>> Today's Ticket to Work webinar. We are here to talk about free services for folks who receive Social Security benefits based on disability and are ready to go to work or thinking about going to work. If you're thinking, we want to convince you that it's worth a try. This is a work incentive seminar event. We have folks from California speaking today but please be aware that they are speaking about national concepts today, so everything will apply to every state. You have a webinar console on the right hand side of your screen. It's going to allow you to participate today. We do want your questions. We have a lot to go through; we may not get to them all, we will let you know where you can get answer to all of the questions. But if you do have a question, go to the Q and A box. When you hit that Q and A box it's going to open up. You can type in your question. Hit Send, and it's going to appear on Jamie's desktop and Jamie will forward those questions onto me. And I will be voicing them for you. Today you have been connected automatically by your speakers in your computer. If at any time you need to switch over and use a telephone, just click on Audio. It's going to open this box to click on Audio Conference. And then click Use Phone: I will call in. The numbers for today's session and the codes will appear to allow to you call in. Now I know this weather just about everywhere in the country, and that could interfere with your reception. If you do need to call in, that's the number to let you call in. If you want to write it down now, it's 8557494750, the access code is 643474923. Now we are also very concerned about accessibility. We want to make sure that everybody can get the most out of today's session. So if you do have any accessibility issues, please let us know. You can let us know by typing that in the chat box, into the Q and A box or emailing us after the session. And if you do have a problem and you know of a solution, please let us know of the solution too. It's very helpful if we're aware that you're having difficulty and that you know of a program that will help us fix it. Again, the phone line today, toll free, 8557494750. Access code 643474923. The closed captioning link for today's presentation is www.ilr.cornell.edu/ edi/ captions.cfm?activity_id=4647. Now you've received a PowerPoint presentation, an accessible PDF with the link to confirm your attendance today. We will be also archiving the webinar in about two weeks. So if you do hear something that you like and want to come back to it, you can listen again. And it should be posted within two weeks at www.ilr.cornell.edu/ edi/ mwisewebinars.cfm. Again, during the question and answer period, I told you how to use that question and answer box. If you do use the chat box that's fine as well. You can also email to webinars at choosework.net. And we'll get those emails today. And after, if you have any questions about the presentation, if we stop, turn off the machines and a question comes to you, email us at support at chooseworkttw.net and we will be sure that you receive answers to all of your questions. Now today we have presenters from California, Steve Stover, who's with project, he's going to talk to us about The Ticket to Work Program and Work Incentives Planning and Assistance. Our Employment Network, I've just lost our Employment Network person. I'm the Employment Network person today, thank you. Okay, I'm going to be taking you through employment networks today. From Vocational Rehabilitation in California, we have Carmensita Trapes [phonetic] and we have Valerie, [inaudible] Valerie, I'll let her read her last name herself because I can't read what I wrote. So I apologize to you Valerie, but Carmensita and Valerie will be talking to us about VR in California and across the country. From the Protection and Advocacy agency, the legal wing of this whole Ticket to Work program. Aleyda Toruno from Disability Rights CA. And then I will take over and tell you about some other resources that are available to you. Now before we introduce you to Ben, I have some work for you guys to do. We have a few questions just to let us know who you are, how many of you are out there and how you found out about us. So I'm going to ask you the first question and it's, how did you find out about today's session? Was it email? Facebook or Twitter? A website? Family or friend? A WIPA program? Or something else? Just make a selection. We can get this done quick and easy. All right. Everybody's participating, that's really great, thank you. You've got 20 seconds left to participate for this one. I like it when lots of people participate. Ten seconds. [ Background Noise ] All right. Let's move to the second question. What do you hope to learn today? Do you want to know about the Ticket to Work incentives for SSI recipients? Work incentives for SSDI recipients? Employment networks and Vocational Rehabilitation? Legal Protection and Advocacy or something else? And if it's something else that you want to learn, you might want to drop Jamie a note in the Q and A box. [ Background Noise ] And once again, we've got lots of people participating. All right, 20 more seconds. [ Background Noise] Ten Seconds. We do have a few people answering others. So remember, if there's another topic you want to hear about, let us know what that topic is. Okay. Our third question. What is your gender? Male or female? [ Background Noise ] This one's usually pretty quick. 20 seconds [chuckles]. [ Background Noise ] Five seconds to go. [ Background Noise ] Thank you very much. What is your age? Our groups are 18 or younger. 19 to 25, 26 to 40, 41 to 55, 56 to 65 or 66 or older. [ Background Noise ] All right we're going to close that down. 20 seconds. I really want to thank you for your participation. A lot of you are participating and it's really, really helpful information for us. [ Background Noise ] Okay. And the last question is, we know that some of you might be gathered around a computer [inaudible]. So besides the person who is running the computer, how many other people are with you? [ Background Noise ] We've got a couple of parties out there. Okay. For one big party. Several big parties. All right. I'm going to close that down. 20 seconds to go. [ Background Noise ] Ten seconds. [ Background Noise ] Okay. Thank you very much for that. All right, and Ben is here. He's going to teach us about The Ticket to Work Program and then we'll discuss a lot of what Ben is talking about during the rest of the seminar. So Mike, if you can queue up Ben's video. [ Background Noise ] [ Music ] >> Independence, fulfillment, community involvement. These are some of the benefits that work provides. By working, you can earn more income, meet new people and learn new skills. What is The Ticket to Work Program? How can it help you? Ticket to Work is a free and voluntary program from Social Security that provides you employment support services to help you go to work while still providing access to Medicaid and/or Medicare. It can help you go to work, which can give you a greater sense of purpose and help you give back to your community. With time, you will be able to replace your cash benefits with your earnings from work, putting you on the road to financial independence with the peace of mind that your benefits will be able to you if you need them due to your disability. Meet Ben. Ben qualified for the Ticket to Work program because he is age 18 through 64 and receives Social Security disability insurance. If Ben received Supplemental Security Income, he would also qualify for the program. Ben wanted to work but needed to understand how work would impact his benefits, especially his health care. Ben did some research and found out that over 316 thousand people with disabilities have participated in the program. After doing more research, he decided that Ticket to Work was just the ticket he needed to be successful in going to work. When Ben contacted the Ticket Help Line, they talked to him about support from Social Security he could use to go to work. He found that with Social Security's Ticket to Work and work incentives, he might be able to work while keeping his Medicaid or Medicare with the peace of mind that if he needed to stop working due to his disability, there would be a fast track back to restarting his benefits. With the Ticket Program, Ben had a choice of service providers, employment networks, and state Vocational Rehabilitation agency. He was able to select one of these service providers to work with him one on one to help him reach his work goals. Both could offer him specialized services and he could choose which was right for him. VR agencies work with individuals who need more significant services. The services that Ben could receive include benefits and career counseling, education, training and job search support. ENs are private or public organizations that may help with career counseling and assistance of job placement and more. Different ENs offer different types of services, so Ben could pick an EN that was just right for him. Ben also had the option to receive services from his state VR agency. And then when those services end, he could work with an EN to receive additional services that would help him find a job or keep an existing job. Ben took some time to think about his options and decided to assign his ticket to an EN. Ben's commitment to participate in The Ticket to Work Program forged the partnership between him and his service provider. They both agreed to work together and jointly developed the plan that was just for him. His plan defined his work goals and described the specialized services the EN would provide or arrange for to help him meet his goals. Ben's route to employment through the Ticket Program is a twoway treat. In return for assistance in getting a job, Ben pledged to Social Security that he would take specific steps determined by the plan he developed with the EN within time frames set by Social Security to work at a specified earnings level, or complete certain educational or training requirements. Taking the agreed upon steps toward employment with time frame set by Social Security is called making timely progress. By taking these steps, Ben was able to fully take advantage of the supports and protections the Ticket to Work Program provided. You can be like Ben. The Ticket to Work Program is here to help you become and stay employed, meet new people and gain fulfillment and financial independence. We know it's a big step, but there is so much help for you all along the way. The Ticket Program offers many tools and resources to help you learn about starting your journey to financial independence. Are you ready to work? Call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 18669687842. For TTY, call 18668332967 to talk to one of our knowledgeable representatives. Or visit www.socialsecurity.gov/work to learn more. Good luck on your journey to financial independence. We are ready to help you on your way. [ Music ] >> Thank you, Mike. There you are, Ben. Thank you very much, Mike. We are going to continue with our presentation and give you a little more information about everything that Ben has mentioned about that Ticket to Work Program. But before we start, why would you choose to go to work? The most obvious answer is, to earn more money. There's always going to be more money. Some of the folks we have here today is going to be experts at helping you plan that return to work so that there will be more money, and that transition is as smooth as possible to gain independence. You'll be gaining independence not only from the benefits program that you need to report to, but more money gives you more choice, which gives you more independence. To meet new people. My own story is, I met my spouse at work. If that's not meeting someone, I don't know what is. But meeting new people cannot be underestimated. There's a lot that comes with work that is even more valuable than the extra money that will be coming into the house. Now, learning new skills. The Ticket to Work can be used to gain an education if you need to. To gain some technical training, if you want that. Or to learn some new computer skills to get you up to speed with today's technology so that you can enter the workforce. Disability benefits. Social Security administers two disability benefits programs. The first program is Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI, sometimes called title 2. It's an insurance program. As you work FICA taxes are withheld from your salary and they are paid into a trust fund. You become insured over time for disability benefits. And if you need them, you're required to be disabled during your period of insurance and your benefits are then based on how long you worked and how much you paid into the system. To the opposite extreme, we have the Supplemental Security Income program, or SSI. It's a needsbased program that requires no work [inaudible] but requires that individual to be aged, blind or disabled. To be low income and have minimal resources. Some people are eligible for both. And we call them concurrent beneficiaries. SSDI comes from their work history, and that work history nets a payment that is lower than the state's SSI level. At that point, SSI comes in to make up the rest. Now, that's great, but there is a catch. The work incentives that we're going to be talking about are Social Security disability incentives. The Social Security Disability Insurance work incentives and SSI work incentives. So the person that has both is going to have both sets of work incentives applied at the same time. And that's going to be confusing, but again, we're here to provide you with access to experts who can help smooth the road. There's a lot of stuff running around the street there. There's urban myths that we hear all the time. And I've been doing this type of work for  getting on 35 years now  and a lot of them haven't changed. So we want to talk to you about some of them now. And the first one is, if I try to go to work, I will automatically lose my Medicare or my Medicaid. And that is false. That is just plain wrong. With extended Medicare, your Medicare benefits can continue for a very long time. With extended Medicaid and 45 states having Medicaid buyins, provided you remain disabled according to Social Security, your health care doesn't have to end at all. Once again, everybody's situation is individual and the experts that you will be working with to plan your route to work can help you with that and find out exactly what might happen to your health care and when. The second myth, if I use that Ticket to Work and I go to work, Social Security will perform a medical review and I'll lose my benefits. Once again that's wrong. It's just the opposite. Nobody wants to pull the rug out from under you when you are trying to go back to work. So Social Security, while you are using your ticket and making progress, will suspend all medical reviews. There will be none. So that's an extra safety net if you choose to use your ticket. The Ticket to Work myth 3. If I go to work and then have to stop working, I'll have to reapply for benefits. And it took me a very long time to be approved the first time, I don't want to wait that long again. So I'm not just going to try to work. That also is false. You'll be hearing about a program known as expedited reinstatement. And for five years after you are terminated from benefits, because you have gone to work, you can get back onto the program very easily and very, very quickly. With that being said, I'm going to turn you over to Steve, who's going to take you through the Ticket to Work and the Work Incentive Programs, so Steve? Take it away. >> Thank you, Ray. And welcome everyone. Again, my name is Steve Stover, I'm the Community Work Incentive's Coordinator with project independence at least on one of them. And we cover  our region that we cover is all of San Diego County, Imperial County, Orange County and East Los Angeles County. And we've actually been around since the origin of the Ticket to Work Program since 2001. And it's a pleasure to be here and present the information to you today. So, we're going to go continue with the Ticket to Work. The Ticket to Work Program is a program through Social Security that's absolutely free and voluntary. There's no pressure or no obligation on the part of any beneficiary to participate in this. So it's totally voluntary. And it's really intended to assist both SSDI and SSI beneficiaries who have disabilities to go back to work or possibly enter the workforce for the first time for those individuals on SSI. And really increase their current work hours. And representatives from the Ticket to Wor Help Line can assist you. That phone number, that toll free number is 1866  I'm sorry. 18669687842. For voice and for TTY, it's 18668332967. And if you want more information online, you can go to the website at www.socialsecurity.gov/work. So the Ticket Help Line is a great resource to help. Now, if you're ready to go back to work, there's different reasons, as Ray had mentioned, as far as a participate in particular work. If you're ready to earn more money than the Ticket to Work Program and the work incentives will actually help you improve your earning potential. The Ticket to Work Program can provide training to increase that earning potential that you have. If you're looking to go back to work to really fulfill that need, that internal need that you have, that helps you build your confidence. A lot of times, individuals, I can see when I work with clients, that their confidence has actually increased significantly and their level of their selfesteem and their level of confidence gradually increases when they go back to work and participate in this program. If you want to go back to work but you're hesitant because you're not sure as far as how your benefits are going to be affected and you're main concern is how, if you were going to be able to go back to receiving benefits again, that's what this Ticket to Work Program is, to help stabilize. And it puts you right back on track with your benefits, with your both cash benefits and also maintaining your health benefits. And if you're really feeling overwhelmed about what to do about this, what we encourage is that you connect with the team of individuals, the resources, that are here to help you. And those resources are here today [inaudible] one of the WIPA projects. The Employment Networks and also the representatives from the Protection and Advocacy. But, again, the Ticket to Work help plan is a great resource to connect with developing an actual work plan. At this time we'd like to show you a video of a success story of a gentleman by the name of Rob. And with that, Mike, if you can queue up the video, and we'll go ahead and [inaudible] with that. [ Background Noise ] That'll only take just one minute or two for queuing that up. [ Background Noise ] [ Music ] >> He's got a tremendous, tremendous amount of pride in his work and in himself. [Chuckles] >> Michelle Brigham: Robby's just a gogetter. He just wants everything. He wants to try everything. He wants to be able to do everything. And healing is a part of that. You know? With the sickness, it really hindered him to be able to get back into the workforce and to get back to work and traveling to everything has just  it's been a wonderful thing for him. [ Music ] >> Rob McClain: Pretty much, I was overweight and I was always doing something. I was always  in order to keep five businesses going, you know, it was just something that I needed to keep going. So, my weight problem was deteriorating my health. I had some history of kidney failure and then I got sick when I was in the middle of that and that's when I had to shut everything down. Finally, my kidneys completely failed. The only way to get a kidney transplant was I needed to lose the weight. I went from, like, around 550 down to 250. I had a transplant. And I was scary. It was really  didn't know what to expect. I had bills. I didn't know what, you know, how to transition from work to Social Security. So, finally, I went and I got on Social Security through my doctor's office and at that time too, then I went back to school as well, to college. >> Eric Craver: What was clear with Rob immediately is that he was not comfortable where he was. He knew that he had to get back to work and it needed to be meaningful work. Now, in the process, he was going to do anything that he needed to do to make that happen within the context of his existing circumstances. He knew that he had health issues that needed to be addressed. And he knew that in order for him to be able to get back into some work that was meaningful, that really did serve him but also put him in a position where he could earn a living that was going to support hum, that he needed a college degree. And he was also very active as an EMT in the mountain area. And that was something that meant a lot to him. >> Rob McClain: And then after I got that degree, it was like, one of the biggest accomplishments. Because I worked during my sickness and I wanted to get myself back into a life to where I can enjoy it and I don't have to be reliant on a government program. I didn't want to keep living that way, on a fixed income in a limited area of being able to do things. My DVR had said, we have a Ticket to Work Program after you  there's certain agencies that represent Ticket to Work and ERI was was the one that was most suggested by them. >> Kate Kingree: Well, when Robby came to us, he had a lot of questions. First, Robby was very wellversed, and more than a lot of individuals who come to me, in understanding his benefits. He knew that he had work incentives and he also knew that he was able to continue with his medical insurance. So we worked together to talk to Social Security to ensure that the months that he actually was using trial work month was accurately reflected in a Social Security record. Ticket to Work Program offers individuals access to employment services for free. Work incentives are given to individuals who, virtual of whatever their entitlement is. So, an individual who's receiving SSI has different work incentives versus an individual who has SSDI. An individual does not need to assign their ticket in order to access work incentives. Anyone can go to work who has a disability and utilize work incentives. >> Rob McClain: Anytime I had a question, she was available. She helped me through the programs. Any of my questions and concerns I had, we'd take them on, you know, put them down. And we'd take one at a time until we got them accomplished. So anybody out there that has worries, it's only human nature to be worried. But in all reality, until you start getting through it, you just take one day at that time, you'll be just fine. You'll get through it. So if your health happens to keep you from working yet, you still can go back into the program and they're there to help you transition. Any which way you want to go, they're there to help you. [ Background Discussions ] >> Marylain McClain: He was so happy because he could go back to work. And he started  he got on the internet and he started looking different places, what he could take and where there were jobs available. And he came up on this one part where it was at the DMV. So then he started going  he went all over the country for the interviews. >> Donald Genin: And Robby was hired as a parttime examiner down in the southwest corner of the state. When we opened up the opportunity in Chilton, Robby took the transfer up to Chilton. At that time, he was just parttime and we were able to get a 50/50 position where we could get him over to [inaudible] and allow him to be fulltime. He is the kind of guy that  when he's at work  he shows a deep appreciation for having a job. He is very dependable, wants to be out there doing his job. He wants to be accepted. He is, pretty much. >> Steve Harkema: He operates as a firefighter also and an engineer on the different apparatuses. I think actually overcoming a profound illness, such as a transplant, and being able to recuperate to the point where you can come back and be incredibly productive, not only for yourself, for selfesteem reasons and for your own pride and goals. But he really adds flavor to the general overall work environment. So I think he's a huge benefit and he's done a fantastic job in coming back. >> Rob McClaine: The Ticket to Work Program has kept me stable. Has kept me, you know, to be able to stay with my job. To help support me. Any needs that I'll be having in the future, it will keep me going and keep me working. >> Marylain McClain: He's my hero. [ Background Noise ] And because of what he went through, he took it so in stride and he never complained. And even now today, you never hear him say, you know, "Oh, I'm so tired." He just goes on right to work. He just never liked to be on Social Security. So when he got his job, it was just a real blessing for him. >> Rob McClain: I guess I'm not scared to keep taking steps forward. In my whole entire time here, I never took a step back. I always took a step forward. I always maybe stopped a little bit to reassess my choices, but I never went back. I always went forward. All right, you ready? Big smile now. 1, 2, 3. There we go. [ Music ] [ Background Noise ] >> All right, great. Thank you. That's a great success story for someone who participated The Ticket to Work Program. Now we're going to move onto our next section under the category of work incentives. Now, The Ticket to Work Program and work incentives are separate. Work incentives are really intended to help individuals to become successful. And a good definition of work incentives that I use, that's not necessarily on the slide, but I like to use with my beneficiaries and clients I work with is, work incentives are basically the rules, the regulations and the employment support that Social Security puts in place to try to promote individuals in getting back to work. And so, some of those rules are triggered automatically when someone goes back to work. And some of those work incentives, the individual has to initiate or develop themselves. But the goal is, really to become successful in their pursuit of employment. So one of the things that work incentives can offer, the benefits and advantages is that it allows individuals to be able to receive training for new skills. It can improve the skills that one already has. And then it can also support individuals in their pursuit of education. So it also allows an individual to try different types of jobs. If an individual is not certain as far as the specific type of work they want to pursue, they are able to explore different types of occupations. And if it's someone who's certain exactly what they want to pursue in a long ranged school, it really provides the support for someone to actually begin a career. Particularly for those individuals that are [inaudible]. And one thing that we also mention before is that it definitely increases someone's confidence. It helps them to gain their confidence in moving forward. It again, to provide that support, those work incentives are provide that support when somebody goes back to work. All right, some of the common work incentives that are used for Social Security are those incentives that happen automatically. One of the things that Ray had mentioned before is that the rules and regulations for SSDI are different than those for SSI. So this list, if you see on the slide here, there are certain work incentives that apply specifically to SSDI. There are certain work incentives that applies simply to SSU. And there are certain work incentives that apply to both. A common work incentive that happens automatically when somebody goes back to work, is known as the trial work period. And this trial work period actually allows you to test your ability to work for at least 9 months. And during the trial work period, you will receive your full SSDI benefits no matter how much you earn as long as your work activity is reported and you have a disability impairment. As long as there's no changes in your disability, there's no medical improvement, then you can work as much as you want during the trial work period and continue receiving your cash benefit of SSDI. An example of that is, I had a client that decided to go back into the real estate industry. And his first month of going back to work, he earned over 15 thousand dollars in one month. Well, he was still able, he was still entitled to receive his SSDI check for that month even though he earned over 15 thousand dollars because he applied the trial work period. Okay? So that's an example of that. Another work incentive that's available is the next substantial after the trial work period, known as the extended period of eligibility, also known as EPE. And during this work incentive, it's actually a set period of time where during the 36 consecutive months after the trial work period, Social Security will restart your SSDU benefits without a new application. Disability [inaudible] or waiting period. What happens during the EPE work incentives is that if your benefits, if your income is less than a certain standard known as SGA, [inaudible] to your full cash benefits. If your income is above a certain standard, the SGA standard, then just for that particular month, your cash benefits are suspended. The next month, if your income is less than that standard, you are entitled to your full cash benefits. So it's [inaudible] month to month basis. Okay? So, you're not technically terminated from Social Security system. But your cash benefits may only be suspended in a [inaudible] month. And that's for a set period of 36 months. Now another work incentive also known as the earned income exclusion. This work incentive is specifically for SSI recipients. And what happens with this work incentive is that less than half of your earnings are counted by Social Security, as earned income which allows you to continue receiving your SSI check while working. And so what happens during this work incentive, an individual can actually earn quite of bit of income and Social Security basically does a math book calculation to identify what your new adjusted SSI will be. And you can still be receiving both SSI and work at the same time. Also known as the earned income exclusion. Another work incentive that can be applied that actually an individual has to initiate themselves, applies to both SSDI and SSI, also known as the expedited reinstatement or EXR. This is both for SSDI and SSI. Now, in this work incentive, if your benefits are stopped after the EPE stage through SSDI, because of your earning level, because of your income is excessive, you can actually request to have your benefits reinstated without having to complete a new application. So while Social Security determines if you officially qualify for benefits during the reinstatement while they're conducting the medical review, you're actually eligible to receive temporary cash benefits for up to six months during this time. Okay? And so what happens is that an individual from this work incentive to EXR, the expedited reinstatement, an individual is eligible for this within five years of their termination date. So the EXR is applied once an individual is terminated because of their excessive income. And so instead of having to reapply all over again and wait for that time, you can actually utilize the EXR, the expedited reinstatement. Receive your cash benefits immediately for up to six months while Social Security conducts the medical review to make a final determination. So it's a great work incentive to use if someone has been terminated from their benefits. Another work incentive that's available for both SSDI and SSI is actually through the Ticket to Work Program. And this is the actual benefit. This is the actual incentive for the Ticket to Work Program. And that's actually protection from medical continuing disability review or known as the CDR. During this work incentive, Social Security will actually post a medical continuing disability review while you're participating in the Ticket to Work Program. So you're actually protected from Social Security going on to conducting a medical review even if you're working as long as you're actively participating The Ticket to Work Program. So these are existing examples of some of the work incentives that Social Security has. There are actually quite a number of different work incentives that we'll go over today. But if you contact the Ticket to Work Help Line, they'll get you connected to a WIPA, WIPA work incentive planning assistance project or another agency that can assist you with more work incentives. So moving onto the next slide. >> Okay Steve. I'm going to interrupt you right now. Because we got a bunch of questions for you. >> Okay. >> During the trial work period, can I deduct expenses to stay below that trial work level? >> That's a great question. Actually the regulations look at your gross income. So you're not allowed to use any deductions. With one exception and that's if an individual is selfemployed. And so what Social Security actually does look at is one's net earnings. So with a traditional employer, during the trial work period, they actually look at your gross earnings. >> Okay. And you are talking about  when you're talking about income for trial work  earned income and not total gross monthly income. >> Well, they look at the  Social Security looks at the total gross earned income. >> Okay. That's exactly what we needed to hear. And I think that's going to do it, so we'll move onto you right now to the next slide. >> Fantastic. So let's go more a little bit in detail regarding the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance projects known as WIPA, WIPA. WIPA program. Now the WIPA programs are actually contracts with Social Security. They're organizations that have a contract with Social Security that are within the community that provide free benefits counseling to help the beneficiaries make informed choices about work. There's 95 WIPA projects across the country and these projects can help you decide if work is really right for you and how work may actually impact your benefits. That's really the core service that the WIPA project offers is, how does the earned income impact both your cash benefits and your medical benefits? And that's really the core service that the WIPA projects do. They're intention is not to try to force or pressure any individual in going back to work. It's really to provide counseling and guidance as far as how those benefits will be affected and how to apply the work incentives. Okay? So once an individual begins working, the WIPA projects can provide information support to really make that transition, a successful transition to financial independence. Now the WIPA projects offer a wide range of services to help you understand your options in pursuing work. Many times, certain individuals call in and ask, you know, how much can I earn and still keep my benefits? And my answer to them is always, it really depends. There's so many different factors that come into play to really allow an individual  to give an individual all the options to choose from  to help them really become more informed about making that decision of going back to work. The WIPA projects are staffed by individuals that are known as Community Work Incentive Coordinators or often known as CWICs. I'm a CWIC and I have been a CWIC for a number of years now. And what we do is we provide indepth counseling about working, earning more money, and how working may affect your benefits. So the primary point of contact with WIPA projects are the CWICS. The Community Work Incentive Coordinators. The WIPA projects can help you understand the work incentives in a wide spectrum including the Ticket to Work Program and how they apply to you. Remember I mention that there are certain work incentives that are triggered automatically when someone goes back to work and there are certain work incentives that the individual has to initiate and develop. Social Security may not necessarily community directly to that individual. Those work incentives that they have to initiate, so what the CWIC's role is is to collect information from the beneficiary and look and explore all the work incentives that are available, both those that are triggered automatically and those that the individual would need to initiate or develop themselves. And then keeping those in mind, how those work incentives are applied. And once that information is provided to the beneficiary, help them decides if the particular program is a helpful tool and what other work incentives can be used. It's really important to understand the potential benefits of employment as a person receives disability benefits from Social Security because there's a lot of myths about working. Sometimes there's  there's one particular myth that individuals have about for particularly, the Ticket to Work Program, is that their cash benefits will be affected. And that's one of the myths that we just know is that there is no connection with how your cash benefits are connected and the Ticket to Work Program. All right? Again, the only advantage the ticket of work program  it's not actually to the only advantage  that the primary advantage the Ticket to Work Program has is that they are protected from Social Security to obtain a medical review. But all the rules and regulations about how one's cash benefits are affected still apply even [inaudible] Ticket to Work Program. So that's an example of some of those myths. So essentially, the WIPA program does an analysis. They do an analysis of all the different work incentives that the individual will apply either that's triggered automatically or the individual can initiate and develop. And how they are impact both the SSI, the SSDI, the health benefits. And that's only the health and cash benefits, but also other public benefits. One other benefits that many times that a beneficiary utilize are housing benefits. And that's one of the things that we look at is how is income going to impact someone's benefit that they're receiving through daily government subsidies or other housing that's maybe through HUD. So what  yes? We're going to move on. We're going to move back to transition back to Ray. And he's going to talk about the Employment Network. >> Yeah, thank you, Steve. Thank you for sharing a lot of that great information. Employment Networks are particularly important part of this program. Employment Networks are private individuals, private agencies that are set up to help you transition from work, from benefits to work. Now each state VR agency is also an Employment Network. But will lead that discussion until we get to the VR agency, because they have choices to how they're going to handle your ticket. Now an EN will accept a ticket if that EN is able to work with you. As Steve said, this program is totally voluntary. And it's voluntary on your part. It's also voluntary on the employment networks part. For instance, I may be an EN who only has experience working with people with mental impairments. If I do not have experience working with people with physical impairments, I may not want to work with you if you have a physical impairment. And that's okay because you necessarily don't want me working with you if I don't have the right experience either. Now, these employment networks were set up to also provide Vocational Rehabilitation services. But this other types of support service that people need is the critical piece that ENs provide. I mean, an EN can do anything from helping you develop a job, helping you get a business going, helping you build a résumé, and very importantly, helping you keep on the job supports in place. Much of the work that ENs do comes after VR. And there's a great way for ENs and VRs to work together, that's known as partnership plus. Now there are ENs everywhere. And you can find the provider of this on the Social Security website at www.socialsecurity.gov/work. Using that Find Help Tool, you can enter your zip code and a list of ENs that serve your state is going to appear. Now when you read through that list, you need to pay attention because some of them are not going to be near you. Some of them are going serve the entire country. So depending on what you need, you're going to want to pick the EN that is best for you. It's almost like going to the mall to go shopping. What kind of sweater do you want? Find the one that fits you. Find the one that looks good on you. If that's a national EN, that's great. If that's a local EN because you want to make personal contact with that person, then that's where you should go. And there's enough information there to begin that search. It should tell you a little bit about the services that each EN can provide. And they're all different, so we're going to need to go and hunt and search. Now Steve's agency, the WIPA agency and the CWIC, can help you if you get to that step, to point you to the proper ENs in their service area that might be able to serve you. Now after you've located a couple of ENs near you. It's always good to have a few, start interviewing them. And you want to know how many people that they've helped through this Ticket to Work Program. If a local agency says, well, you're our first one. Okay, that's something to consider. The agency next door may say, we've helped 25 people and they're all still employed. That sounds like a good track record to me. What kind of companies do you work with for job placements? Do they work with major companies like [inaudible] industries in Iowa, [inaudible] Massachusetts or are they working with fast food industries, McDonalds and Burger King? You want to know that. What type of job are they likely to help you find? What will that be? Will it be an entry level job where you're going to be working the fry [inaudible] at McDonalds or working as a receptionist at [inaudible] or could it be that they can place you as a technician at one of these high tech companies. What types of jobs are available? Are they minimum wage jobs or is there a range of jobs? And how often are we going to talk to each other? Am I responsible for making contact with you if I need you? Are you going to contact me? Or are we going to see each other once a month? And that should be something that you're comfortable with. You know, if you feel the need to meet with this person every month, they should be willing to do that. And if they're not, it might be time to find a different EN. That EN should certainly be able to explain to you how the Ticket to Work Program works and the services that they're able to provide under that ticket. They are going to definitely ask you about your work goals and about your intentions to go to work. The little bit of a trick here, an EN will receive payments along the way while they're providing you with free services. But the bottom line is, the bulk of their payments come after you have returned to work and continued to work. So if you're not serious about going to work, an EN may not want to take your tickets. They should also talk to you about any fears you have. Have you tried to go to work in the past? What was that experience all about? You know, are you afraid of losing benefits? You know, they can talk to you a little bit about that, but if it comes to that at that type of question, that EN should be referring you back to Steve so that they can help put a plan together. If you notice, we're building a team here. It's going to take more than one advisor to help you make this transition. Once you've selected the EN that you want to work with, you'll develop an individual work plan or IWP. That will include goals, it will include milestones, and it will include timely progress in accordance with the Social Security guidelines. And your job at that point is to make sure you are making timely progress towards that goal and requesting assistance of both the WIPA, the CWIC that Steve told you about. Who's helping you plan your benefits? And the EN, who is helping you get that job and keep that job. Now when you sign that individual work plan, your ticket is assigned to that EN. That piece of paper, that IWP, will be sent to an agency known as [inaudible] and they will send you a letter saying that your ticket has been assigned to Ray's Employment Network. And if you don't have that letter, you need to followup, because that's a proof that your ticket was assigned. And that's what's going to start the CDR protection. Social Security will not begin a medical review so long as your ticket is assigned and you're making timely progress towards your goal. And that's all written in your IWP. So no one's playing hide the ball here, you know exactly what steps have to be taken in order to make timely progress. Now, what happens if you don't get along with your EN? If you find out that you are trying to become a manager at some small retail store, however, your first job placement is at McDonalds running the fry [inaudible]. You can take your ticket back. You can unassign your ticket for any reason. If it's because it's not working out, you're not getting along. The jobs aren't jobs that you're interested in or you just don't want to go to work now. You can unassign your ticket, but that must be done in writing. Writing a letter to both [inaudible] and to that EN to let them know that you're taking your ticket back. If you're interested in continuing, you can reassign that ticket to another EN and what will happen is that you have a period of 90 days to get that signed and rolling again. That sounds like a long time, but it really isn't. Now some sample services, résumé development. Resumes are brand new. They're all online now. You're submitting job applications online. And I'm really embarrassed to say that if you looked at my résumé now, you would know exactly how old I am because I don't think my résumé is uptodate at all. But you want a brand new one. You want one to catch someone's attention. Now what are you going to do about the gaps that might appear on your résumé? An EN is going to be able to help you explain what was going on during those gaps without necessarily revealing the disability. Interviewing tips and skills. Practicing interviews is a critical part of getting a job. And actually, what I have learned over time is that the questions that you ask your perspective employer may even be more important than the questions they're asking you. Do you need an accommodation to do your job? What accommodation is best suited for you? The EN should be able to help you figure that out. And they should be able to give you some advice about how to disclose your disability. And we'll have some more tips coming about that from our legal representative in a few minutes. Tax incentive information, for both you and for the perspective employer and referrals to other resources. Referrals to VR, referrals to the WIPA projects and the referrals to the PASS program. Excuse me. Job leads and information. Who's hiring? They should know. They should have their finger on the pulse of your local economy. Where are the job fairs and the recruiting events? Access to resource centers. Where can you get free access to computers and internet? A free email account? As I said, a lot of companies are only accepting resumes and applications on the internet or via email. Using their phones and fax machines, they should know where these centers are. Excuse me, job development on your behalf. What if you have to have a job that's carved out to your specific abilities and limitations? An EN can potentially provide you that. And again, building that team. Getting help from anybody else. And this is going to continue after Vocational Rehabilitation has done their job, which is a wonderful thing. This notion of partnership plus that allows you to work with the state VR and then allows an EN to continue to provide services for on the job supports after you've finished working with state VR. Now it looks like I have a question for me. [Chuckles] The question I have is, do I need an EN or can I go out and find a job on my own? Well the bottom line is, you do not need an EN. You can most certainly go find a job on your own. If you do find a job on your own, I would recommend that you get in touch with community work incentive coordinator because these work incentives are going to happen when you return to work. And the question is, how can you make the best transition? And the CWICs can help you do that. But you do not need to use an EN to find a job. If you can find one on your own, that's absolutely fine. And another one just came in. Can I change ENs if I'm unhappy or I move? Absolutely. You can change ENs for any reason. Jamie's telling me we have lots of questions about training and education. And I'm going to hold those questions till after the VR folks talk because it's probably going to involve both an EN and a VR agency to do something like that. Jamie has another question here, can I go back to school without an EN? Absolutely. You can go back to school anytime you want. The VR agency might help you, scholarships, Pell grants, student loans. You don't need any of these services to go back to school. What I would, again, do, is just check with a benefits planner. What is your goal? To put a plan together before you start school so that you know what's going to happen when you begin that job search. And I think with that being said, I'm going to turn you over to Carmensita and Valerie to have the VR discussion. Carmensita? Take it away. >> Hello. My name is Carmensita [inaudible]. I'm with the California Department of Rehabilitation, the San Diego district office. And Valerie has left for her [inaudible] so I will try to do the presentation myself. Every state has a Department of Rehabilitation or a Voc. Rehab agency. And we are a state VR services. And we provide services to all types of disabilities. And we provide a variety of services to assist you in your return to work. And if you need significant services, we can assist with that. And that includes vocational assessment in determining a goal so if you're not sure what vocational goal or career you would like to get into. We can provide vocational assessment in determining your skills, your experience and medical restrictions or limitations and putting all those information to the side on a suitable goal or a career that you would like to get into. With that, we can provide you with assistance is in the cost of the institution, the books and supplies, anything that you would need that requires our assistance in order for you to successfully complete either a training program or an education or a degree that you would like to get into. It can be a short term or a longterm training program. It can be a certificate program, a twoyear program or a fouryear program. We can assist with any type of license that's required for you to get back to work and then after you have completed your program to go back to work we can also assist with interviewing, job placement, job development, assisting you to develop your résumé, as discussed earlier by Ray. How to present your disability, do you disclose or do not disclose your disability. So those are the things that we assist with in job placement. We also work with your community partners in providing the services. Each of our clients work with what we call a team concept right now. We provide services directly under the qualified rehab professional which is a counselor assisted by service coordinators and office technicians as well as we have now created a new position which we call an employment coordinator who is in house and assist our clients with placement. So VR can help you get ready for work as I indicated. And also if necessary we can help you find an EN after you complete the Voc. Rehab program, then you can get your Ticket to Work and reassign it with another EN that will assist you with support and keeping the job. We also  with department of rehab  we also provide [inaudible] employment services. So once your case is closed and you need additional services in order to keep the job, you can go back and ask for what we call post-employment services. So in terms of eligibility for services, if you have what we call a Ticket to Work, you would automatically qualify for our services, you would be eligible for services. And all you need to do is either show us your Ticket to Work or get your award letter from Social Security or bank statements showing you're receiving SSI or SSDI benefits. You and your counselor will develop an employment plan. In other states, they call is individual written rehab plan. In California we call it the individual plan for employment. It's the same thing. It's a plan for you. It's for you. It's a contract between the state VR agency and you to develop a program that would lead you to employment services which is the ultimate goal of the Department of Rehab. Once a plan is developed, your ticket is assigned to the VR agency, and you and your counselor will find the employment plan. And that assignment is effective or coincides with the IPE or individual plan for employment approval date. And as indicated by both Steve and Ray, when you participate in Voc. Rehab, your Social Security will postpone your continuing disability reviews are what we call CDR, as long as you are making timely progress toward employment. When you begin to work using your ticket with a state VR agency, you and your counselor will discuss the opportunity to have an EN provide employment support when your VR services end. So they can assist you to keep the employment and provide any type of support that is needed in order for you to be successful in your return to work. And when we close your case, after 90 days of successful employment, you can get your Ticket and reassign it with another EN or followup services. And, of course, we're also always there to provide, what we call, post-employment services. [Inaudible] presentation. >> Okay. Carmensita, I do have a question for you. How do I choose between picking an EN or a VR agency if I want to go to work? What would I consider? >> Well, actually, you had indicated earlier, you would have to choose  you would have to look at what services do they provide? Those services state what your needs. And Voc. Rehab though is a bigger agency and we provide services. Doesn't have to be that you have a Ticket to Work. We provide services to all types of disabilities as long as you meet the criteria and are eligible for services. So it's going to be individualized and it's going to be based on your needs. >> Okay. All right, thank you very much. And let's move on now to the legal wing. Social Security recognizes that there may be potholes on the road to work and what they have provided is some legal services for you, should you need them during that period of time. And Aleyda, why don't you take it away? >> Hi, good afternoon everyone. Thanks for still being here. I am Aleyda Toruno and I work for Disability Rights CA. We are part of the Protection and Advocacy system. There is a protection and advocacy organization in each state and territory in the United States. I'm going to focus generally on what the PABSS does statewide. I'll give you some examples of some of the cases I've worked on. So let me make sure that I cover all the bullet points we have here. We are located throughout the state territories, U.S. territories. And there is a PABSS for the Tribal Nations. Our program is designed to help SSI and SSDI beneficiaries with disabilities by removing obstacles that are preventing them from working. And of course, every person is different. So you all may have very different obstacles. The services are free to everyone that receive Social Security benefit. We do not charge for our services. One of the things that we can assist with is advocating for vocational services for either the EN or the VR agency. Maybe the ENs or VR agencies have agreed to take you on as a client, but maybe there's a disagreement about the services that they want to provide at some point. So we are definitely a good resource to get [inaudible] and advice and to even maybe advocate for some of those services. We also provide information, referrals and advocacy related to benefits. I have a lot of clients who call me and say, "You know, I think I'm paying too much for medical now that I am returning to work." And lo and behold, yes, in California they shouldn't maybe even be paying at all. So, sometimes what I have to do is get involved in  first of all  giving them the correct information and then getting involved in making sure that they are not paying anymore premiums than they should be. Assisting beneficiaries to move barriers to work. Now, again, barriers can be different for each person. I had a client, for example, who wanted to know how to [inaudible] his record. And so I did some research for him and I was able to give him a great resource to help him with that particular issue. And this is really for him, it was a real barrier for him. The type of incentive that he was look being for. One of the calls that I get a lot is regarding overpayment issues so it may be that a client went to work and they are dealing with maybe an overpayment issue. And overpayments can happen for different reasons. It may be the person didn't notify Social Security that they've started working or perhaps the work incentive, like the [inaudible] related work incentive wasn't applied by Social Security correctly or perhaps there was a subsidy that wasn't applied. Those are actual situation that is I have worked with where we needed to clarify the information that the Social Security had and address those overpayment issues to make sure that they were removed from the client's record or that the client understood why the overpayment happened and then what can he do about that. Can he make a payment arrangement? For example. Can some of it be waived. Next slide. The PABSS assists beneficiaries by protecting beneficiaries with representative payees. So, if a person has a representative payee and they feel that maybe there is some issue there with the payee, some financial issues with the representative payees, they can contact us. We can also help clients obtain special education and transition services. So for young adults who are trying to get services either through their school or understanding their rights to receive services to maybe the Department of Rehab or maybe one of the EN. Questions about that, they can contact us. Understanding issues with disability benefits work incentives for people who are already entitled to benefits. So, we do overlap a bit with the [inaudible] that may be Steve who was one of the WIPA project, as we spoke earlier, would receive. So we do advise and counsel and also provide outreach and training to community on these work incentive rules. And finally, protecting beneficiary's rights regarding conditions of employment. So, for example, clients may be working in a place where perhaps they're not being treated properly and it's due to their disability. We want to know about that and see how we can help. So here we go, more bullet points I want to make sure I cover. Obtaining Vocational Rehabilitation employment preparation services and supports. So, again, if the person is receiving services through Department of Rehab or EN, do they have questions about what kind of services they are receiving, are there different services they may be receiving or that they're entitled to receive. And a big, big issue is understanding and protecting rights, responsibilities, and reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. We train, educate and advise clients regarding the ADA in California on the civil rights laws here that protect them as people with disabilities. So we also publish a lot of fact sheets and give advise to clients on how to request reasonable accommodations. What could be a reasonable accommodation about how to approach an employer, or sometimes even communicate with the employer if need be, if the client has not been successful in getting an accommodation that may be reasonable under the law. Understanding rights in respect to wage and hour issues. Protecting rights to transportation relate today employment. And protecting access to housing assistance related to employment. I think that was the last slide. >> Yeah, that is. Aleyda, we do have a question and it goes back to the transportation issue. How would you go about protecting somebody's transportation if that were at risk and they were not able to get to work any longer? Can you give us an example of a case? >> I'm trying to think. I haven't had anything recently. But, I would want to know what services the person was receiving. Are they receiving services through EN, department of rehab, what resources is the client currently using or maybe their case is closed or the Department of Rehab is an issue with maybe going to department of rehab for additional services. So I would definitely want to have more facts about the particular issue in order to give that person either advice or advocate for them. We have had issues with trollies here in San Diego and we've had to learn the complaint rights of people with people with disabilities. And actually, without disabilities, there is a complaint process here. So we have had to help clients understanding that process in San Diego. >> Okay. That's a great one. Public transportation's an issue for for a lot of folks. All right, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Okay. We have one question that's coming in a lot. And before we go to other resources, I think I'm going to take that one on. And lots of people out there are worried about losing their Medicare. Way, way back from the beginning of this, Steven told you about a ninemonth trial work period. And Medicare can be extended through the Ticket to Work act not a Ticket to Work Program but through the act that that Ticket was part of. Medicare has been extended for at least 93 months after that trial work period. Now that's a long, long time. That's over seven years. Now the thing that you need to understand is that you are paying for Medicare now. You pay a premium for part B and part D. If you are working and you do not receive a cash benefit from SSDI, you will be billed for that premium. That's what the benefit plans are doing, that's what's Steve [inaudible] doing, helping you manage that transition. But there's really not a lot to worry about with Medicare, because once you have continued to work, we're talking a long time. Seven and a half years plus those nine months. Once you've worked that long, you will likely be able to use, what is known as, premium HI, premium health insurance. And you'd basically be purchasing Medicare, much like you would be purchasing private insurance through your own employer. So the medical situation, the medical side of this in most states is pretty easy. And for Medicare, where that's a federal program, it's pretty easy. The fact of the matter is, you have over seven years before you really need to start worrying about it. The only thing you need to be concerned about is paying the premium. Now, let's get you some other resources because we have had a very active consequence. I should have known that when we started with the polling questions and you all were participating. And we're clearly not going to get to all of your questions because we have about a minute left. Building an employment team is the best way to start. When you're ready to start, whether it's to stick your toe in the water or to get information, build a team. You can start by speaking with an expert, with the Ticket to Work Help Line, 18669687842 for voice. Or 18668332967 for TTY. That's a great way to start. If you want to learn more about the Ticket to Work, you can read our blog. Listen to more success stories. Read those success stories. More videos are available on www.socialsecurity.gov/work. You could start by finding an Employment Network, either a private network or your state VR agency. And once you start, pay attention and stay connected to that team. Remember that we are all here, the WIPA, the PABSS, the EN and VR to help you attain your employment goal. You are leading the team. Any one of these ways is a great way in the front door. And you will be connected with all of these agencies. Now where to get more information? Again, Social Security has a great website, www.socialsecurity.gov/work. It's going to let you find your local WIPA, your local PABSS, your local ENs, your state agency, and give you lots of information about work incentives and the services that are available to you. You can call, again, the Ticket to Work Help Line at 8669687842. Or for TTY users, 8668332967 and for everybody who did not get their questions answered, call the Ticket to Work Help Line, they will get you a specific answer to your specific questions. And we just got a last minute question in, does somebody have to be The Ticket to Work Program to access the PABSS agency? And the answer to that is no. Not at all. You can call the Protection and Advocacy agency and they will be able to help you. They help folks with disabilities and many, many issues, or areas with many, many issues. Once again, we want all of you who did not get your questions answered to get those questions answered. You can like us on Facebook at www. Facebook.com/choosework. Follow us on Twitter at www. Twitter.com/chooseworkssa or give a call to that Help Line. 8669687842 or for TTY users, 8668332967. That being said, we are over time, I want to thank Steve, Carmensita and Aleyda for great presentations. Thank you Jamie for rounding up all of those questions and thanks to Mike in the background for making everything in the webinar work. And we hope to see you again at another WISE event. Have a great afternoon everybody.