[ Silence ] >> Ray Cebula: Good afternoon everybody. This is Ray Cebula from Cornell University's Yang-Tan Institute. I want to welcome you to today's Work Incentive Seminar Event or WISE Event. Today, we're going to talk about that Ticket to Work and free support services for folks with disabilities who are ready to return to work, and it's going to be a pretty unified session today since I'm going to be with you for the entire hour and a half. Now I want to talk to you a bit about the technology that we're using today. We have a webinar console that's on your screen. It should be on the right-hand side of your screen, and that webinar console's going to allow you to participate in today's session. We do want you to ask questions and to participate. However, for our hundreds of you out there, we're not able to turn on the microphones to allow you to speak because we'd have no control. So what we want you to do is up on the top of that webinar console, you're going to see the little abbreviation Q&A. If you click on that Q&A button, it's going to open the Q&A box, the question-and-answer box. You're going to be able to type in your question here, click on the send button, and it's going to, your question will then appear on Jamie's desktop. Now, Jamie is going to be monitoring those questions, and we're going to focus on the questions that pertain to the largest number of people. It's not likely we're going to be able to answer everybody's question during the session. We will, however, give you information where you can get those very specific questions answered because we don't want you to not get any information. But Jamie's going to interrupt me if we have a question that's directly on point to what I'm talking about. Otherwise, we'll hold your questions until the end of the session. Now you have automatically been connected today through your computer and the speakers attached to your computer. If for any reason, if any of the storms floating around the country are causing you grief, then I'm going to ask everybody on the panelist, on the panelist board to mute their microphones or their telephones because I'm hearing all kinds of interference. Thank you very much. If you do lose the connection from your Internet, you are going to be able to telephone, and what you have to do is hit the audio button on the top of your screen. It's going to open this audio box. You're going to click I will call in, and today's phone information will appear there, and we do have a toll-free number for you that I'm going to get to right now. The toll free number today, if you have a pencil handy, write this down, is 855-749-4750. They will ask you for an access code, and that access code is 640525470. Now, Jamie's also going to be posting a lot of this information in the chat box that's also found in your webinar console. So all the websites I'm going to read off, the phone numbers, she'll be posting there if you need them again. Now I'm going backwards, as you can tell, and I want to talk to you about accessibility. We have done everything we can possibly think of to make sure that this webinar is accessible to the largest number of people possible. However, we're not perfect. If you do have any kind of accessibility issue today, we want to hear about it. So please let us know, and along with letting us know what kinds of problems you're having, if you know of a solution to that problem, if you know some steps we can take, some adjustments we can make, a program that we can use that will solve your problem, let us know that, too, because it's great to know what the problem is, but there's, sometimes we just can't find an answer. If you've got an answer for us, please share it, and we can make this accessible to even more people. Now, once again, this is the last time you're going to hear it from me, that toll free number for today is 855-749-4750, and the access code is 640525407. Today, the close captioning link is at www dot ilr dot Cornell dot edu forward slash edi forward slash captions dot cfm question mark activity underscore id equal sign 4348. Now today's PowerPoint and accessible PDF and X versions were sent to you with the link that you used. It was the link that you received in your confirmation and registration and access letter. So you should have all of that material. If you have any difficulty accessing that, let us know, and we will make sure you get it to us. Today's presentation, the transcript and the audio recording will be available in about two weeks' time, and that is also at www dot ilr dot Cornell dot edu forward slash edi forward slash m dash WISE dash webinars dot cfm. During the question-and-answer period, we've already told you how you can access that question-and-answer box. If you have any difficulty with that, or want to e-mail if you feel more comfortable e-mailing, you can certainly send us a question to webinars at choose work dot net. That's one word. Webinars at choose work dot net. After today's webinars, you can e-mail your questions to support at choose work ttw dot net. That's all one word. Choose work ttw dot net. We do want you to have all kinds of access information whenever you need it so we can assure you that all of your questions will get answered. OK. And my name is Ray, again. I am with Cornell University's Yang-Tan Institute and am an attorney by trade. I have been working with folks who receive benefits from Social Security and have been trying to return to work for a bit over thirty years now. So it's been a while. And today we're going to talk about the Ticket to Work program. We're going to talk about employment networks and what they are and what they can do, how they can help. State vocational rehabilitation agencies, what they can do and how they can help us, and then we'll talk to you about some other resources. If you remember, I told you, we're not going to have to time to get to all of your questions. Those are other resources are going to be able to provide you with the answers to your questions. Whatever time we have left at the end, we will use for question and answers. Alright. So before, let's go back. Before we introduce you to the associate commissioner of Social Security, what I want to do is ask you some questions, and they're just questions so that we can do better outreach and focus our webinars better. So the first question is pretty easy. How did you learn about today's webinar? Was it via e-mail, Facebook or Twitter, a website, a friend or family, or some other way? Just let us know how you found out about it? We'll take a little bit of time to get your answers in, and then we'll move on. They're all that easy. But, again, this is try to let us direct our outreach and to find out who we're missing. [ Pause ] OK. Still got a big chunk of you that aren't participating. [ Pause ] Alright. There we go. Thank you. I'm going to close that down. You're going to have to wait a few seconds for that to close down and tally up the results. We got a lot of e-mail and website folks. That's real big. [ Pause ] Alright. The second question. What do you hope? Oh. What do you hope - >> Welcome to Verizon Wireless. The wireless customer you called is not available at this time. Please try your call again later. Announcement one, switch, one eight dash three. Welcome to Verizon Wireless. The wireless customer you called is not available at this time. Please try your call again later. Announcement one, switch, one eight dash three. >> Ray Cebula: Alright. Thank you very much, Verizon operator. I don't know who that was. Again, I think we have somebody who has not muted themselves. So I'm hearing some background stuff, and that's why Ms. Verizon interrupted us. So we're all answering this question. Thank you very, very much for doing that. How did you hear about, what do you hope to learn today. Do you want to learn about the Ticket to Work, work incentives for SSI, work incentives for SSDI, employment networks and state VR, or is there something else on your mind that you want us to talk about? And if there is something else on your mind, I assume you're going to be putting that into the question-and-answer box. And thanks for carrying on without me while I was listening to Ms. Verizon talk to us. So wonder of live TV, folks, even though we're not on TV. You never quite know what's going to happen. Alright. We're going to close that one down. Give it a couple of seconds to close up, and we'll get to some real fast ones. [ Pause ] Three, two, one. There we go. OK. Very easy. What's your gender, male or female? [ Pause ] >> Alright. The phone rings. [ Pause ] >> Ray Cebula: Still hearing somebody talk in the background. So if you're on the phone, please mute your line. Alright. We're closing that one out. [ Pause ] And question four, what is your age, and there are a bunch of categories there. Eighteen or younger, 19 to 25, 26 to 40, 41 to 55, 56 to 65, or 66 and older. Just pick a group. [ Pause ] Alright. Good. I got my little pointer stuck on my other screen. [ Pause ] And we got ten seconds to wait for this one to close. [ Pause ] And last but not least, we know that some of you are sitting at your computer screen or at a computer screen with other people. So besides yourself, how many other people are with you? Just take a look, one other person with you, two, three, four, or five. So that way we'll have a good count on how many folks are actually listening today. [ Pause ] Alright. [ Pause ] Thank you for those answers. Again, they help us do some outreach and figure out how many of you are out there, and where we can find some of the people that we're missing out there in this country of ours. It's very big. OK. We'd like to introduce you to associate commissioner Bob Williams. He works with Social Security at the Office of Employment Support Programs, and is one of the people who takes care of all of this return to work stuff. So we're going to cue up that video, Michael, and hear what Commissioner Williams has to say. [ Background Sounds ] [ Music ] [ Background Sounds ] [ Pause ] [ Music ] [ Background Sounds ] >> Bob Williams: Hello, and welcome to today webinar. My name is Bob Williams, and I am the Associate Commissioner for Employment Support at the Social Security Administration. We turn the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency program which assists people 18 through 64 on SSDI or SSI who want to improve their life and future by becoming employed. By viewing this webinar, you will learn how you can receive training, become employed, increase your earnings, reduce your reliance on disability benefits and eventually earn a better living by becoming fully self-supporting whenever possible. The Ticket Program is not for everybody. This is why the choice of whether to advantage of it is yours and yours alone. I know firsthand that people with significant disabilities face many barriers to becoming and staying employed. This is especially true in today's economy. A major reason you receive disability benefits is that Social Security determined that you were not able to work enough to support yourself, but I also want you to know that having a significant disability no longer has to be a lifetime bar to employment and greater financial security. The Ticket can offer you the choices, training, opportunities, and support you need to go to work and gain financial independence. I hope today's webinar begins your journey toward greater self-sufficiency. Your life and future can be better. Thank you for joining us. [ Background Sounds ] [ Music ] [ Background Sounds ] >> Ray Cebula: OK. Thank you, Commissioner Williams. We always like to hear from him. We were very glad that he participates in our webinars with us. It gives you an indication that these work incentives and these return to work programs are very important to Social Security. That somebody has high up as an associate commissioner would take the time to get that video for us. So what can you expect today? You can expect information on the Ticket to Work. We're going to talk about that Ticket to Work program and all of the work incentives, and please excuse the beagle in the background. We're going to answer a lot of those frequently asked questions. Those of us who have been out in the field doing this for a long time hear the same things over and over and over again, and we're going to respond to some of those and let you know whether they're true or not. Where can you find more information? We're going to cover a lot of information very fast today. What we want to do is entice you to use some of the other information that we're going to tell you about. We want you to just get interested enough to look. Success stories from other people. We have some. We're going to hear about Robert's success story today, and there are some others online, and you can see how this is actually working for people. It's a great program, and it can work, and we're going to show you how. But why? Why would you do this? Why would you choose to go to work rather than remain on benefits? That big pile of money is very telling because earning more money is one of the results of returning to work. With proper planning, and with some counseling, and building your employment team, which we're going to talk about, the result is going to be there will be more money, and more money is better. That's all there is to it. More money is better. Gaining independence. You can gain independence from the agencies that you're receiving benefits from. You will no longer have to report to Social Security how much you're earning, when you work, when you stop, when you get married, when you move. So you will be free from that burden, but along with that extra income comes the independence to make greater decisions about where you want to live and how you want to live your life. It just provides more options. Meeting new people, another benefit of work. Now notice some of these benefits of work have nothing to do with the money, and some of these benefits of work are worth a whole lot more than the money because we can meet new people. Everybody who is making this webinar happen today I have met through work. I've met my spouse through work. I have been able to travel across this country, meeting people because of work, and that is incredibly valuable. You know, because I don't have to remain isolated. If I want to go out to dinner, I can because I work. If I want to take a vacation and visit friends somewhere in this country, I can because I work. So we want you to pay attention to some of the other stuff other than that forty hours a week. Learning new skills. Not only learning new skills while you are at that job, but learning new skills to get the job. You know, that might be necessary. You might need an education. You might some computer training or some equipment, or you might need some technical training. Even if you are going to return to the same job that you had before you became disabled, you may have to learn how to do those jobs differently, and we can do that for you. We can help provide you with access to the training and education that you need. Now here's Robert. Robert's a veteran. He was, he was in the US Army for seven years and had a surgical injury in the year 2000 concerning his spinal cord, and it left him with limited mobility. He decided he was going to use his Ticket to Work, and it helped him discover not only what he wanted to do, which was that he had a passion for helping other veterans, but that he needed to go to work and get trained, and now he is helping returning veterans navigate that transition from military life to civilian life, and he's got a great story to share with you. So, Michael, if we could cue up Robert's video. [ Pause ] [ Music ] [ Pause ] [ Music ] >> Robert Statam: Coming straight out of high school from Chicago, I had a strong interest for the military. I joined the service, and I went into the Army, and my job that I went in the service for was communications, and I was communications specialist. I spent two tours in Europe, in Germany, and I spent over, about seven years total in the military. Once I completed my time in the service, I continued to work for the government as a United States postal carrier, and after 13 years of this work, it began to take a toll on me healthwise, and it led to some medical issues that I started to have. I became disabled from a surgery, kind of a mishap where a disc ruptured, and it paralyzed me. The Ticket to Work program was introduced to me throughout my rehabilitation time period. The VA was assisting me. They even offered me the ideas about have I ever thought about going back to work. So they introduced me to a representative from the Social Security board who told me about this Ticket to Work program. Well, as the representative explained the program, it was obvious that there was some safety nets there. Some of the things that I was worried I really didn't have to, it was no worry at all. Now it wasn't until the voc rehab representative for paralyzed veterans who, again, introduced me to the Ticket to Work program, and I told him I had heard of it, and I was aware of it, but at this time, as years that went by, I felt a little bit more stronger about actually accepting at this time because I knew that I was at a level healthwise, and I thought it was time for me to make some serious decisions and not be living on a fixed income when I had such a desire to want to do much more. The program had told me all the things like, well, if it don't work out, it was still enough of a security net there to say that you don't have to worry about that. They even gave me a year, even while I was working that I was still covered under the Social Security. They make sure that they are there to assist you and help you in all types of ways, not only to put you back in the workforce or give you skills that you need to get there, but to follow you once you're there. After being part of this Ticket to Work program, I started looking again into the availabilities of positions for a national service officer. At that time, it just happened to be some available positions. >> Winston Woodard: He put in the position that he had to apply for the position normally. That position came up. Shortly thereafter, he was selected as a candidate to be a national service officer at the Chicago office. >> Robert: After the interview, they immediately told me that I was very much qualified, and I could prepare to begin to come to work. I became a national service officer for the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Paralyzed Veterans of America, of course, is a service organization dedicated to helping those veterans with spinal cord injuries, spinal cord disease, as we assist all veterans with VA benefits, and we advocate for better health care. [Inaudible] national service officer with Paralyzed Veterans of America. I greet and meet with especially the new veterans or new patients that has just come in for the first time. Coming back to work has probably built up my independence, the self-pride and, you know, I'm an achiever again. You know, I got something to offer society, and, you know, it's almost like you, you know, regaining the portion of dignity back. Prior to even coming back to work, I was highly interested and got interested in some of the disability sporting events. The wheelchair games. I used to participate in that every year, and it was a big event for me. Ticket to Work program, it helped open up the floor and put me back to where, you know, it's almost like it put my life back on track. [ Music ] [ Pause ] >> Ray Cebula: OK. Thank you very much, Mike, and thank you to Robert for sharing his story, and we look forward to finding one of you to interview for our next success story. There are lots of others on the websites that we're going to be giving you so that you can see how this works. Now, when you're ready to begin to consider work, gathering information and resources is going to be critical. Gathering information, I can't tell you how important this is, the key because this return to work is not just finding a job and going in at 8:00. There is a lot of planning that has to be done, as Robert indicated. Social Security is going to provide you with services, with referrals to people who can help, to put a team together to guide you along this journey to work, and we call it a journey to work because it truly is. The Ticket to Work is there. All of the work incentives we're going to talk about are going to help make this journey a smooth one. One thing, you know, we want you to get you all this information because the most important thing about this is it's all about informed choice. You are making a decision to do this. No one is forcing you to do anything. The more information you have, the better you'll be able to make a decision as to how you want to proceed. So the information's free. All we ask what you do is get it and consider it. Building your employment team. What is an employment team? An employment team is anybody who is going to be in a position to support your work effort. That could be a VR counselor. It could be a private EN. It could be a doctor. It could be a mom or a dad or a spouse or a brother and a sister or a teacher. Anybody who is in a position to provide you with support and guidance needs to be part of that team. How do you get started in putting this team together? Well, the good thing is there's no wrong door here. You can talk to somebody at the Ticket to Work helpline at 1-866-968-7842 or for TTY users, 1-866-833-2967. No obligation. Just talk to somebody to start the process. To learn more about the Ticket to Work program, we have a blog. You can listen and read other real success stories at www Social Security dot gov forward slash work. It's a great website. No obligation. No one's going to know you were there. All you need to do is go on and hunt around and look to see if this is for you. Find an employment network. We'll talk about what an employment network or an EN is. That's going to be able to meet your needs, and potentially work with the state VR agency to get you all of the services that you need to do this journey to work. And once you've built that team, stay connected. You are the leader of the employment team. If we are part of your team, we are going to be following your lead. We can help make suggestions, but you are the person who's leading this team because it's all about you. It's all about what you want. Now the Social Security benefits programs that we're involved with, just briefly. The Social Security Disability Insurance Program, or SSDI, is the program for workers who become disabled. People who were working and paying FICA taxes by insurance for disability purposes from Social Security, and if you work long enough and pay those taxes long enough to become insured, that insurance becomes available to you should you need it for disability purposes. Everybody's amount of benefits are different because it depends upon how long you worked and how much you made when you were working. The other program, which is totally different, is the Supplemental Security Income Program, and this is more of a federal welfare program. It does not require a work history and is paid to folks who are age 65 or older, blind, meeting the Social Security blindness standards, or disabled, meeting the Social Security disability standards, and it is needs based. So any type of income you have, whether it's earned or unearned, or any resources that you have above the limits are going to be considered when they determine whether or not you're eligible. Now the disability standard for both is the same, but as I said, one is insurance and one is a supplemental program, it's a welfare program. Some of you out there might receive both benefits. If somebody was working at a lower page, excuse me, at a lower wage job, it is possible that your SSDI insurance amount is below the federal SSI amount. In that case, if you're otherwise eligible, you'll get SSI as a supplement, and we call those people concurrent beneficiaries. Now, why that's important is the first thing you need to know when you're about to return to work is what kind of benefits you're receiving because the SSDI program has work incentives and the SSI program has work incentives, and they are very different. People who receive both have to pay attention both types of work incentives, which is why we're encouraging you to build that team to help you navigate through all of these rules. Now I said we were going to talk about some common questions that we hear, some stories that we hear. Well, here's a couple of what we call the common myths. If I go to work, I will automatically lose my Medicare or Medicaid. Well, I'm here to tell you today that that's wrong. That is absolutely wrong. The fact of the matter is that Medicaid can go on for a very long time. Right now, 46 states will allow somebody who is not financially eligible for Medicaid because they are working to buy into the program at a very reasonable premium. So the, you don't have to worry about that. Medicare will go on for at least seven and a half years after somebody who's on SSDI finishes what's called a trial work period. So we're talking about over eight years of health coverage before you have to worry about it. And so I can tell you go to work, come back to talk to me in six years and to talk about what might happen to your health care. Our second common myth is if I use that Ticket, and I go to work, Social Security is going to review my case, and because I'm working, I'm going to lose my benefits. Also totally wrong. The work incentives themselves in the Ticket to Work program now prevent that from happening. Nobody wants to pull the rug out from under you. So if you have taken your ticket to work and assigned it properly to an employment network or a state VR agency, any medical reviews are suspended. They won't happen provided you're working towards your goals according to that plan. So there is protection built in there. Nobody wants to say in the middle of your program you're no longer eligible. Go away. Nobody wants that to happen. And the last common myth. If I go to work, and I have to stop working because of my disability or because the economy goes downhill again, I have to apply for benefits all over again, and if it took me a long time the first time, I either don't want to wait that long or I can't afford to wait that long. So for me, it's better that I should not try to work, and that's just wrong, too. Because Social Security has a work incentive to cover that, too. It's called expedited reinstatement or EXR, and it's basically an easy on provision. If your benefits have been terminated because you went to work, Social Security allows a very easy back into the system step if that disability again stops you from earning at a specific level. Now it doesn't matter why work stopped, whether it was a layoff, whether you quit, whether you were fired. All that matters is that your disability is the same that it was. So there's an easy way back on. Now just to tell you, that's a bit confusing, and I got to agree with you. It's confusing, but 97 percent of the people who apply for expedited reinstatement are allowed back into the program, and it's fast. So let's move on to the first program. That Ticket to Work program. Part of a very, very big law that President Clinton signed in December, the last December of his tenure. It is free, and it is voluntary, and you'll remember that Commissioner Williams said that. It is voluntary. This is up to you. If you want to go to work, we are here to help, and it's a program to assist SSDI and SSI beneficiaries. So that means you're receiving cash who get those benefits because of a disability and want to go to work. Enter the workforce for the first time or increase your current work activity. So, again, free and voluntary for anybody who's receiving a cash benefit based on disability to either go to work for the first time or increase work that you're doing now. Again, the representatives of the Ticket to Work helpline can help you understand the specifics of how this program works, and you can them again at 1-866-968-7842 or for TTY 866-833-2967, or if you're not ready to talk to anybody about it yet, go on the website, Social Security dot gov forward slash work, and you'll find all of the information you need there. It's a, it really is a great website full of information. Now there's all kinds of stuff here when you're ready to work. If you're ready to earn more money, what can the Ticket to Work program do for you? Certainly, help you improve your earnings potential. Look at Robert. You know, he was on benefits. He said he was living on a fixed income. Now he's back to work earning more money. Doing more things. There are some other success stories in there that are wonderful about people who have started dancing, ballroom dancing again and having, getting their life back. If you need the personal fulfillment that comes with working, remember, all those other goodies. Everything else beside the money. The Ticket to Work can help you provide that stability that you need and the safety nets and assurance that you need to feel confident while you go through this process. To be sure that one's going to pull the rug out from under you because that really is important. We all understand that you're taking a very big risk, and we just want to make it as safe as possible. If you want to be able to get your benefits back because that job doesn't work out, again, expedited reinstatement. Fast track to benefits. Now, as an example, today is June 12th. If I requested EXR today, there's a really good chance I would get my first check on July 1st. If I wait a little bit later in the month, we're looking at August 1st, but right now on the 12th, chances are I'd be paid on July 1st. That's pretty quick. That's pretty quick. Now if you're overwhelmed, and don't know where to turn, [inaudible], if this is all too much for you, we can connect you with the people, the resources, and services you need to help develop a plan, and that's what this is all about. It's all about planning that return to work. So that you will know what will happen to your benefits, what will happen to your health care, when that's likely to happen. You will know all of this as you go along, and that work plan is going to change. It will change. If you projected that you're going to work 20 hours a week, and all of a sudden you start work 25, you go back to that employment team and figure it out again. What's going to happen now that my income has increased. This is not a one-shot deal. Your employment team will be there until you feel you don't need them anymore. Now, once again, that team can be started anyway, anyway you possibly can imagine. Call our experts at the Ticket to Work helpline, 866-968-7842 or for TTY 866-833-2967. Get on the website. That's real easy. Again, that's real easy. You don't have to talk to anybody. Just look for information. Watch the videos to learn more about the program. Talk to an EN. You know, when you start looking for an EN, as we're going to talk about in a few minutes, you're going to shop. You're going to interview these people. So there's really nothing to stop you find finding somebody in your area who provides these services and go talk to them about making an employment team. See what they can do for you. You know, and then above all, stay connected because we are here to help you, and you are telling us what you want. We're not telling you what you should be doing. Remember, the choice is yours. Now the work incentives are great things. Are wonderful, wonderful things. And they're put in place to ensure that if you work or work yourself off of benefits, there will always be more money. As I told you, we can take care of the health care issues. You don't really need to worry about those, but if you want more money, working is one way to ensure that you will have more by using these work incentives, and the work incentives are basically little steps. As you can see, this guy here holding this puzzle piece that's going to finish the bridge. There are phases of work incentives and steps that you'll be following to get to success, and success is more money. More options. More independence. More choice. The work incentives provide safety nets. Safety nets are all important. Nobody wants you out there on that tightrope without a net, and we're going to make sure those nets stay in place. That's part of the planning process so that every phase you move in to, we're going to tell you what is there to catch you if something happens. We can receive training for new skills. Can certainly do that by using the Ticket to Work. Improve the skills you already have. What if, for instance, you were a computer operator and have been out on disability now for four or five years? You know how computers work. If you buy one today at Best Buy, the moment you walk out the door, it's out of date. Maybe you need to get some new training to get your computer skills up to the new machines and techniques that there are out there. To pursue an education, you know, your disability might have eliminated the potential for the jobs that you did in the past, but that doesn't mean that education or some kind of vocational training, you can't do another job. We can make that happen. Try different jobs. If you're not sure what you want to do, what you have the ability to do or the physical or mental capacity to do, we can try different jobs and find one that you like. Find one that you really want. Maybe you don't want a job. I don't want to work for the man for the rest of my life. I want to start a career. We can make that happen, too. You know, it's not a problem. We can put a plan together to do that. While you're doing that, we are going, again, to make sure it's safe for you. There are no landmines here. We're not going to let that happen. You will gain confidence because we're there to help protect you and make sure all of those safety nets that are available through the work incentives are there to protect you. Now we're going to talk about the work incentives that are most common. 1 Most of these you've probability heard of, and we're going to go through this real fast, and this is just to whet your appetite because there's a lot more information for you. The first one we're going to talk about applies only to SSDI recipients. So only those people who worked and are insured through Social Security, and it's called the Trial Work Period, or TWP. Now the Trial Work Period allows you to test your ability to work, and Social Security will allow you to work, do whatever you want, earn as much as you possibly want for a period of nine months. And during those nine months, there will be no effect on your cash or your health care benefits. That's a pretty good thing. Remember Robert said he was covered for a year. Well, the first nine months of that is his Trial Work Period. It allowed him to become a national service officer and work full time for nine months to see if he could. He might not have been sure if he could work forty hours a week, but that nine months gave him a real good sense that, yeah, he could continue. So for nine months, you'll receive both your salary, your benefits, and your health care. Oh, that's three things. After the Trial Work Period comes your Extended Period of Eligibility, and this is a safety net. Because you know at some point, you're not going to get your pay check and all of your benefits. So during the EPE, it's three years after that Trial Work Period is beginning, and during that time, if you earn above a certain level of income that's known as Substantial Gainful Activity, you're not entitled to your SSDI. But the next month, if you earn less than that level of income, you are entitled to your SSDI. So during that three years, it's kind of an off and on, off and on depending on how much you're earning, and you can get back on the benefits simply by calling Social Security and say my doctor told me I have to take the next three months to rest. No earned income, you're entitled to your benefits, and that can go on for three years. That's a pretty long time. So if you're in Robert's situation, you've been working now for three years and nine months, and you're still protected. He's not getting cash benefits, but he's still protected, and he's getting health care. On the other side of the coin, if we look at the SSI folks, we have the earned income exclusion. Now this is great. You know, Social Security is looking at a needs-based program. So earned income counts, and rather than saying for every dollar you earn, we're taking a dollar away, Social Security excludes the first $65 that you earn and then cuts the rest in half. So Social Security cares about less than one-half of your income. If I go to work this month and earn $1,065, I take away the first $65, and then divide by two, and Social Security will only count $500 even though I have earned $1,065. This is a phenomenal work incentive, meaning it's going to take you a good long time to work to the extent that you're going to lose all of that cash. Expedited reinstatement. We talked about that. Fast back on because my income drops below SGA, that level of income that Social Security prescribes. That works for both programs. Works for both programs. Fast back on after you have been terminated because of work. So even after you've been terminated, we still have another safety net, and that lasts for five years. Five years after you have gone to work to the point where you are no longer eligible for benefits. We'll still catch you. And while you're using that Ticket to Work, another way to instill some confidence is that as you're using that Ticket to Work, if you are making progress, protection from those continuing disability reviews will happen. While you're participating and making progress according to your plan, no reviews. That also works for both SSI and SSDI. So not only are we trying to make this easier for you, we're catching you. We're making sure everything has a safety net all along the way. That's just a little bit about those programs. There's a lot more information, and to find out how they will affect you, you're going to want to contact anybody on that list that we talked about building an employment team, and we'll give you more information about that and who to call later on. So we're going to switch over and talk about employment networks. What are they, and who are these people? You know, an employment network is basically a private vocational rehabilitation agency, you know, and they provide varying services. So you have to shop for them. You have to interview them. When you want to know where to find one, you can call that Ticket to Work helpline, 866-968-7842 or to TTY users 866-833-2967. They're going to give you, you'll get the phone answered by a benefits counselor, and all you have to do is ask for a list of employment networks. They'll probably ask you where you live what your zip code is, and they will get you a list of employment networks that serve that area. Now you need to look at it because some employment networks help people with physical disabilities, some people help people with, some employment networks help people with mental disabilities. Just based on their experience. They all do different things. So you want to find one that can help you, and talk to them about it. You can also go on to Social Security dot gov forward slash work and access that list yourself. You know, there's a finder tool. You type in your zip code, it will get you those employment networks. Some of them work locally in your area. You can go visit them. Some of them cover the whole country. So it might be communication via e-mail or Internet. Make sure you get somebody who meets your service needs. Now how do you select one that's right for you? Interview them. Like I said, shop around. You know, you want a pair of jeans that fit. You know, do you want Levi's? Do you want Wrangler's? You got to get the one that fits right, right. Same thing here. You have to get an employment network that fits. So you want to ask them questions. How many people have you helped using this Ticket to Work Program? What's their experience? What kinds of companies do you work with for job placements? Are you working with IBM, or are you working with McDonald's? What kind of jobs do you think might be available when I'm ready to go to work? And how often are we going to be in touch? Are we going to have weekly meetings, monthly meetings? How are we going to communicate? If you're in Seattle, and I'm in Kansas, how's that going to happen, and how does it work? Tell me so I know whether I want to work with you, or I want to call the next phone number. But you want answers to all of those questions, and any of the EN's should be very willing to answer those questions, and if they're not, maybe it's time to call the next person. That EN is going to be able to explain how that Ticket Program works, and what kinds of services it provides, particularly the types of services that they're going to be able to provide through the Ticket. And what they're limited to is based on their experience. It's OK. Remember, I said this is voluntary. It's OK for you to talk to somebody and say I'm sorry. I don't think we can work together, but it's also OK for that EN to say I'm sorry. I don't have the kind of experience that I need to help someone with your particular disability. That's OK, too, and you don't want to work with that person. What about your work goals? They should be asking about your work goals and about your intentions. Yeah, because of their decision is a business decision. Is this the right thing for me? Are you the right client that I want to work with? Because the bottom line is unless you go to work and succeed, I don't get paid. What kind of fears do you have? What are you worried about? You know, they should be able to help you with a lot of that, and some of the basic concerns that we've talked about, they can refer you to a planner to help with that, too. That's another member of your team. The benefits planner who can talk about those safety nets, but the employment network can talk to you about all kinds of things. Like how do I explain a five-year gap in my resume? Now once you decide on the employment network, you're going to develop what's called an individual work plan, an IWP, and that's going to include all of your employment goals, all of the services that that EN's going to provide or help you obtain, and the steps that you're going to take. It's going to set up what you need to do to get to your goal, and according to the plan. Remember, we talked about that CDR protection. If you're following the plan, you're making progress so that those CDR's, those Continuing Disability Reviews, do not happen. Once you agree to a plan, and, again, remember, this is your plan. It's not my plan. It's not the EN's plan. It's your plan. So you have to have input here. You're not being told what this plan. You're helping make it. When you agree to it, you sign it. Then your Ticket is considered assigned, and you have to begin using it. There are all, every EN's going to have other forms. You're going to have basic contract forms, releases of information, you know, so that we can get in touch with other people, get some other records and information that we need to help put a plan together. Now happens if everything's going along well, and your relationship with this EN goes sour? Remember, it's voluntary. You can take your Ticket back. You can unassign your Ticket at any time. If you change your mind and say I'm not ready to do this or you decide that EN is not a good match for you. Your CDR protection will continue for ninety days. You got to find another employment network, but while you work with that employment network, your CDR's are going to be postponed provided you're working and making progress. You know, all you have to do is do what the plan that you put together says. What services can an EN provide? We talked a little bit about resume development, and, you know, I have pretty much had the same resume only I've added to it a little for thirty years. If I needed to find a new job now, I need to talk to somebody about what a new resume looks like because they look different now. You apply for jobs online now. I didn't do any of that. You know, what do I do about that five-year period where I wasn't working? Well, maybe I was doing some volunteer work. Maybe I took a course at the community college. There's something, and it's the EN's job to help you fill that spot. Fill up that time. How about some practice interview skills and some tips on how you might want to answer certain questions? That's an invaluable tool. That's an invaluable tool. You know, one of the rules of interviewing is that you should always have a question when the, when your perspective employer do you have any questions for us. Yeah. You should know a little bit about that company to be able to ask a question, and it just shows that you're interested in. That's the kind of tip you're going to get from an employment network. What about accommodations? What if I need a reasonable accommodation to do the job? Or when do I have to tell or do I have to tell my perspective employer that I have a disability or that I was receiving benefits? You know, that's what an EN can help you with. When do I need to tell them? When do I need to ask for that accommodation? Can they ask me about it? Well, the answer is no, but the EN can tell you about those things. Are there are any tax incentives going to work? Most of those tax incentives belong to the employer, but if the EN can say we have somebody who will get you that tax incentive, you know, you've got a leg up, right. That might make the difference, or any other referrals to services. You know, do you need benefits planning services? Do you need legal services for some reason? Any other services. You know, do you need some kind of medical equipment to go to work? They can help get you to that stuff. They should be able to provide you with job leads. Who's hiring? Where are the job fairs? Where are the recruiting events? Access to resource centers, whether they're one-stop centers. One-stop centers are great. They can allow you to use their computers, their Internets. They have banks of jobs. They have e-mail, phones, and fax machines that are free for your use. Maybe they're going to develop jobs. You know, a job developer is a very, very important skill to bring to your team. And, again, referrals to other organizations who can help. And what this can do, a lot of these things that we talked about, resumes, interviews, you know, job development, referrals to, you know, to get a job all come after you've worked with your state VR agency. It can still happen. With the program called Partnership Plus, you can go to your state VR agency, and you can get all of the rehabilitation services that agency can provide you and then use your Ticket after you've gotten the education, gotten the rehabilitation, gotten the skills you need. Use your Ticket to go to an EN to find a job. That's a real good thing. That was a very big improvement in this program. Now we have to talk about the state VR agencies. Every state has its own VR agency. They are all employment networks as well. The trick with state VR agency is because you're receiving benefits from Social Security based on disability, you're automatically eligible for services. Now that doesn't mean you're going to get them right away. You know, there may be an order of preference. There may be a waiting list because of funding, but you are automatically eligible, and that VR counselor that you'll meet is also going to act like an EN. They're going to develop an employment plan. This one's called an Individual Plan for Employment, an IPE. The same thing as the IWP. Your ticket can be assigned to the VR agency. You know, that's up to you. You know, your counselor may suggest, you know, we like your Ticket. It's still up to you. If you say I want to keep my Ticket because I'm going to use it for job placement later on, the VR still has to serve you because you're automatically eligible. Even if you do not assign your Ticket to VR, but you are working and making progress according to your employment plan, your CDR is those Continuing Disability Reviews are going to be postponed. So there's another protection. We're not going to pull the rug out from under you while you're getting those rehab services, and if you assign your Ticket to get job placement services, we're not going to do it then either. Now when you begin using that Ticket, if you are going to be working with the VR agency, you also have to discuss what kinds of opportunities you have once their services end. You know, do you need the Ticket to Work [inaudible] in the end, in which case you don't want to assign it. You know, and what happens after VR closes your cases? How do they get you to an EN for follow-up services and on-the-job supports that you might need to make this job last? Now all of those questions are questions you need to ask VR. Remember, you are the boss here. You have to build this plan. It's your plan. So if a VR counselor says no, we are not going to refer you to an EN, you might want to talk to either another counselor or that counselor's supervisor. Remember, you need this information before you say I'm ready to go. And if no, if nobody at that VR agency is going to be able to connect you with an employment network for follow-along services, something's wrong, you know, and what you need to do is maybe go back to the helpline and ask a few questions to see how that can be remedied. Now, I told you that we were going to give you other resources. What I want to remind you about right now is that when we sign off after our question-and-answer session, as you click off on your computer, a survey is going to appear on your screen, and we'd really like you to take that survey. It just lets us know what you think. It, certainly, is going to give us information we need to improve our presentation. So, please, take a couple of seconds to fill that out. Where do you get more information? If I've interested you at all, please go to the website Social Security dot gov forward slash work. You can find everything you need there. Everything I have talked about is on that website. You can find your local employment networks. You can find out about the Ticket to Work Program. You can find out everything about the work incentives. If you want to talk to somebody, call the helpline, and that is at 1-866-968-7842 or for TTY users 1-866-833-2967. Now, we are here at the question-and-answer session, but before I do that, I want to finish up with some more resources for you. We have a Facebook page. If you're a Facebooker, follow us on Facebook or click onto our Facebook page at www dot Facebook dot com forward slash choose work. And you can also follow us on Twitter. Www dot Twitter dot com forward slash choose work ssa. So there's all kinds of ways to get information from us or to get in contact with us, and once again, the helpline is 1-866-968-7842 and for TTY users is 1-866-833-2967, and if we do not get to your question, I apologize, but that is the phone number that you need to get your question answered. And, Jamie, it looks like we got time. >> Jamie: Well, thanks, Ray, and we do have quite a few questions for you. Starting with training. A lot of people want to know how they find out what type of training's available to them. >> Ray Cebula: Well, again, the type of training that's available to you is going to, is pretty much going to be dependent upon what you want to do, but almost any kind of training is available to you provided that you're able to do it. Two-year schooling to get an associate's degree, a technical school course to become an electrician, to become a plumber. Any type of training is available. If you want to go to culinary school, you can do that. If you want a four-year degree, we can do that. If you want to be a truck driver, we can do that. There's, the possibilities are limitless. You know, basically, what you need to do is talk with an employment network and put a plan together, and then the question is are you able to do the type of work that you want to, or can we make accommodations and get some medical equipment or some alternative training to allow you to do that job. But almost anything within reason is available. >> Jamie: OK. The follow up on that one. How do I find out what type of financial assistance might be available to me? >> Ray Cebula: That's a great question. You know, financial assistance, if I'm talking about a state VR agency, you know, they're the people with the deep pockets. So they may very well be paying for your education or some of it. If it's a private EN, you may be looking at applying for all kinds of grants, and the EN's are going to know what types of grants are available. What kinds of scholarships are available? You know, what kinds of student loans might be available? I mean, there are all kinds of ways. The private EN's aren't necessarily going to be big agencies that can just write a tuition check. So they may be looking at helping you apply for scholarships or grants. But the VR agency or the employment networks will be able to tell you how this is all funded. The goal here is to muster enough resources so that your out-of-pocket expenses are minimized to the max. >> Jamie: That actually leads into our next question. We have a couple people out there who are a little confused about whether they can work with an EN and a VR agency at the same time. >> Ray Cebula: OK. That's a great question, too, and that's, and it is a very confusing thing. You can't work with both of them at the same time. Remember, you have one Ticket, and it's got to be someplace. So if you are looking for rehabilitation services of the nature that vocational rehabilitation provides, then that's where your Ticket is going to be. You do not have to assign it to the VR agency, but you can use it at the VR agency. So what you would do is work with the VR agency if you need those services first, then take your Ticket and assign it to an employment network in order to get the post-rehabilitation services such as job placement, on-the-job services that you may need or support on-the-job equipment that you might need. Anything of that nature. So you can work with both VR and an employment network but not using your Ticket at the same time. That make sense, Jamie. >> Jamie: That did make a lot of sense, and, folks, remember to use your Q&A box on the webinar console or send an e-mail to webinars at choose work dot net if you have additional follow-up questions. Some of you did ask a couple questions about what Ray just said. So, Ray, [inaudible] training, if type of training I need, say I need a certification in something, to get started, I basically just need to call my VR agency. Is that right? >> Ray Cebula: That's going to get you started. You can certainly do that. Now if you need a certification training, and there's a tuition involved, I guess the question is, you know, is the VR agency going to pay for that or could you work with an EN, and, you know, you should always check out the certification training as well. Maybe there's a scholarship possibility available through that, but if you know what you want to do, and you've located a training that you think is the right training for you, then you're really just looking to get all of this in writing and then a plan so that somebody can help you make the progress that you need to get through it. So you've done your homework, and you can contact the VR agency, and that's the way to get started. Again, you can contact any of the, you can contact the Ticket to Work helpline to get started, an EN, or a VR, but you seem to be well on your way. >> Jamie: Thanks, Ray. And do I have to be working with an EN or a VR to use these services, and that applies to everything we've talked about today, Ticket to Work, work incentives as well as all of this great training you've talked about. >> Ray Cebula: If you're going to use your Ticket to Work, yes. You have to use your Ticket to Work with a VR agency or an EN. The work incentives, however, are there. You don't need to use your ticket. You don't need an EN. Work incentives happen because you go to work and earn money. So let's take that person who knows what kind of certification training that he or she wants. You can get, and you land a scholarship to do that. So you do the certification training. Now you start working because you're certified. All you need to do is report your work so Social Security. The work incentives begin immediately. I would suggest that you get in touch with a benefits planner who can help plot out how those work incentives are going to impact you, but, no, you do not need to use your Ticket to take advantage of those work incentives. >> Jamie: Ray, we have a couple people asking is you need to have your physical Ticket to assign it to an EN or VR. >> Ray Cebula: Nope. As a matter of fact, there are no more physical Tickets. We live in a virtual world, and the Tickets are now virtual as well. Many of you could have received the paper Ticket several years ago, but as of the last couple of years, there are no such thing. You just get information saying you have a Ticket, you know, and all you need to do to know if your Ticket is available is to call that Ticket to Work helpline, and they're going to know. They'll find out right away whether or not you have a Ticket to assign. You do not need the piece of paper. >> Jamie: And the follow up to that, how do I find out what type of benefits I get? >> Ray Cebula: Oh, absolutely, call Social Security. You know, if you're, or walk down to the local office and find out. Any notice that you have, if you've kept your notices, which you should always do, will tell you. It will say right on top supplemental security income. It will say retirement survivors and disability insurance benefits right across the top of it in big letters. So those notices will tell you if you need to call Social Security, do that. You can also get on to Social Security dot gov, and there's a program called My Social Security, and if you log in, you'll find out everything about your benefits. And I have one. I have a password, and I go on to Social Security at any time to find out that if I want to retire, how much my retirement benefits are going to be. If I become disabled today, I can find out exactly how much money I'll get every month. So My Social Security, and you'll always have access to that. >> Jamie: Thanks, Ray. Let's switch back to EN for a minute. What happens if want to change EN's, how do I do that? >> Ray Cebula: The thing that we need to remember about changing EN's is that these people are in business, you know, and as a business person, they want to make money, and we need to treat them like that. Like they're in business, and they want to make money. It's important to talk to them about it. You know, you just can't walk away. You know, if you don't want to have a discussion with them, you can simply tell them that I prefer, and I think everybody else prefers that you write them a note. It doesn't have to be a long letter. Just write them a note. I don't want to work with you any longer. I am unassigning my Ticket, and give a copy of that note to the employment network, give a copy of that note to Social Security, and then your Ticket will be unassigned, but it's really not appropriate just to walk away because then nobody knows. Remember that last little bullet on building your team was keep in contact. That's for good or for bad, for better or for worse, you keep in contact. That that means we're not working together, I need to tell we're not working together anymore. Then your Ticket is unassigned, and you can have that ninety-day period to reassign it to somebody else. But, remember, there's no reason necessary. That's your choice. >> Jamie: Thanks, Ray. Changing gears a little bit. What if I have a medical review coming up very, pretty soon? Am I still eligible for the Ticket to Work Program? >> Ray Cebula: Yeah, you are. You're eligible. It doesn't matter when those reviews are scheduled to come up, but let me tell you, if you assign your Ticket before that medical review starts, that medical review won't happen. If the medical review starts, and you want to assign your Ticket, the medical review is going to happen anyway. So you can stop a medical review from happening, but once it starts, you cannot assign your Ticket and stop once the ball's rolling. >> Jamie: There's lots of people interested in training today. Someone wants to know if an EN or VR would offer any type of testing to see what field might be good for you to start working in? >> Ray Cebula: Great question, and both could potentially. Most certainly, the state vocational rehabilitation agencies can do that. They do that a lot. You know, my mother. Here we go with stories again, Jamie. But my mother actually had a disability a while ago and went state VR here in Massachusetts, and they told her she should be an auto mechanic, and she [inaudible], and she actually considered that. She said that I think might be fun. I might like that, you know, but she didn't anyway, but, certainly, she took tests, you know, and talked to people at length, and they figured out based on those tests what types of jobs might be best for her, and they'll give you those options. Now can a private EN do that? Most certainly, they can. Do they all? I don't know. I mean, that's one of the questions you would want to ask. You know, you might want to get in touch with a local EN and say are you able to do these tests to find out what I might be interested in, and there's a potential that they could say, no, we don't do the tests, but we're certainly willing to talk to you about it. You know, and it's up to you to make the decision. Do you want to go to state VR and do the testing, or do you want to just talk to somebody about it? That's your decision. >> Jamie: Great answer. Thank you, Ray. We have another question. Do I automatically qualify for the Ticket, or [inaudible] notified that I am eligible? >> Ray Cebula: Oh, that is a very good question. That really is. You are automatically eligible for a Ticket if you are receiving cash benefits, if you are between the ages of 18 and 64, and you have been determined to be a disabled adult. Because those 18 year olds are all going to go through a review process that says you're no longer a disabled child. You are a disabled adult. Until that happens, that 18 year old will not be eligible for a Ticket. But anybody who is receiving a cash benefit based on disability and is a disabled adult between the ages 18 and 64 has a Ticket. Whether you've been told or not. >> Jamie: Well, thank you, Ray. We're approaching 4:30 very swiftly. So I'm going to finish with one last question and - >> Ray Cebula: OK. >> Jamie: This person says that she's ready to find an EN and become self-employed. I'm overwhelmed by the number of EN choices, and I don't know what all the choices mean. How can I get help in choosing an EN? >> Ray Cebula: Wow. That's a really great question. You know, if you've got that many choices, you know, you've got a lot of homework to do, and you might want to talk with a benefits planner. There are, you know, should be somebody in your area that does benefits planning work. Beginning August 1st, there are going to be some Social Security programs back in business that provide that service. Or you could really talk to your state VR agency. You know, self-employment is a very specialized service, and, you know, by calling, by making a few phone calls, my guess is that long list of EN's is going to get short real quick. You know, because it's, self-employment, again, is very, very specialized. It's very possible to do it, and it's becoming more and more popular, but I'm not sure every EN is going to be able to help you set up your own business. So that would be the first question. Call a couple of the EN's and find out do you help people become self-employed, and if they are not able to do that, cross them off the list. >> Jamie: Thanks so much, Ray, and I'll just add that our next webinar on June 26th is on choosing a service provider that is right for you. So if you'd like to tune in to that, that might help you in your search for an EN, and then later in the summer, we're also going to have a self-employment webinar. So visit choose work dot net to, for information on those upcoming webinars. And with that, Ray, it is 4:32. So I will hand it back over to you to conclude. >> Ray Cebula: Alright. Once again, thanks for listening. Here on your screen, you can see the Facebook link, the Twitter feed, and, again, if you need help or we haven't gotten to your questions, and you're ready to move forward, give a ring to the helpline at 866-968-7842 or for TTY, 866-833-2967. Thanks for listening, and as Jamie said, there are a couple of these every month, all covering different topics. So follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and you'll find out all about them, and we hope to see you again in another event. Thanks a lot, Jamie. Take care everybody.