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>> Good afternoon, everybody. This is Ray Cebula from Cornell University's Yang-Tan Institute, and I want to welcome you to today's WISE seminar, our Work Incentives Seminar Event. Today we're going to be focusing on people who have mental illness, and supporting those people during their journey to employment. We're all about helping people leave the benefits roles and return to work or work for the first time, but making sure that that's a safe journey, and making sure all of those Social Security safety nets are in place. So we have some introductory information first, and we're going to go through that. We have a toll-free number today. What we want you to do is to write this number down, and it's good if you lose your connection, if you have any kind of storm activity, or something happens to your Internet you can call in and you won't miss very much. That toll-free number is 1-855-749-4750. And the access code that you're seeing here is incorrect, so listen to this carefully and write it down. It is 641-025-246, and you'll be -- once you dial in that number you'll be prompted for that access code and you can dial in the access code. Now with your confirmation and access letter that you received via email you received a copy of today's PowerPoint, an accessible PDF, and text that are located in the link that came along with that letter. So you should have everything you need to get through today. We want to make some general statements about Webinar accessibility. We do our best and believe we have a product that is fully accessible. However, we won't know that unless you tell us that. So if you do happen to have a problem today accessing any of the information, hearing us, seeing the captioning, any problems whatsoever, please let us know. And more importantly, if you do have a problem and you know of a solution to that problem let us know what that solution is, too, so that we can just get that fixed for everybody else real quick. Real-time captioning is going on as we speak. I can see it in my Webinar console on the right-hand corner of my screen. And mine is enlarged, so we will be able to tell you how to do that in just a minute. But if you do need captioning unfortunately this link is wrong, too. So I'm going to read the correct link for you. It's www.ilr.cornell.edu /edi/captions .cfm?activity underscore id equals sign 5018. And again, as it says here you can use the caption screen that's in the lower right-hand side of your corner -- lower right-hand corner of your screen right now. If you want to make that larger all you need to do is click on the arrowheads next to Q and A, chat, and participant. And mine is just about a little over half the size of the screen right now, so I'm going to make mine a little smaller. The Webinar presentation, today's oral presentation and the visual presentation, the transcript and audio recording will be available in approximately two weeks, and they'll be posted to our archive. And our archive address is www.ilr.cornell.edu /edi/ m-wise-webinars.cfm. And we do want to hear your questions. After each section of today's Webinar we're going to stop for questions that pertain to that section, and we will -- if we have any time at the end we will take those question. However, there are lots of you out there asking questions. And we're not going to be able to get to all of them. We're going to do our best to take the questions that pertain to the biggest number of people. However, we want you to get answers to your questions. So if you do not get an answer during today's live session you can send us your question at Webinars at choosework.net. You can send those questions during the session. And after today, or if we hang up and you think, "Oh, my God! The light bulb just went off, and I have a question," you can email us a question at support at choosework.net, and we will make sure that somebody gets back to you. When we go through some other resources we're going to give you another place where you can talk to an expert to get answers to your particular situation. Because today's session is not the time nor the place to be talking about an -- a specific individual because we've got a whole lot of people out there. Now the audio and question panels, as you can see we are in a Webinar platform. The right-hand side of your screen is the Webinar panel, and we do have a Q and A box. If you click on the arrowhead next to Q and A it's going to open this box. And what's going to happen is you'll be able to type your question here, hit send, and that's going to arrive on Jamie's desktop. Jamie's going to pick the questions that we get to answer today. I will ask those questions to our presenters or possibly jump in myself. So get your questions in there, get them into queue now or as they spring upon you, but please do not hesitate to ask. Now when you see the audio part of all of this you're going to be looking across the top of your screen. And you're going to look under communicate. You're going to look -- once we hit that communicate button, which I'm not going to hit for you because it's going to change my screen, you're going to see audio conference. If you do lose your connection, if you're connected by your computer that is going to give you today's call-in number and that audio code that I hope you already wrote down. But there is another way to get that, so you won't need to leave us for very long. Now today we're going to talk about mental health and some common myths. And we have Kendra Berry from Aspire Indiana Works. We're going to talk about the Ticket to Work program, and Kendra's going to talk about that, too. Part of that Ticket to -- Ticket to Work program created what's known as employment networks, and Tina Skeel from Aspire Indiana Works is going to talk to us about employment networks and then about some of the other components that help people plan their journey to work. We like to call that the employment team. I'll give you some other resources, and then we'll have our question and answer session. But before we give you any information of course we have to ask you some questions. So we have some very simple questions that help us advertise, and reach out to people, and determine who is listening to us. So I'm going to open the polling questions, and just pick an answer. How did you learn about today's WISE Webinar? Was it email, Facebook, or Twitter, a Website, a family, a friend, the -- the WIPA agency near you, or somebody else? And if it was somebody else zap us a note and let us know who that somebody else was. And we're going to wait a couple of seconds to get a good percentage. All right. We got to wait 20 seconds now. As I like to say, sometimes this machine makes me wait 20 seconds, and sometimes it doesn't, and I never quite know when it's going to. Five seconds left. And our second question, what do you hope to learn from today's session? Do you want to know about the Ticket to Work? Do you want to know about work incentives for SSI recipients, work incentives for SSDI recipients, employment networks and vocational rehabilitation, legal protection and advocacy, or something else? And again, if it's something else zap us a note. Jamie will keep track of that. And we have built entire Webinars around your suggestions. And we always like that; we always like it when somebody asks a new and exciting question for us. All right, going to close that one down and wait 20 seconds again. Seven seconds. Three, two, one. What is your gender? Male or female? All right, that's a quick one. That one is usually pretty quick. And thank you for responding. We're getting a good percentage of you. Five seconds. And what is your age? Are you 18 or younger, 19 to 25, 26 to 40, 41 to 55, 56 to 65, or 66 and older? All right, 20 more seconds and then we'll get to the last one, and then I can give you lots of information. Five more. Okay, and our final question has to do with how many other people are with you today not counting yourself. If somebody's sitting at your screen with you just let us know how many people are with you so that we can get a really good idea of how many people are joining us. Yeah, see this is good because some -- we have some parties going on out there. We actually have quite a few parties. All right, we're going to shut that one down. Eight seconds. All right, thank you very much for your help on that. Now we're going to get to know Ben. Ben's going to take us through the entire journey to work, and then we'll talk about each part of that. So Mike, if you could queue up Ben's video. Thank you very much.

>> 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 available 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 healthcare. Ben did some research and found out that over 316,000 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 supports 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 agencies. 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 included benefits and career counseling, education, training, and job search support. ENs are private or public organizations that may help with career counseling, and assistance with 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 a partnership between him and his service provider. They both agreed to work together and jointly developed a plan that was just for him. His plan defined his work goals and described the specialize services the EN would provide or arrange for to meet his goals. Ben's road to employment through the Ticket program is a two-way street. 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 for employment with time frames 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 1-866-968-7842. For TTY call 1-866-83-2967 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.

>> Thank you, Mike for running that video. We are now going to start taking Ben's experience apart and apply that to somebody with a mental illness. And our first speaker today, a good friend and a great presenter, Kendra Berry from Aspire Indiana Works. I'll let her give you a little bit more information about herself before she starts. So take it away, Kendra. Kendra, we can't -- there you are, Kendra. You just started. You just came on.

>> Okay, can you hear me now?

>> We can hear you now.

>> Perfect, thanks, Ray. My name is Kendra, and I'm a Community Work Incentive Coordinator with Indiana Works. Indiana Works is the WIPA project for Northern and Central Indiana. And you'll learn more about the WIPA project later. What it is is it's Work Incentive Planning and Assistance, and we assist Social Security beneficiaries with understanding how work will impact their benefits. Today we're going to start out discussing mental illness myths and facts because there are a lot of myths out there about having a mental illness and returning to work. The first myth that we are going to address is, true or false, mental health problems only affect a few people? And I'm sure everyone has thoughts on whether or not this is true or false. I am waiting for the slides to move ahead. The answer is false. Mental health problems are common. And it's one of those things that not everyone talks about. If you decide that you would like to go to work you don't have to tell people that you have a mental illness. But I think that as you return to the workforce in talking to people you'll see that it really is common. Some statistics include in 2011 one in five American adults had experienced a mental health issue, and that can be anything from having just a period of depression to having a diagnosis of something more severe. One in ten young people experienced a period of major depression, and one in twenty Americans lived with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. So it really isn't uncommon for people to have experienced mental illness. And the point of the presentation today is to help you to understand that even though you may be going through this mental illness you have support in helping you find a job. And listening to this presentation is a great first step to take to learn about the different support systems available to you. So the next question I have, true or false, people with mental health needs, even those who area managing their mental illness well, cannot tolerate the stress of holding down a job? This is a big myth that's out there because a lot of people will tell me, "Well, my doctor said that I shouldn't work now." And that's not always the best advice because you can work. You don't have to work full time. You could try and work part time. And a lot of times it can be helpful. People with mental health problems can be just as productive as other employees. And employers who hire people with mental health problems report good attendance and punctuality as well as motivation, good work, and years on the job on par with or greater than other employees. That means that there really isn't a difference between someone who has a mental illness and someone who doesn't have a mental illness in working. You can go out there and be just as good of an employee as anybody else is. I was a Case Manager in the past and worked at a local community mental health center. And one of the biggest barriers to employment is that people didn't feel like they were good enough to get a job. And I would work a lot with people on helping them to increase their self-esteem because going to work can help with that, too. It will help you communicate with others and make friendships. And a lot of times that is helpful in dealing with your mental illness. The next myth that we have is slowly coming up. Fun times with technology. There is little hope for people with mental health problems. Once a friend or family member develops mental health problems he or she will never recover. And that just isn't true. When employees with mental health problems receive effective treatment it can result in lower total medical costs because maybe you will need less medication. You'll have better coping skills. You'll have increased productivity, lower absenteeism at work, and decreased disability costs because you'll be able to go to work and become more self-sufficient. People with mental health needs, even those who are managing their mental illness well, can tolerate the stress of holding down a job. So it is great to know that. I think that people have a lot of specific questions about their mental illness, and one of the things to keep in mind is the phone numbers and the Websites that you'll see during this presentation. If you have specific questions about your situation we're going to talk about all of the different agencies that can provide you with assistance, from helping you to create a resume, to helping you understand how work will impact your benefits, all the way on to helping you keep a job once you've found it. So what you should consider is that there is help available, and that no matter what questions you have they're there to answer. Last myth we will go over is there's little to no hope for people with mental health problems. And studies show that people with mental health problems get better, and many recover completely. Recovery refers to a process in which people are able to live, learn, work, and participate fully in their commitments. There are more treatments, services, and community support systems than ever before, and they work for a lot of people. The one that I referred to was the community mental health center. A lot of people work with a case manager, someone who just helps get them organized and can help get them back into the routine. That's a great place to start if you are thinking about wanting to go to work. A lot of mental health centers also employ Job Coaches. And the Job Coach will be the person to talk you through a resume, and practice interviewing, and help you answer questions like how do I tell an employer I haven't worked in a few years? And we'll hear later on from Tina Skeel who works with an employment agency, and she'll give you some tips on how to get that going. So now that we've discussed all of the myths associated with returning to work and mental illness let's talk about the different work incentives. The benefits that you're receiving are going to vary for each of you, so I know that everyone will have specific questions. What we're going to do is we're going to break it down by the type of disability you receive and just go over some of the common work incentives for each type. When it comes to taking the next step the best thing you can do is to gather your information and resources to plan your work journey. The Ticket to Work program and the work incentives available can help to make your journey a smooth one. The Ticket to Work program, as you saw from Ben's video, is there to give you the support system. And it's free. You can work with all of these different agencies and get help at no cost to you. And learning about the work incentives available to you will help you understand how working will impact not only your Social Security work incentives but also Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, HUD, TANF, any benefits that you may be receiving. So once you're ready to start the journey only you can decide if that's the right choice for you. Social Security is not going to force you to go back to work. I know that that was a fear of a lot of people when the Ticket to Work program first started years ago. They received a ticket in the mail, and they thought that it meant Social Security was going to stop their benefits, so they threw that ticket away, or they put it somewhere safe, or they just didn't open it. And that's not the way that it works. The ticket to work program is a free service to you that allows you to connect with different agencies in order to find a job that's a good fit for you. You're never going to be just placed in a job. It's not a temp service. The agencies will work with you to determine what your goal is, where you would like to work, how many hours a week, and what you would like to earn. And they're going to help you reach that goal. They don't get paid unless you get a job. So the incentive for them is to help you find a job. And you get to choose what agencies you work with. So what are the most common reasons that I hear that people choose work? People call me when they are starting to think about returning to work, and they want to understand how work will impact their benefits. And some of the reasons that they tell me that they're considering work include they want to earn more money, and they want to be more self-sufficient. There are programs out there that will help you to save money to buy your own house, and that's really great information for some people. Other people state that they want to gain independence, and they want to not have to rely on the system or to rely on family and friends to help them out. Some people just want to meet new people, especially with a mental illness sometimes you can get stuck in your house. You know the depression gets bad or your anxiety gets bad, and you get into a routine where you don't leave the house a lot. If you're ready to break that cycle and you want to get out into the community more finding a job, even a part-time job, can be a great way to do that. And the last reason is that some people just want to learn new skills. They feel like they're ready to return to work, and they are ready to get back out there, and they want to learn something new. There are programs that can help you to return to school if you want to go into a different career path. So that's great information to get as well. The Ticket to Work program supports career development for people with disabilities who want to work. Ticket to Work is available to most beneficiaries age 18 through 64. So that's from adulthood all the way up until retirement for most people. And the benefit is is that the program is free and voluntary. You get to choose the agencies that you want to work with, and you get to learn how work will impact your benefits. And again, Tina will tell you more about those things after we discuss the work incentives. So like I said, we're going to break it down into the two main disability benefit programs, and the first disability benefit program is Social Security disability insurance. And this is for people who've worked in the past. They paid their taxes, and they became insured under their own work record. Or their disability started before the age of 22, and they became insured under a parent's record. The second program is known as SSI, or supplemental security income. And this is what some people refer to as the welfare program. This is just for people who didn't work enough in the past to earn credit, or for people who didn't work close enough to the time that their disability started. So some of you may be receiving SSDI, others SSI, and some of you may be receiving both benefits -- benefits. And this is known as concurrent beneficiaries. The reason we break this down is because we are going to discuss the work incentives, and there will be a symbol underneath that shows you which one this applies to. So moving on to the work incentives. What the work incentives are is they're special rules, and they allow you to receive new training, improve the skills that you already have, pursue your education, try out different jobs, start a career, and gain confidence. Like I said, this is not a temp service. They're not just going to place you somewhere so that they don't have to work with you anymore. They're going to help you reach your goal. And the work incentives will provide you with the safety net in order to do that. Some of the most common work incentives, and you can see the little circles, SSI or SSDI, what they apply to. Let's start with the SSDI programs, the third icon on the top row. The trial work period is available to SSDI recipients, and this is a nine-month period where you can earn any amount of money at all, and your benefits will continue. You continue to receive your check even if you were earning $2000 a month. The benefit of this work incentive is that it's the first safety net to give you to go out there and see if you're able to handle a job. All of these work incentives provide that safety net, to see if you're able to keep a job, because when it comes to having a mental illness one of the concerns is that you know sometimes your mental illness is worse than other, and sometimes stress can just make everything worse. And these safety nets will give you the chance to see are you able to tolerate working or is it too stressful for you? So it's worth it to try out working and see if it helps you improve. Once your ticket is assigned to an agency -- and that could be either to a vocational rehabilitation agency or to an employment network -- there's a protection from medical continuing disability reviews. This is the second icon on the top row. This applies to both SSI and SSDI recipients, and it means that that paperwork you get every one, three, five, or seven years from Social Security -- it's like a four-page form, and you fill out what's your disability, who is your doctor, are you taking medication, do you see your doctor regularly -- they don't do that while your ticket is assigned and in use. So it's a great benefit to trying work because one of the biggest concerns people tell me is they've heard that if you go back to work Social Security stops your benefits immediately. And that's definitely false. The last icon on the top row, the first one, is the earned income exclusion, and this applies for both SSI and SSDI recipients. Social Security doesn't count all of your income. There are some things that they won't count, the impairment-related work expenses. If you're paying out of pocket for medications, or doctors' copays, or anything you need related to a disability that you have like a cane, or hearing aid, or glasses, you can apply for an impairment-related work expense through Social Security, and they won't count some or all of those costs that you're paying. So that's a great benefit because you're able to go to work and earn more money and still pay for the things that you need. I know that everyone is dying to hear about Medicare and Medicaid because I've seen some of the comments, so let's start with Medicare. For SSDI recipients there is a work incentive called extended Medicare, and it states that your Medicare coverage will continue for up to 93 months after the trial work period. That is almost eight years of additional Medicare coverage. And that will continue even if you were able to work your way off of your Social Security benefits. So even if your SSDI check stops your Medicare can continue, and that means that you would have that health insurance coverage through Medicare. For SSI recipients there is a federal statute called 1619b, and it states that your Medicaid coverage will continue until your earnings are above a certain level. In Indiana, the state I practice in, the level is around $37,000 a year. So that means if you go back to work and you're receiving SSI, and you work so much that your SSI check stops you can keep your Medicaid coverage at no cost until your earnings are above a certain threshold. And for Indiana that's $37,000 a year. So that means that going back to work won't cause you to lose your health insurance whether you are an SSDI recipient or an SSI recipient. The other thing to consider is that by going to work if you find that you're able to work more than 32 hours a week most employers offer health insurance programs, so even if you are able to work above the point where you might lose state and federal health insurance you can then qualify for employer-sponsored health insurance, and that is a great benefit as well. The last work incentive, and it's available to both SSI and SSDI recipients, is expedited reinstatement. Expedited reinstatement states that if you work your way off of your benefits, and so your checks stop for SSI or SSDI, if you have to stop working because your disability gets worse, and your -- you stop working, you do not have to reapply for Social Security. You request expedited reinstatement, and your benefits will restart the next month, and you'll receive up to six months of provisional payments while Social Security reevaluates your case. That means you don't have to do a new application. You do not have to go through the waiting period again. And you won't have to go through the you know appeals process. You are able to get your benefits started again the next month, so that is a huge weight off people's shoulders because they're afraid that if they work off benefits they'll have to go through that long waiting period again, and that's not the case. And these are just some examples of the most common work incentives that are available to most recipients. When you contact your WIPA -- you can get in touch with them by calling the Ticket to Work number, and that will be discussed further in the presentation -- they can do a full report for you. They will verify what benefits you're receiving, whether you have SSI, SSDI, or both, and they'll tell you what work incentives you have available to you. They'll do calculations for you that show you how you know 20 hours a week at $10 an hour will affect your benefits, or how 40 hours a week at $10 an hour would affect your benefits. And they'll help get -- get you connected with other agencies as well. And next, I think, Ray is going to tell you a little bit about Megan.

>> Thank you, thank you very much, Kendra. Yeah, we're going to talk about Megan and her journey to financial independence. We have a video to share with you about Megan that is part two of Megan's story. But we want to just give you a little bit about Megan's history. In 2008 she was -- she had a breakdown and was diagnosed with clinical depression and just kind of stayed home. I mean, Megan is a wonderful young woman who's actually participated in these Webinars before with us, and is just a great example of what all of these work incentives and the Ticket to Work can do for you. After two years at -- as she will tell you, she gained weight. She was doing nothing to take care of herself. She was getting worse by staying home, and was becoming isolated. In two years after that, in 2010 she connected with an employment network in Maryland called TransCen and actually started talking about returning to work. In 2011 she began to work, and she began to work, finished her trial work period, and was in her extended period of -- of eligibility when her benefits actually stopped because she was making so much money. Now as the economy goes sometimes in 2013 her department closed, and she found herself unemployed. But because she was in that extended period of eligibility her cash benefits were able to restart without a new application. All she had to do was tell Social Security that her benefits -- that her work stopped. She had never lost her Medicare during any of this time, but had lost her cash. So Social Security turned her benefits back on. And after having a very successful experience with the Ticket to Work and going back to work she knew that her future held more work for her. And right now she is self-employed as a Zumba instructor and is working to build a business focusing on the elderly and exercise programs. So Mike's got a video for us. It's a couple of -- probably five or six minutes long, but we want to share that. Megan's a great example of a success story. So thank you for queueing that up, Mike.

>> The last time we chatted I was working for WellStat which is a document -- well, it's a biotech company. And I was a Document Control Specialist. And then in 2013 of February I actually got laid off, so I called TransCen to let them know that I was no longer working, and what I needed to do to go back onto my disability. And so they set up my ticket to Work, and everything just kind of flowed seamlessly. I filled out some paperwork and let them know, and I war receiving benefits that month. When I got laid off I saw how easy it was for me to go back on to it. I didn't have to fill out a whole bunch of forms. I didn't have to reapply. It was just like I called the people that had my Ticket to Work, TransCen, and let them know, "I'm no longer working." And they were like, "Okay, we'll contact Social Security." I think I had to sign maybe one form and then everything was fine. At TransCen I was assigned Andrea, so she's my employment counselor if you would want to call it that. So she was able to help me when I told her I wanted to start my own business. She helped me like finding some contacts, different things about licensing the business, senior centers to contact, and almost like how to set up cold calling.

>> Megan was one of our first Ticket to Work clients. After a year Megan's job came to an end, and so there she was, she was out of work. She immediately filed for benefits again through Social Security, and because she was involved in the Ticket to Work program she -- she had benefits almost immediately. She was reinstated.

>> I had been teaching Zumba part time in the evenings after work, and I let a whole bunch of people know that I was laid off, and that I was ready to work during the day. And I just started taking more classes. And as I did more classes and was teaching more I really fell in love with it even more and decided to actually make it my business.

>> So she gave me a call, and she said, "This is what I want to do, can you help me find an attorney and an accountant so I can start thinking about starting my own business?"

>> Andrea was a really big help in helping me, especially with my competitive advantage in my pricing but also some of my market research.

>> One of Megan's sole interests in returning to work was independence. She wanted to become independent. She didn't want to be on the Social Security rolls. She wanted to earn her own income. She wanted to be on her on. That -- that is her drive. And so I believe that the -- having her own business gives her that much more independence. It gives her that ability to look back and be proud of what she's done and what she's accomplished because in a short period time I think she's done a lot. She's doing something that she loves to do. And I -- I believe that when you love what you do, when you follow your passion, the money follows along.

>> Work has definitely made a difference in my life because I think especially with my disability if I'm not getting out of the house and meeting with other people it's very easy, and very fast for me to sink back into what I was. So I do have a new person in my life. It's actually my boyfriend. So we've been dating for -- it'll be two years in August 22nd of this year. It's actually been a really great experience, and it's nice to have a support system. He has become another person in my support system.

>> We met on Match.com about almost a year and half or maybe close to two years ago. And so we've been dating since. When Megan initially starting this a couple of years ago, to be completely honest, maybe because I was a bit skeptical about it, but Megan's extremely hardworking, extremely determined, and also -- in a very good way she's also very stubborn. And I think sometimes those characteristics are probably really good characteristics to -- to have when you're doing something like this.

>> One of the biggest things that I would tell people who are scared to go back to work is that it doesn't hurt to try, and you can keep getting out there and trying lots of different things to find what you want. But there are people there who are going to support you. They're not sending you out on your own. You have an employment counselor. You have people that if you're having problems communicating with the people at work you can go and talk to them, and they help you you know figure it out and be able to communicate whatever your needs are to the people at work in a way that you can be successful. I would definitely recommend the Ticket to Work program to others. I would say don't be afraid to do it. You have really nothing to lose because they only stop it when you're making too much, and you know who doesn't want to make a lot? So I say don't let your fear hold you back. And I'm the perfect example of someone who started and who go laid off, and nothing bad happened. I still got my money you know. I was still able to go back. It didn't take long. It wasn't a hard process. It was very seamless. It was painless almost. Choosing work has made a big difference in my life by making me feel useful and being able to contribute to other people. But also choosing to work has let me help myself.

>> Okay, now Megan, just for your information, is now engaged to that young man, so her life's going along quite well. And as I said, she has participated with us during these live sessions, and she is very -- she seems to me like a very, very happy young woman and is doing a great job at getting out there again. And just goes to show you that everybody can do that. Everybody can do that. Okay, before we start talking about your employment team and we turn things over to Tina I do have a couple of questions for Kendra. And Kendra, the first one is how can I keep my Medicaid while I'm working? Somebody didn't quite understand that.

>> That is a wonderful question, and I hate to say it, but the answer depends. If you have SSI then 1619b will apply to you, and that's a federal statute that will allow you to keep your Medicaid. Depending on the state that you live in there is a program -- or there are different programs for people to keep Medicaid and work, and they're called buy-in programs. So if you're receiving SSDI and have Medicaid your state may have a program that allows you to purchase Medicaid while you're working. And the best thing I can tell you is if you contact your WIPA program in your state what they'll do is they'll give you specific information for your situation because it -- it does vary state to state, and there are different thresholds and earning limits.

>> Yeah, and I think, Kendra, it's also fair to say that many states have many, many different Medicaid statuses, and one of those benefits planners can help make sure that somebody either moves from one status to another as the work progress or gets into the most beneficial category for them. It -- it does vary from state to state, but we can assure you that it works -- that it works. And Kendra, you said PASS plan, I know you said it. And somebody wants a few more details, so if you could give us a two-minute explanation of what a PASS plan is that would be great.

>> Sure, the PASS is a Plan to Achieve Self -- Self-Sufficiency, and what it does is it is a way for you to set aside some of your earnings in order to save for a work-related goal. A PASS plan is for most SSI recipients or for concurrent beneficiaries, but also for SSDI recipients who can become eligible for SSI. The way a PASS works is that you fill out an application -- and I'm not going to lie; it's a long application, but your WIPA staff can assist you with filling out the application. And you create a job goal. So for a lot of people if you wanted to purchase say steel-toed boots and work items for a construction job, or if you wanted to purchase things to become a cosmetologist. You could create a work plan and a work goal to save up to let's just say $3000. It would allow you to set aside earnings and have them not be counted by Social Security. It's a very in-depth work incentive, and your WIPA staff and the Ticket to Work staff can help you decide if it's something that would help you to achieve your goals, and if it's something that you would like to pursue.

>> And -- and do they cost any money?

>> PASS plan is free. It is something that you can apply for if you are either receiving SSI or able to become eligible to receive SSI. And there are WIPA staff and other agencies that can assist you at no cost, but there are agencies out there that can assist you for a price as well, and that can be written into the PASS plan. So you have a lot of options with the PASS plan and getting help completing it.

>> Okay, and the last one we have is -- it's a very, very on-point question. You mentioned that some of the work incentives allow somebody to get back on benefits with very little fanfare. And somebody is -- somebody out there said that vagueness is making them afraid of that. I mean, how sure can somebody be that that easy-on is going to exist?

>> The expedited reinstatement is the easy-on, and it is available to both SSI and SSDI recipients, so it's available to everyone listening. If you are unable to keep working because of your disability then you can request expedited reinstatement and get your benefits restarted. So it -- that is not vague at all. Some of the others I think when I refer to them as a safety net it -- it can seem kind of vague. The best thing I can say is to contact your WIPA in order to get case-specific information. They'll explain to you what work incentives you have available based on the benefits that you're receiving and based on the rules in your state. So while this -- this presentation is just meant to give you a little overview of the work incentives available to everyone, there is the contact information to get case-specific information so that you can get all of your questions answered.

>> All right, great, thank you. And somebody had asked for the Cornell PASS site. And it might be a great place for you to take a look. You can look at that free and just see what the PASS involves. And it's certainly not obligating you to do anything. But you can hunt and see if you are up for developing a PASS. And that can be found at www PASSonline.org. And I know it's up and running because we just had a crash the other day, but we're all set now. All right, thank you, Kendra. And we are going to move along now. And Tina Skeel who is also with Aspire Indian Works is going to talk about your employment team and how we are available to help you get to work. So take it away, Tina.

>> All right, hello. As Ray said, my name is Tina Skeel. I'm the Director of Employment Services here at Aspire Indiana which is a community mental health center here in Indiana. I'm delighted to be here today and thankful that Social Security is hosting this event. It's been an opportunity to get to share lots of great information with people all around the United States. So as I said, Aspire is in Indiana, but we're only one of over 698 active employment networks in the United States. And actually in Indiana we're only one of 135 employment networks that provide services to Indiana citizens. So if you go to the next slide and you look at the next slide you'll see the employment team and who it's comprised of. So there are four primary players. The first player which you've heard me refer to as an employment network or EN. The second player is your state vocational rehabilitation agency. The third is the WIPA project, or what Kendra does, the Work Incentive Planning and Assistance project, or WIPA project. The fourth is the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security, and it's sometimes called PABSS. We're going to talk about each of these different team members and the services that they provide in the next few minutes. So let's get started. So what is an employment network? An employment network is an organization or an agency that enters into an agreement with Social Security to provide a number of different services. So as an employment network we agree first of all to provide what are called employment services. And we're going to go through each one of those in the next slide, but I also want to talk about vocational rehabilitation services. Employment networks work closely with your state vocational rehabilitation services, and we also provide other types of support services to people receiving Social Security disability and under this Ticket to Work program. So an employment network can provide a number of services either by itself or in conjunction with a number of other agencies. Many vocational rehabilitation agencies are also employment networks. So let's jump over to an employment network and what kind of services those might include. One service might be career planning. One of the key pieces of the ticket to work program is that the EN is responsible for sitting down with you and creating a plan based on your interests and needs. For example, you may -- and we're going to talk just a wee bit about accommodations. One of the most common accommodations that I've helped set up for a number of individuals is just having a little more frequent breaks. Doesn't cost the company hardly anything, fairly easy to set up. Another accommodation that we have helped set up was with someone who needed a quieter space, so we arranged for them to work in a quieter work cubicle. And we have also had people even wear headphones, so that's an example of something that you might want to think about when you're doing your career planning. They will also pay close attention to what it is that you want to do, what experiences you've had in the past, and how you can use your natural skills. The second service that they may include might be with providing you with job leads or job placement. Often employment networks have a very special relationship with the employers in their community. They may be the ticket to get you in the door with the employer of your dreams. The third service that they may provide might be ongoing support. So we've talked a little bit -- they do the planning. We also do job leads and job placement, but once you get a job that employment network is going to be there to assist you with any job-related issues that might come up later on into your employment. The last process is an employment network can also assist with that benefits counseling. I know you -- there were many questions around how benefits would be impacted once you went to work. Many employment networks have staff on -- that are actually trained to understand Social Security, Medicaid, and HUD, and those individuals will work closely with the WIPA project that we're going to talk about in just a little bit. But how do you select the right EN? As I said, there are a number of ENs across the United States, and there's 135 in Indiana, so how do you figure it out? Well, my first tip in selecting an employment network really comes down to determining what kind of help you really want and need. For example, many mental health centers provide supported employment or employment services. For example, Aspire has an employment service program. So your local mental health center may actually have or be in an employment network, so check that out. Another option might be around do you need additional education? Not all employment networks can assist with education. So being able to figure out which is the right employment network. The third thing that you might want to think about is do you want -- how do you really want to meet with your employment network? Some employment networks provide face-to-face services, but other networks are actually housed outside of your state but provide support over the phone. So determine how you really need services. Do you want those face to faces? Do you need more services? Maybe you want to look at maybe in the employment network has a special relationship with a particular industry that you're interested in. So ask lots of questions. Talk with multiple ENs. Don't just call one and say, "Hey, this -- this sounds okay." Get on the phone, get online, check out those employment networks before you make a decision. So ask lots of questions. So that is what an employment network is. But there are some other partners that we would like to discuss, too. So one of these partners is your state vocational rehabilitation system, and I mentioned that earlier. And if you remember in the Ben video there was a discussion about that vocational rehabilitation services are really designed for individuals who might need a little more intensive services. For example, there might be a need for training in adaptive equipment. For example, I use a screen reader for visual disabilities, so you want to make sure and see if there is additional services that you need additional training. Another piece might be around education. You might want to take some classes, certifications, even a college degree. And vocational rehabilitation can offer that. Another piece might be around rehabilitative services, so physical therapy, different types of rehabilitation services. The state vocational rehabilitation service also provides career counseling. They provide job placement assistance. So they may work with a number of different places to help find an individual a job. And the last thing that they might be able to -- or will be able to do is to assist with benefits counseling. In some states vocational rehabilitation actually pays for counseling for benefits counseling. Well, that's just a little bit about vocational rehabilitation. So let's flip over to another partner, and we've talked a lot about them, but let's talk a little bit more in-depth which is the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance, or WIPA projects, which is what Kendra does. Working with the WIPA project can help you particularly in deciding if the Ticket to Work program is the right program for you. So really sitting and talking about the pros of the program and how it affects you, they really are a great resource. They can understand the -- they can assist you in understanding the potential benefits of employment as a person who received Social Security benefits and help dispel some of those myths. So -- and Kendra talked about many of those myths earlier. The last piece -- or the third piece is analysis of work and earnings. They can do an in-depth analysis of your work and earnings and how that'll impact your SSI and SSDI, healthcare, and other public benefits. So it's not just about Social Security. They're going to look at all those other benefits that you might get. For example, food stamps. We talked about Medicaid earlier, HUD, all of those things. The last thing that they can do is understand the -- is assist you with understanding the services for your state vocational rehabilitation services or an employment network. They're going to be able to help you obtain a list of employment networks in your area, and they can discuss how that might benefit with your needs. So that's a real quick snapshot of the WIPA program. So I'm going to jump over to our fourth employment team member which is the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security. That's a really, really, really long name, and as I alluded to earlier we call it PABSS. PABSS services are located in every single state in the United States. They also have them in U.S. territories and tribal nations, so they're all over. They're really there to help you and SSI or SSDI beneficiaries with disabilities remove obstacles that might prevent them from work. For example, if you have some question perhaps about an employment network, how well they worked with you, or you had a question on why vocational rehabilitation perhaps did or didn't authorize a service for you you could contact PABSS, and they would assist you. And once again, this is a free service to everyone that receives Social Security benefits or Medicare, Medicaid based on their -- on their disability benefits. So no cost to you. They're all over the United States, and they can help you if you have any difficulties. Okay, these are your advocates that can help you. Okay, so we have covered all four of the team members for your employment team. So we've covered employment networks. We've covered VR. We've covered WIPA, and we've covered PABSS. But how do you find these folks? So one of the best ways to find them is to jump on the Web and go to www choosework.net/findhelp to search for the right services for you. And what's really nice about this is when you click on that link you can actually search by ZIP code. You could search by different services that they offered. Remember, I talked about the need to make sure that your services meet your needs. You can look by disability type, languages spoken, and even provider type, so employment network, VR, WIPA, or PABSS. So that is a very, very quick snapshot of all those partners. So I'm going to leave it back to Ray.

>> Okay, thank you very much. That was a wild, whirlwind tour. I do have a question, and I'm going throw it out there for both of you because it's a very good question. How does using the Ticket to Work affect Medicare and extra help that people get paying for their drugs? So I'm assuming it's extra help for Part B.

>> It -- I -- I hate that I'm answering so many questions stating that it depends, but it does depend. It depends on your earnings. The extra help that you receive looks at your total income, so when you contact your WIPA to get more information they'll be able to provide you with a calculation that shows you how your earnings will impact the extra help that you get for either Part B or for Part D. It also depends on your state's regulations. Here in Indiana if you have both Medicaid and Medicare then Medicaid will pay for like the Part D Medicare.

>> Great, yeah. Yeah, and I think that the easiest thing to -- the easiest answer to that question I -- is it depends because every state is different. But when we're talking about making a decision to go to work these are all very valid questions, and they're all very big concerns. But when you sit down with that benefits planner, with the [inaudible] or you know with somebody with an employment network who knows benefits planning work they're going to take that into consideration. You know because we don't want -- our goal is not to make you go to work and put you in a worse situation. Our goal is to make you go to work and make things better so that as your income increases and you might lose that extra help because you have too much income, our job is to help make sure that there is enough earned income to make up the difference. You know we don't want you to be put into a work situation that does not make sense. Okay, I -- I just wanted to get that -- that point across. Maybe I did it a little too -- too harshly, but yeah. The other thing that I would -- just wanted to say before we go into some other types of resources is that we talked about all of those members of the employment team. They're all there to help you. You direct them all. Nobody is charging you any fees. We've had lots of questions about how much does this all cost? It costs nothing to you, but you are the boss. You know you put together the employment team, and we work based upon what you want to do. So let's get on with some of our other resources. Yeah, and we just had another question about the contact number for the PABSS agency in your state. You can go to that Website, the find help tool that we just left, www choosework.net/findhelp, and you're going to find all of those team members. You can also go to www.ndrn.org, and that's going to get you in contact with your state agency. So there are lots of ways to get in touch with us. If you need to just email, and we can get you that information if that's the easiest way to do it. So as we're talking about mental health we have lots of resources. And Kendra started by talking about the myths involved with mental health. And the -- you know the myth that somebody with mental health issues is never going to get better, is never going to be able to work, well I bet that every one of these resources that are posted on this page right now would argue just what Kendra said, that in fact people with mental illness can return to work, and those returning to work are very little different than anybody else who has a physical disability. In fact, everybody's return to work is going to be different because everybody is a different individual. But there are lots of other resources that we can give you if you want to talk about mental illness and trying to work. If somebody that you're aware of you yourself ever get into the situation where you are suffering from severe emotional distress and feel -- feel suicidal we want you to contact the suicide prevention line. And that is 1-800-273-TALK, or 1-800-273-8255. They're available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, are confidential and toll-free. And they will get you in contact with a crisis center that's near to your home. And you can talk to these people about anything. And that's what we want you to do, talk to people. Just start talking and collecting information that you might be able to use to get yourself back on the road to success. Now SAMHSA, the treatment referral helpline, has a lot of information about local treatment centers in your area. It could very well be that you're not in treatment yet; you haven't decided that you want to go into treatment; or that you had a bad experience with treatment. We've all had bad experiences with doctors and medicine. Every one of us who's listening has had some kind of bad experience, and that tends to make us not want to go back. Well, SAMHSA is a great resource to find other options. You can speak to a live person from Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time -- Monday through Friday, I'm sorry. So from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, and that number is 1-877-726-4727. MentalHealth.gov, this is a great way to go online and find resources. Lots of people, I find, don't want to start talking to people right away because they feel obligated. "If I'm going to call an EN I'm going to feel obligated. I'm going to have to say yes even if I don't feel like I want to." Well, if you're talking about your mental health situation and you don't want to feel obligated go to the Website www mentalhealth.gov, and you will have lots of information about different mental health problems. And what their aim is is to educate and to guide the general public; talk about health and emergency preparedness professionals; policy makers, your representatives in Congress might use this Website for information; government and business leaders; school systems; and local communities. MentalHealth.gov is trying to educate and provide information to all of those people. But we're all part of the general public, so we can go onto that site, find information, find some treatment sources, find out what our options are. And if we need help with our school we can refer our school system, refer our local community leaders to that. You know so we can use this site in many ways and get lots of good information without feeling an obligation. The national alliance for mental illness, yeah, is dedicated to building better lives for millions of American. Kendra said how common mental illness was. Millions of Americans are affected by mental illness. They're advocating for access to services, treatment, supports, and research, and is committed to raising awareness and community-building for all of those people in need. And I have -- and I -- I've got to tell you a personal story. My neighbor's son is a young adult man with autism. He is part of our community. He is part of our community because his parents wanted that to be, and he's treated no differently than any other member of our community. He's working. He's a success story for us you know, and he participates to the best of his ability, and we all accept that because we've all been made aware of what the limitations are. So NAMI is a great source for inclusion, trying to include everybody. Mental Health America at www mentalhealthamerica.net. Again, a community-based network helping people with mental illness live healthier lives. Nothing wrong with that. They should help everybody live healthier lives. They've been around for 100 years, have more than 300 affiliated agencies across the country. And they advocate for changes in policy. They're educating the public again. And they deliver urgently-needed programs and services. So if you need some education in your town, you're having a town meeting that is not accessible for people with mental illnesses because the town doesn't know how to do that. We just need to get Mental Health America involved to do a little advocacy and education. So all of these agencies are out there to help. Now, for more information about the Ticket to Work you can contact the Ticket to Work helpline. That's at 1-866-968-7842 for voice, and for TTY users, 1-866-833-2967. There are experts there who receive technical assistance who can talk to you about your particular issues, and where you are in that journey to work, and refer you to somebody that you can sit down with and build that team to make that plan. If you want to just stick your toe in the water and not talk to anybody, www socialsecurity.gov/work is available and has all of the information we've discussed today plus more. It's a very user-friendly Website and, again, can connect you with your local agencies, the local ENs, the state VR agency, the local protection and advocacy agency, and the local benefits planning agency. If you want to keep in touch and get the latest and the greatest information you can like us on Facebook. For those of you who Facebook it's www facebook.com/choosework. We also Twitter, so if you have a Twitter account you can follow us at www twitter.com/chooseworkssa. Now that's a great way to find out when the next Webinars are and what the next topic's going to be along with finding out new and important information that comes from the Social Security Administration or benefits planners. So there are all kinds of ways to get assistance, with talking to people, without talking to people, however you feel comfortable. And there is no wrong way or no right way to get into this system, to start with that journey to work. All we need to do is take that first step and decide with that information that you receive whether or not work is the right thing for you. Okay, so that's going to get us to our questions, and we've got about nine minutes left to take questions. And Tina, I think this one's from you. If I'm unhappy with my EN can I switch?

>> Whoops -- absolutely you can. There is no set -- you -- you don't have to stay with an employment network. Again, we would encourage you to really take a look at the ENs in your area and spend some -- some time really interviewing them before picking, but sometimes it doesn't work out, and so therefore, it's easy to change that employment network.

>> Okay, and is the program -- the Ticket to Work program good for those with a combination for those with a combination of physical and mental disabilities, or is it only for people with mental disabilities?

>> That's a great question. The Ticket to Work is there for anybody with a disability who is on SSI or SSDI. And again, just a reminder that you may want to do some research to find the best employment network that would meet your needs.

>> All right, and I'm looking to see what else we have in our little box. Is part-time employment considered a viable outcome?

>> Absolutely, part-time employment is a great way to get started, as Ray said earlier, to get your feet wet. And then as you begin getting further into your employment career you may decide to work farther toward working up to more hours.

>> Yeah, and I think this person as a little bit more information because they're also talking about the viability of working with an EN. And part-time work will result in payments made from Social Security to an employment network. The goal, of course, is to work more. However, there is -- I feel there's always a place for part-time work. And that --

>> Absolutely.

>> Yeah, and if somebody's maximum capacity is part-time then that should be the goal. But you know it may be a little more difficult to find an EN who will help you do that depending on what you consider to be part time, but it is not out of the question. Okay, and Tina, can I work from home?

>> Oh, that is a great question, and working from home is becoming more and more the trend, so absolutely. There are several ENs that have great experience working with individuals who are interested in self-employment, and absolutely.

>> Okay, and how about self-employment? Can they help me start my own business?

>> As far as -- an -- an employment network can assist you with linkage and the resources that you may need. And I'm going to kind of piggyback on this. Remember those partners that we talked about earlier. The WIPA projects, or Work Incentive Planning and Assistance projects, many of those projects have special training around self-employment, so they could help in assisting with the benefits side of it while an employment network might be able to assist you with linkage to different resources in your community to help set it up as well, as well as working with your vocational rehabilitation office. So you could actually work with all three to help set up your business.

>> Yes, somebody just asked if somebody out there had a dog, and yes, I have three of them. And you just heard one of my dogs bark because I work from home. So I'm one of those people who works from home. And so we talked about self-employment. Somebody just called the help line and got hung up on. Now, I -- you know --

>> Oh, no.

>> Yeah, and you know I -- I'm going to be very honest and say I'm not surprised you know, but I think you need to keep trying. And if you continue to get hung up on that's something that you might want to talk to your PABSS agency about, the Protection and Advocacy agency, because you're clearly having a roadblock to getting information to allow you to go to work. So I think at that point it might be worth having someone go to bat for you just to take care of that. Okay, Kendra, how can somebody get both SSI and SSDI?

>> If you're receiving both SSI and SSDI it just means that you worked some in the past, and you paid in enough to become a little bit insured. But the government has a federal benefits amount, and this year the federal benefit rate is 721. So if you became insured for less than $721 per month under SSDI then you would receive the rest of that in SSI to bring you up to that limit that the government created. So it's just -- it exists for people who only earned some credits but didn't earn all of them.

>> Okay, and lots of people do get both benefits, and for those people who do get both benefits I'm going to recommend that you definitely talk with a Community Work Incentive Coordinator to help put a plan together because having all of these work incentives hit you at the same time is a very confusing situation, and they can help you pull that up. Somebody's asking about rates for 2015. We won't know that until October or November what the cost of living increase will be and whether or not trial work and SGA are going to change. All right, somebody's asking if this seminar gets rid of the need to go to the local office? No, it doesn't. You know we're giving you some very general information. If we gave you all the information that you needed to start going back to work we would be here for several days. This is a long process. It's involved. And it's very specific to each one of you, so it's not going to stop going to the -- stop you from going to the local office. You don't have to go to Social Security right away. You just have to report to Social Security once you start working. But making the plan to go to work will require that you get in contact with a WIPA program and potentially an EN or the state VR agency. So there's still going to be some folks you're going to have to get in touch with, and the Social Security office is one of them. Oftentimes a CWIC -- a Community Work Incentive Coordinator -- or an EN will help you make the reports that you need to, or at the very least teach you how to easily make those reports to Social Security and help you get organized so you can do that. Okay, let's see what else. Okay, Tina, what if I want to move to another state?

>> Well, the first question is does your EN provide services in the state that you're moving? If they don't don't worry, you just need to transfer your ticket to a new employment network in the area that you're moving.

>> Yep, that's about it. And let everybody else know, all those agencies that you're receiving benefits from know, that you're moving and -- so that they can either transfer benefits or at least get you in contact with the new state agency that you'll be dealing with. Okay, we have somebody who has 53 ENs that served his ZIP code. How would he go about finding the best one to work with?

>> Well, I think the best way to go through, depending if you want a face-to-face contact, if you want to meet with your provider you might actually want to do a search on the towns or areas where you live, and that would help reduce that service area. That -- that will help you find an EN a little bit quicker. That's the quick way. There is also a recommendation that you also pay attention to what your needs were. I said that you could sort by disability; you could do that as well. So use that sort function that we referred to on -- and I want to make sure I give you the right slide number, but it was the last slide that I read which was slide number 38 where it says www choosework.net/find. If you go in there, as I mentioned before the -- the service area you could put in your ZIP code or, again, use one of the other four or five types to find that search.

>> Great, you know and I think to narrow things own is -- yeah, I think you need to consider that Ticket to Work almost a shopping pass. Once you've narrowed it down to five or six that are close to you if you want to work personally with somebody you know as Tina said, talk to them, ask questions. What kind of placement rate do they have? What kind of jobs are they putting people in? Do they work with people who have your disability? What is their experience? You know this is a time when you are actually interviewing that EN. You know so I think that using that as a shopping pass and asking for questions -- asking lots of questions is the best way to do it. Okay, and the last question we have is do I have to wait for some letter to go to the -- to use my Ticket to Work? I think somebody's waiting for a Social Security notice.

>> Well, this is Tina again. And no, you absolutely do not have to wait on a letter. You can call that line right away, and speak with them, and get your ticket going. No need to wait.

>> All right, and I think that's going to do it. We're a little over time. If you have any questions that were not answered and you want to get to us you know how to do that because we gave you that information at the beginning, and I'm going to give it to you right now. Support at choosework.net. And that will get an email out, and we will get the information you need to you. I want to thank both Tina and Kendra for great presentations. Thank Michael and Michelle in the background who make all things Webinar happen. And thanks to Jamie for getting me your questions. Look for our next Webinar next month, and make sure you check out that archive to see if there's a Webinar in there that you might be interested in. Have a great day, and thanks for being with us. Take care, everybody.