they help you with identifying your work goals, really setting up a work plan. What are your short-term goals? What are your mid-range goals? And what are your long-term goals so you can transition from where you are to full-time employment? And then with those goals in mind, you know, if you need to update the resume, they'll take you through that process. And then as you identify opportunities to interview, they'll sit down with you and practice interviews so you could have more confidence if you're going to be in front of an employer. Now, if you want to determine your eligibility or explore questions about the Ticket Program based on what I've said, you can go create your MySSA account, as we talked about at the Social Security website, or you could call Social Security's Ticket to Work helpline, and they'll talk to you about the program and help you understand kind of, you know, are you eligible and the questions to support you on your journey. The helpline is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time. We have a couple numbers on the slide that you can use to reach out to them, 1-866-968-7842. It's a telephone number. We also have a TTY number, 1-866-833-2967. So both of those are available to call, learn more about the Ticket to Work Program. We have beneficiary support specialists that are there 8 a.m. through 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. Well, look at that. We've gotten through our first section here, focused on the benefit programs and the Ticket Program, and we're going to pause for a break, and I'm going to bring Pat back in. Pat? 

Pat >> Thank you, Derek. We have a very curious audience, so we have some questions. And the first one is kind of a two-parter. First, somebody wants to know if it matters whether they're on SSI or SSDI to join the Ticket Program. And the second part of that is, I think you touched on this, but how can they find out whether they received SSI or SSDI?

Derek >> This is Derek. Thanks, Pat. These are common questions. And, you know, so the first part I didn't really talk to directly, but, you know, does it matter if somebody is on SSI or SSDI to get Ticket to Work program services? And the answer is no. The Ticket Program is available for Social Security disability beneficiaries if they receive SSI or SSDI or both. So it doesn't really matter. You have to be receiving one or both. And, again, you have to be ages 18 through 64 to participate in the Ticket Program. The second part of it, and I didn't mention this before, so it's a little bit more detailed, but you do have options to find out which ones you're on. And I brought up the My SSA account so you can go in and log into your account and print your benefits verification letter. That's what they call that. You know, if you don't have benefits, the letter is going to say it right at the top, and, you know, it will clarify that for you. But you have to create that account. If you do call the Ticket to Work helpline to learn more about the Ticket Program, to find out how it works, if you want to confirm the eligibility, what they actually do is encourage you to reach out directly to a Social Security representative, and they have, you know, the ability to have the most up-to-date information. So you can call Social Security, and I'm going to read this number here. They're at 1-800-772-1213. That's 1-800-772-1213. Also available through TTY at 1-800-325-0778. And apparently, you know, that's Monday through Friday Eastern time from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. So the beneficiary support specialists at the Ticket hotline, they're going to help you with understanding the details of the program, but they're likely to refer you over to Social Security so you can get your most updated benefits information. So really a couple options to do that, and, you know, we have this information on our website too. But if you can figure out your eligibility, then you can open up the possibilities to participate and receive all the services and supports. So it's worth doing. And check into that because then you can take advantage of the rest of the program. 

Pat >> Thanks, Derek. It's Pat again. Here's one where I think you might be able to clear up a misunderstanding. Questioner wants to know, do I need to use the Ticket Program to find a job? If I find a job that I'd like, can I just apply to it?

Derek >> This is Derek. Yeah, thanks, Pat. That's a good question. Yeah, if you find a job posting and you think it's a fit, you could apply without using the Ticket Program and, you know, take the job. What we do encourage you to do in that case is, you know, before you begin working, to update Social Security about your employment status. You know, if you're receiving SSDI and/or SSI and start work, the earnings will have an impact on your future benefits. So telling Social Security employment status is very important. We recommend that you also speak to a benefits counselor about how working and the wages that you earn through working can affect your benefits. But let's go back to the question. You don't have to use the Ticket Program to go to work. You can take the job. Just make sure you're updating Social Security about your wages. 

Pat >> Thanks, Derek. I think I know the answer to this one, but you're the expert. Someone wants to know if they've never had a job, can the Ticket Program help them? 

Derek >> Yeah, this is Derek again. Yes. You know, I mentioned that you don't need to have a work history. I think, you know, there's a lot of people out there that are considering work for the first time. And I would highly encourage you, if you're eligible, to explore the Ticket Program. You know, it could be an exciting journey that also is one that produces a lot of anxiety. And having the Ticket Program service providers on your team is going to help alleviate some of the nerves, anxiety, and stress that you may consider. And these service providers, they're experienced in the work they do. They're going to be able to bring some confidence to the table. So if you're ready to try work, if you haven't worked before, I would encourage you to explore the Ticket Program if you're eligible. It's going to increase confidence by having that Employment Team on your side. 

Pat >> Thanks, Derek. Our next question comes from someone who says, can the Ticket Program help me get some training for a new career? 
Derek >> This is Derek. Yeah, training is an excellent question. All ENs, these Employment Networks that I mentioned, are required to provide specific services. So we'll call them services and supports. You might hear that frequently. Training is included under career planning services. So when the agreement between the Social Security Administration and the service provider is put in place to become an Employment Network, training is part of what they do. They offer training, and some of them will have specific training available to support your career transition. And, you know, so they customize it for you based on your individual needs. But it could include training on soft skills or communications, things that we're going to be talking about a little bit that are important for work-from-home, like time management and scheduling. All of those will come into play, and the EN or service provider can help there. They can also help in preparing for remote or work-from-home opportunities. So when you think about that, questions for an interview for work-from-home talent or employees that are candidates for employment are going to be a little different. And the interview itself that's a remote or perhaps like a video call or a telephone call is going to be different. And the ENs can provide training to prepare for all of that. So all sorts of different training that's out there. They can build into what they call an Individual Work Plan, the training that you're going to need, and then follow through and make sure that that's delivered to you. For those of you that are thinking about, I need this type of training, if you decide to work with a service provider like an Employment Network, have some ideas about the training you think you need in mind so when you have what they call an intake discussion, you could bring up, well, I've been thinking about this career, but I don't really have these skills or a background in it. Is there training available for me to acquire that? Then the Employment Network can help put that into your plan and figure out how they're going to get that training for you. 

Pat >> Thanks, Derek. I think we've got time for one more question, and I think it's one that several people will be interested in your answer. It's, is the Ticket Program only for people who want to work full-time or can I work part-time? 

Derek >> This is Derek. Yeah, thanks. That's another good question. Not necessarily, like the objective is not necessarily just for full-time people, but let me explain. So the Ticket Program supports people that are doing all types of work, and that could include earlier in your return to work or starting work journey things like part-time work, things like seasonal work. You know, like we want to make sure, though, that you understand that the ultimate goal of the program is participation in full-time work. So that would help you reduce and then eventually eliminate reliance on benefits. So it includes part-time and seasonal work, but the goal of the program would be to have you coming out ahead with earnings, you know, from work versus benefits, and that's going to happen through full-time work. 

Pat >> Thank you, Derek. We probably need to move on to the next part of your presentation, so get a glass of water. I'll remind folks that we've got another Q&A session coming up, so just keep those good questions coming. 
Derek >> Thanks, Pat. I took you up on the offer and I had a sip. So now we are going to dig into the working-from-home content, and I know this is why most of you joined today. So why consider working from home? Remember, we're going to cover considerations first, and then we'll also be covering types of work-from-home jobs along with finding them and some tips. So let's start out with this first section. How many people are actually working from home? On this slide we have some data that I'd like to review so we can all understand kind of the context that Pat was speaking about earlier in a little bit more detail. As of 2023, about 13% of full-time employees are working from home. About 28% are working in a hybrid model, and that hybrid means working some from home and working on-site at the traditional office as well. So we have about 41% of people that are either working fully from home or partially from home. This is a significant portion, just under half, of the total workforce. So then when we look at what the research says about the future of work, we see that by 2025, just in less than two years from now, 32.6 million Americans will be working remotely. So this is going to see a shift from that 13% to 22% of the workforce being from remote positions, work-from-home positions. So, yes, a continuous, it might be gradual, but a continuous shift towards remote work arrangements is underway. So we want to draw that to your attention. 
Now, there was a decline in work-from-home in 2023 compared to 2022. It was about 3%. But overall, all the forecasting and the research and predictions show that this will increase to about 22%. And that means that at least half the workforce will be working either full-time remote or hybrid remote. And, you know, this is a normalization of remote work environments, and it's underway, and it's really what we wanted to draw forward today. So you can consider remote work and work-from-home. That really deserves a little bit further exploration. So one way of exploring it is on this slide where we see a trend. This is fascinating if you're not familiar with this yet, but if you have been interviewing, you probably are. A key step in remote work trend is actually starting with the interview process. Research shows that 93% of employers plan to continue conducting job interviews remotely, meaning they're willing to change to virtual methods for their human resources and recruiters and talent acquisition workers. And, you know, this was a sustainable option for them. It's not why they started it, but now that they're doing it, they're going to continue. And it's important because the mindset of many employers now is if we could find new employees, the candidates and the new talent to hire, if we can do that remotely, we just might be able to work with that very talent remotely as well. So it's a significant percent, 93% of interviews are being done remotely. 
Another piece of the context is about 16% of companies are operating remotely. The entire company is working from home. There is no physical office for these 16% of companies, and they're really pioneers in this remote work paradigm. And this highlights the feasibility of models like this and is paving the way for other companies to consider following that. That reduces the cost that the company has on an office, perhaps, you know, owning it or renting it, and it reduces the costs of the expenses of running that place. So when you take these data points and you think about the trend, today we're at 13% of positions. By the end of 2025, we'll be at 23% or, sorry, 22% of all positions work from home. What does it mean for you? And as you start your journey for work, I want to review some reasons why you might want to consider working from home. 
So in this case, we pulled together seven considerations that may really impact your thinking about is work from home right for me? The first one here focuses on transportation. It's an important one, of course. There's many individuals living with disabilities that require accessible transportation, and in many areas it just isn't either easily scheduled or in some cases not available. So if that's the case for you, working from home removes the need to find accessible transportation, and, of course, it's also going to save a great deal of time and a significant amount of money. So transportation considerations should be considered by many, many people as an advantage of work from home. 
The second consideration is focused on remote accommodation. So in preparing today, I researched a little bit with the Job Accommodation Network, or JAN. They indicate that commuting to and from work can sometimes, obviously, be difficult for individuals with certain disabilities or limitations. They listed out fatigue, mobility limitations, seizures, and vision loss as being the most common issues found when regarding commuting as an issue for accessing work. So solutions can come in the form of a flexible schedule to access different types of transportation, but in our case today, another option is the reasonable accommodation of working from home. So if transportation's an issue but also fatigue, seizures, or vision loss, then this could be the right opportunity, and it could be done as a form of reasonable accommodation or it just provides the workplace flexibility you need if you're hired in a remote permanent position. For the next consideration, we wanted to cover managing medical needs. Many people, of course, have personal medical needs, and these areas can include things like using the restroom, perhaps taking medication, and in some cases even receiving treatment during the day. And all of them require and deserve privacy. So a work-from-home option allows for the space and ability to access that privacy to manage those needs. For the fourth of the seven, we talked about flexible work schedules. Individuals who are experiencing different types of disabilities may need and benefit from a flexible schedule really in order to work optimally, like this is how I can work best. And flexible schedules come in different ways. Obviously, like, you know, there's some that are more popular. I need to adjust the start of my day or I need to adjust when I end my day. There's some others, like, you know, maybe I have two breaks during the day and I could ask my supervisors, can I merge those so I could have a longer break? And that one extended break would allow me to, you know, do what I need to do. And in some cases, that allows for those, you know, medical treatments or appointments or maybe just a mental health break to allow you to clear the mind. Working from home actually allows all of those flexible schedules to be designed for finding out when a person is most productive and creating the schedule around that. So it could support the medical appointments, but inversely also allows the employer to get the highest level of productivity from somebody, and that's really important. That's the objective here. 
All right, for the fifth item, we have less stressful environment. And this could be the case for some people. You know, an office environment isn't necessarily for everybody. And, you know, that setting could actually create more stress for some people. So if somebody is living with an anxiety disorder, working from home could be a great alternative option. For our second-to-last consideration, different fields of work, this is really important to focus on. It's evident that some industries and roles are really more geared to remote work. Understanding those trends, we talked about how many people are working from home, but inside of that, which fields of work are really leaning in to the trend? And it starts with the computer and IT sector. So they're the top industry for remote work. And when we think about it, it aligns kind of with this fact of a lot of the tasks are digital in nature, computer-based. So what do you need? You need a reliable Internet connection. But then if you have the skills, it doesn't matter where you work, you can use your computer and do your computer and IT-related work from home. Well, I know I'm not very technical, and so that doesn't get me too excited because I want to have a job then because that's not my sector. But what's interesting is the rest of the data shows that other industries aren't very far behind. So that includes marketing, accounting, project management, medical and health, even human resources, recruiting, and now customer service. Some of those have been traditionally office-based jobs, kind of in the physical, you know, building. And now they're all experiencing the benefits of remote work. So keep that in mind. Those sectors are trending in the direction. If you're aligned to return to work or start work in those sectors, that's a good consideration to keep in mind. 
And the last area here is living in rural areas. This ties back to the transportation, but you can also access more jobs. Perhaps you don't have certain jobs available in a rural area, but if you work remotely, you can access those opportunities. So work from home can be an excellent alternative with these considerations in mind. It's something to think about when considering the Ticket Program and if work from home is right for you. 
All right, I know that was a lot of information in the consideration slide. If you like the data and you're thinking through these considerations, you'll likely also enjoy reading some more of our Ticket to Work information in our blogs. And these blogs have some, we'll call it, some of them are focused on work from home. Not all of them, but some of them are. So if you want to access more, check out the Web Links pod. The team's provided a blog post link at number 12 to explore some more work from home stories. 
All right, and, you know, to cover a couple pros and cons about working from home. You know, we mentioned the considerations, and the pros and cons are important. We have three pros and three cons. The first pro is the potential for enhanced productivity. You know, this is, I've been working from home for a while now, and without my commute and without the need to spend time really at the water cooler as much, I have been the most productive in my career. And in that regard, you also can save time and money. You know, you don't have the commute expense, whether that's mass transit or your own car and gas. And, you know, as you can consider, you don't have to spend as much money on wardrobes like professional business suits or, you know, the gear that you would use out in the field. You know, the Zoom meetings show from the desk or tabletop up, and the workforce, work from home has reduced costs on their wardrobes. Third, remote meetings allow more flexibility for teams of all sizes to come together, and that's fantastic because we can pull people in from a variety of locations and states in ways to have meetings and discussions that we haven't been able to in the past. For the con side of it, we miss social aspects of working in person. It can be isolating, and so we'll give some tips later on about how to, you know, address those. It can be difficult to separate work and home life, that work-home life balance if you're working from home. We'll come back with tips on that as well. And then sometimes the purchase of supplies for the home office, you know, things that you used to get when you would go to work or where businesses would traditionally supply them. 
So some pros, some cons, and with these in mind, let's move forward to the next section, what types of work from home jobs are available. I mentioned the industries, but I didn't get into some specifics. But the answer is that there's a lot of jobs out there for remote or work-from-home, you know, starting back in 2020 to recognize the benefits, but they're expanding. So if you're looking for a work-from-home job, you have those industries to choose from and you have specific types of jobs in those industries that we'd like to explore. So work-from-home jobs in 2023, we have a group to explore with you. And some of these remote work positions require degrees or certifications, but certainly not all do. So it's important to think about your education and credentials. And if you're going to talk to a Ticket Program service provider, you know, about, well, you know, what do you have as experience and what do you need perhaps through training to get there? So I pulled up these six position types that we want to call out because some of them don't require as much in terms of credentials or training, and they're important to know. 
On this slide, we highlight teaching online classes, conducting data entry, providing customer service, serving as a virtual nurse, being a virtual assistant, and becoming a consultant. And there's a range here. An example is the customer service and data entry positions, they have annual salaries that range from $36,000 to $37,000, and then others may be higher. So there are a variety of options out there, and what you should also know is that many employers are seeking talent that don't have the experience, you know, sales or travel agents, social media work, and also even pharmacies. There's a lot of positions where you can be hired without experience and work, you know, in person or remote support for pharmacies is a work-from-home job. So a lot of possibilities that are out there. 
All right, we've talked about the industries and specific types. Now we're going to shift into ways to find work-from-home jobs. This is the key. How can you research and find a remote job that's right for you? Of course, we, you know, as we said earlier, you can use your solutions through the Employment Team, and those service providers will help with services and supports. But let's go through some content to help you think, since, you know, many work-from-home positions have requirements, it's important to start by reviewing those requirements. I mentioned educational requirements, a certain degree of education, a high school diploma or a college degree might be required. But we should start with that in mind. As you select remote positions, then we should filter by level of education required. And you may need a specific certificate as well. So you should examine that. If you're a developer, they may need a certain certificate for that IT sector position. Or if you're teaching online, they might want a certificate that you've, you know, met some online teaching certification. In a lot of cases, specific skills are going to be required. You may need experience in a customer service position, providing customer service in the past. In that regard, you may be able to receive some training that could give you that skill. You may be able to provide some community service to get some community customer service experience to acquire that skill as well. So it's also important to keep in mind that if you're seeking a position that is more senior in rank, the employer may require more relevant experience in the field compared to if you're at a more junior position. So think about that when you're kind of designing, you know, who you are and where you want to go. These requirements may help you get there, or they may need you to require some other training or education. 
Next, in continuing the work from home requirements, you know, they might have some other items that you need to consider. Availability to set a work schedule. Are you able to work inside of the hours that that position has for core hours? Do you have a home office space that's free of noise and distractions? We need to figure out if I'm going to be on the telephone or if I'm going to be doing training, can I have a quiet background so I can have a professional engagement? Do I have reliable Internet access? If I'm going to be working with a computer, can I, you know, use my computer navigation skills? And if I'm doing a session like this, I use a headset because it allows for a very clear and crisp sound. So if you're considering work from home, these things are important. It's an important list to use and to think about, can you make these happen? Because when you meet someone in that interview, they're going to ask you, can you do these things for me? Because if you can, then you're going to be able to fit the work-from-home model. 
Moving beyond the requirements, we go into more of the not required but useful skills. And so we wanted to make some recommendations here based on some research and our own experience. These are skills that are really helpful in figuring out how to be successful at work from home. First, certainly time management. When we were in an office, you had a lot more of report to duty station, report to the conference room, meet with the supervisor over here. Well, now a lot more flexibility comes up for you to have to do that without somebody walking by a desk. So how are you using your calendar? What alarms or reminders are you using to ensure that you're on time? Next, written communication. In working from home, there's a lot of email communications and a lot of messaging, like in chat rooms. So how are you with your writing skills and your typing skills? The third one here, motivation. Are you a self-starter? This is really a useful skill for work from home folks. Like, do you wake up on a Monday and you're excited for work? Do you need a routine where you get up earlier for your day and achieve some personal items, then you can put 100% into your tasks? But figuring out how to motivate yourself is really important. For organizational skills, really making sure that you have a workspace is key to being organized. You know, we used to have a desk with a filing system. Now at home, are you going to have that? Do you need to create a space that's truly going to help you keep track of task lists and stay organized? And the last one is flexibility. Can you move from one meeting to the next? And, you know, in our environments many times today, there's a fast pace where we're fitting more meetings in, and you might be in a video conference at one moment and then a telephone call the next. And so switching and changing mental focus, we have to be flexible, and the pace of that switch can happen quickly, so we bring that up as well. Overall, in these useful skills, the soft skills is really important. And as I mentioned before, your Ticket Program Employment Team members, those Employment Networks, can really help with soft skills training, and we encourage you to tap into that. Well, next we turn to preparing for your work from home job search. We want you to think back to your work experience or training. So when you're preparing, let's look at your resume and think back, what did you do that brings that experience or training that would help? Things like community services and jobs when you were maybe starting out, those can be important. Training experiences where you use computers or writing or online courses, they can really be helpful. You can keep learning and add those items. Take an online course on the Internet that's free and add what you learn. That's showing employers that you're trying to build those skills that are required or useful. 
Next, take an inventory of all the skills you have, and then you could use those skills to see, do I match up well with those work from home jobs, those organizational communication, time management skills. Think about all that inventory, and then you could talk to your Employment Team. If you're not sure where you're a good fit, you could say, well, this is my inventory. What positions do you think I'm a good fit for? And importantly, you know, we have two other items on here, notifying your references that you're looking for work. That's traditional, but you might also tell your references that you're looking for work from home opportunities and have a group of references that perhaps would say that your skills match up well because of their past engagements with you. And the last recommendation we have is to practice interviewing, and interviewing on video or telephone, depending on what you might experience, can be very different. So getting comfortable using something like Zoom or MS Teams for a remote interview can help improve your confidence. So when you get into the interview, you're getting more comfortable with the technology so you can focus on answering the questions. You could do that with a friend or a family member. You could also do that with the Employment Team, but we encourage you to practice with those video interview skills. 
In the section covering things to keep in mind, we have two slides that covers first be cautious on the first slide here. Not all work from home opportunities are legitimate, and we wanted to point out a couple warning flags or red flags for you. If somebody is promising really high income but little work, that's a sign that this is probably not legitimate. There's also a chance that there's a really unclear job description. Well, perhaps that's another sign. If there is no interview process but you start immediately, that's definitely a warning sign. Unfortunately, there are some fees that could be charged of applicants to apply for jobs, and we really wanted to call that out. So, like, you may start something, and then they'll charge you for continued access to employment, and this is not a traditional path, and a warning sign. And if a company has only been in business for a short time, we recommend checking into that. What are their references? So keep in mind, remote work, there are some people out there that aren't necessarily acting with just their future staff in mind, and we encourage you to also use your Employment Team. Remember, those Employment Networks have relationships with employers that will remove these risks, these warning flags, because they can help introduce you to people that they trust. We also want you to keep in mind the difference in employment for remote work from a tax perspective. I'm not a tax advisor, but I do know that there are different forms of withholding. So when you work traditionally for an employer in that model, as an employee, they withhold your taxes, and you would use that W-2 form. Other job opportunities may not withhold taxes. Those would be more like independent consultants, and you would be considered a 1099 employee. That's for a different type of form. Taxes aren't withheld, and those are your responsibility to pay. Again, working with your Employment Team, those Employment Networks could help you navigate these important points, both about being cautious and about understanding your taxes. Okay, we went through a lot again there, and now we're at “need help finding the job.” So we put forward some ideas for your consideration. We covered types, and now we're into “let's go find the job.” Well, if you're with the Ticket Program, you have an Employment Network. We also have a page that you could start exploring at choosework.ssa.gov to find a job page. There's resources and information about employment organizations that are specializing in support for people with disabilities, and many focused as well on beneficiaries of the disability programs. There are over 20 different organizations listed there, and we encourage you to explore those. So what you do is you pull one up. An example is Indeed. So you could go to the job page. There's a list of over 20 organizations. Right in the middle is Indeed. You will be asked two questions in their search bar. The second one is, are you looking for remote work? And so you could use that as your primary filter and then go in and add the other filters about your experiences and skills and create a customized job openings page for yourself. So I encourage you to do that with any of those organizations. It will give you a better idea of more details on what's out there. If you do get started on your search, we encourage you, of course, to reach out to our Ticket to Work helpline and contact a Ticket Program service provider. Later on, Pat will tell you how to use our tool to find an Employment Network or other service provider as well. 
So now I'd like to mention something. If you're not familiar, we're pleased to share information on the Affordable Connectivity Program. This is an effort to help more households get access to broadband. Of course, with our work-from-home focus, it's going to be important to have access to the Internet for many of these positions. The Affordable Connectivity Program is a Federal Communications Commission benefit program that helps ensure that households can afford the broadband they need for work, but also for school, healthcare, and more. The program provides eligible households with a discount on broadband service and connected devices. So this provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward the Internet for eligible households, and up to $75 per month for homes on qualifying tribal lands. To find out if you're eligible for the program and discover how to apply, we encourage you to go to FCC.gov/ACP. That's FCC.gov/ACP. That is also in the Web Links pod at item number 16. You can select that now. 
Okay, we're in the home stretch here, and I'm going to start into our four tips for working from home. I mentioned this before, and we pulled some together, and we'd like to cover them starting with the first tip. If it's possible for you, this is really important, to dedicate a work-only workspace. This could be a room that you change into an office. This could be a corner of a room that is your desk. That's what I do. I have a window that I like to look out, but I don't have a full office. If you don't have enough space, and many of us don't, then you can set up a desk or table somewhere that is where you work, and that's where you only work. It helps you be able to focus on work when you're in that location. And then when your work is over, you're able to leave that room or office, that desk in the corner or that table, and kind of create a boundary between work and your personal life. When you think about that desk or table and you're working from home, there's this question here, what if you don't have the equipment you need? Well, you can certainly need equipment, and that could be a computer, telephone, Internet connection, even a reasonable accommodation. We recommend pulling in that Employment Team and specifically working with the Ticket to Work service provider. You do need to understand that each service provider will differ in their ability or capacity to provide equipment and the setup of that equipment. So if the service provider can't assume the cost directly, they may know of other ways to do that. They could be aware of a grant program or maybe a local program that refurbishes and provides technology to others. Or if an EN knows of a way to refer you to the state Vocational Rehabilitation agency to get that support. So both those Employment Networks and those Vocational Rehabilitation agencies are potential resources, but they could have some limitations. So go in with your list of questions, and they could help answer specifically. 
Tip two is creating a routine. This could be a morning routine, but, you know, not every shift for a worker is in the morning. So, you know, whatever time of day you're working, we need you to consider the consistent pattern. You need to start out by getting your rest, so then you're going to be ready for work. And then you have, you know, setting the alarm, having a consistent wake-up time, and then having a routine to get ready for work. Do I have pets? Do they need to be walked? Do I have children? Do they need to get to school? How do I get all those things done so when it's time to start work, I'm focused on work at home? And, you know, during winter, you can establish a slightly different routine. Maybe you adjust based on the hours of sunlight in the day when you want to be outside. But you need to come up with your routine and be consistent with it to be successful. Tip three, establish a firm line between work and home. You know, this is important. The recommendation is to create the work-life kind of balance. And to do so, you have to have boundaries. If you have that workspace set up and you're able to kind of close the door, close the laptop when work is done, then you're able to create that balance. In all these cases, if you work 8 to 5 or have a flexible schedule, you can establish your time consistently with your supervisor. That's important to do. Then once that's established, you can draw the line and say, no, these were my work hours. I worked from home, but now it's my time for my personal life, and that would have been previously established. The fourth item and tip here is to stay connected. This is important to maintain connection and kind of fight back the feeling of isolation when we work from home. There's a few different strategies that we have. First one, take advantage of video conferencing with coworkers. You know, if you're new, it's hard to establish relationships. Maybe ask your supervisor, I'm just new to work. I would like to be able to set up some video conference meetings with my colleagues to get to know them. And then maybe have a couple meetings over the course of the next month spread out. You could have lunch on a lunch break with a neighbor or maybe schedule time with family after work to check in. Ask, how was your day? What were the highlights of your day? And last, connect with colleagues through other tools. You know, a lot of companies offer things like chats, like MS Teams chat or a Slack channel, or they have employee resource groups where you're able to meet other people outside of your work unit, and we encourage you to extend into those to stay connected, building your networks, and feeling less isolated. 
Okay, now we've gone through our content, and we always like to include a success story, and today we'd like to share with you Lori's success story. Lori's a work-from-home success story, and anxiety made it difficult for her to build her career. But she connected with the Ticket Program, as you can imagine, and Lori now works comfortably with a work-from-home job in public relations and marketing for an Employment Network called Employment Options. She has more than a job, though. She's found a career that she's really passionate about, and she says making my own money, again, is freeing. You know, when she also wants to help others, and perhaps by sharing her story can do so today. In thinking about work and work-from-home, Lori also said, I want to do whatever I can to help others understand and learn about this great program. I think she's referring to how the Ticket Program helped her access a work-from-home opportunity that really changed the arc of her career. 
So I've covered a lot of content to help you understand these work-from-home trends. The data we covered that's showing we're on our way to 22%. We covered the considerations. We covered finding work-from-home jobs and then added in the tips there at the end. And I really hope that you find and feel that the information is giving you a little bit different information that if you want to pursue work-from-home careers that you will, and you'll reach out to the Ticket to Work Program and connect with an Employment Network. Because if you do, you just might become our next work-from-home success story. And with that, we've made it to our questions break, and I bring Pat back in to find out what you all want to talk more about. 

Pat >> Thanks, Derek. We don't have a shortage of questions. One of the ones, I've been looking at the Q&A pod, and one of them comes up repeatedly. So I'm going to paraphrase it, but it's essentially kind of universal. The person says, I like the idea of working from home, but before I look for any kind of job, I've heard that I'll lose my health care if I start working. Is that true? 

Derek >> Thanks, Pat. This is Derek again. Yeah, this is unfortunately one of our most frequently asked questions. And when I say unfortunately, it's because there's a myth out there. It's not true. You're not going to lose health care benefits immediately, and in many cases, it will be years before that will happen. So we want to disconnect this falsehood, the myth. Working does not necessarily mean losing access to federal or state health care benefits. There are these protections in place. They're called Work Incentives. And these employment supports, the Employment Team members, your Employment Network and benefits counselors, they can explain them in more detail. But they let people who work and receive disability benefits keep these important health care benefits. So there is a fact sheet, and I'm guessing, Pat, you're thinking it's in the Web Links pod. I'm looking for it. But we have details on it in our Medicare and Medicaid employment supports fact sheet, and we also provide information in one of our on-demand webinars that goes into it in detail. We provided it several months ago. So you can go to that ChooseWork website and access the WISE on-demand, and get the details about how you can keep those health care benefits. 

Pat >> I love it when you refer to one of our earlier webinars. Next question, this is kind of a funny one. It says, if I'm working from home, how does my boss know that I'm really working? 

Derek >> This is Derek. Yeah, well, so I have relationships with many supervisors in my career. I'll give you a couple examples because it will depend on your employer. But one thing that we have is we have email and we have video meetings, and then we have, like, chat platforms. And in every case, whether it's my supervisor or a client, I get some type of communication, normally about the start of my workday. And it's one way of knowing, am I at my work-from-home duty station? Am I online? So that's kind of a simple way of thinking about it. Folks can ping. What work-from-home supervisors normally do is they have the benefit of the doubt in place. So this is what we're looking for. And in that regard, they're looking for productivity. So if you're delivering what they've asked you to do, they'll be a little bit less focused on exactly when you're doing it. So there's other jobs, though, that are a lot more specific. So let's say you're in a customer service position. Employers can actually monitor, you know, if you're supposed to be online at a toll-free number to take orders for a company. Well, those employers will know if you're logged into the computer, when you logged in, and if you're available for calls. I've worked in a call center in my career, and they knew every specific time I logged in and out. So in that case, that's another way that they can manage. I think, you know, the key is to be proactive in it. If you're out there and you're worried, like, well, how would I know? Would they always be worried about me? Well, get in front of it a little bit. You can send an email when you start every morning. Just say, hi, supervisor, want to let you know I'm online. Let me know if you have any questions. Then over a period of time, you would establish a routine and trust. I would think the supervisor would probably have a check-in at one point and say, I appreciate what you're doing, but you don't need to do that every day because, you know, you've earned that. And that's that built trust. So just remember, each environment's a little different. The key would be in the interview to ask a couple questions and then, you know, agree that you could meet that performance expectation and then just try to get in front of it with some clever way of reporting to duty each day would be my recommendation. 

Pat >> Thanks. I may try that. Somebody else wants to know if working at home means that they have to work long hours or odd hours. 

Derek >> Thanks. This is Derek again. That, of course, depends on the specific job and what the job performance expectations are. You know, a lot of people think that because they work from home that they have to be available all the time. And, you know, most jobs don't require, you know, on-call positions or 24-7 performance. Like today, you know, somebody said, well, I'm not going to be able to do that. I got an email this morning. And, you know, I have another obligation, but I'll pick that up tomorrow morning and we'll be done before week's end. And I appreciated that. We have work-life balance, and we know that if we don't have that balance that at some point we'll have burnout. But, you know, if you do have long hours because that's the position, it's important to make sure you're scheduling in breaks. You know, so you used to have many breaks in traditional offices. Like I'm going to the printer. And then on the way back you'd be interrupted for a conversation. So there's a lot of kind of different ways of going to the water cooler, you know, that type of thing. What I would encourage you to do is to use your time management skills to schedule breaks. Some people use an alarm on their phone. If you're sitting all day as a customer service agent, well, let me make sure I'm standing once in a while or I do some stretches or I go outside. That's also good for changing depth for your eyes when staring at a computer screen all day. So you're going to be avoiding injuries that you would develop through cumulative actions. So time management skills, build in some breaks. But you don't have to work odd or long hours. And for the most part, the work-from-home trends are not about odd or long hours. They're about traditional hours being done remotely. 

Pat >> Good point. Have you found in your experience that it's any harder to get promoted when you work from home, you know, you're not seeing your boss regularly? 

Derek >> This is Derek again. That's a really good question. You know, we've seen a variety of experiences over the years with work-from-home. Mostly it was hybrid. So we're only starting to really in the past few years get to know this larger workforce trend. But it can be more challenging to have that connection if you're a new employee with your boss and coworkers and, you know, kind of knowing if you're leading towards advancement or promotion. I think the key to that is work-from-home positions can and do have performance objectives, just like your traditional office jobs. So establishing those allows you to be able to have check-ins, just like you might have done on a monthly or quarterly basis in the past in a physical office job. Now you can do in person. So making sure you have your individual performance plan in place. If they don't offer the performance check-ins and you feel like they're needed, ask the supervisor for them. It would be like you were working in that physical office, but you'd be having the conversations through video calls or telephone calls, those check-ins. And I think you could find that advancement and promotions do exist from work-from-home, remote, and hybrid positions. You just need to get more comfortable with the idea. And I say you, I think it's the employers and the new remote workforce are getting more comfortable with it. So in time we'll have better training to support great promotion and advancement opportunities. 

Pat >> I think you're right about that. I mean, even human resources departments are figuring all of this out so that people are treated equitably across the board. Unfortunately, I think that's all the time we've got for questions. I want to thank you, Derek, for providing so much information about some of the jobs that are available and for some thoughtful suggestions on how to be successful in those types of jobs. You've given people a lot to think about if they want to go in that direction. 
And speaking of directions, I want to take a couple of minutes to give you some pointers on how you can begin finding that right work-from-home job by choosing to work with the Ticket Program service providers. I know Derek already told you about the Ticket to Work helpline. I think he mentioned it a couple times. But because it's such an important resource, I'm going to repeat that information. The helpline has trained and certified specialists who can give you information about your personal situation, the kind of individual personal attention and information that we just can't provide on a traditional national webinar. I urge you to take advantage of that resource. Call them at 1-866-968-7842. Or for the hearing impaired, there's a TTY number at 1-866-833-2967. Both those lines are available Monday through Friday from 8 to 8, and that's Eastern Time. I also highly recommend you take a look at our website at choosework.ssa.gov. You'll find many more details there about the Ticket Program and about working from home. For example, I did a quick search this morning, and I found more than 20 articles, blogs, documents, and even a podcast that specifically talked about working from home. In addition, the website is where you'll find our Find Help tool. That's a tool you can use to locate service providers that can assist you in your job search and help you understand how work can affect your benefits. That's at choosework.ssa.gov/find/. 
If you'd like to learn more about these monthly webinars or catch our latest blogs, think about subscribing to our email updates. The link, https://choosework.ssa.gov/contact, will take you to a page where you can sign up. Or if you're more of a social media person, you can join us on Facebook. Another way to get information about the Ticket Program is to opt in to receive text messages. Just text TICKET, T-I-C-K-E-T, to 1-571-489-5292. Standard messaging rates may apply, and you can opt out at any time. Finally, you can always email us at support at choosework.ssa.gov. We'd love to have you join us for our next webinar, “Working for Yourself with Ticket to Work.” Have you ever thought about being your own boss? Do you have a hobby or a skill or a passion that you'd like to see if you could turn into a business? There's a lot to think about before you make that kind of move, and our presenter, who's an experienced business owner and entrepreneur, will give you some of the tips that he's learned by running his own business. If you're curious about how self-employment might work for you, you won't want to miss this one. It will be on October 25 from 3 to 4:30 Eastern Time, and registration will open soon at choosework.ssa.gov/wise. 
You know, as much as Derek and I enjoy bringing you these webinars, they're really for you. If there's something you want to hear about or you have ideas for future webinar topics, please let us know. You can provide your ideas or feedback by taking our survey. We do read them all. A link will pop up after the webinar, or you can find the survey in the Web Links pod or by visiting the Ticket Program website at choosework.ssa.gov/surveys/wise. I want to thank you for taking the time to be with us today and for your great questions. I hope we've given you information that you'll be able to use as you move on your own path. And this concludes today's webinar.