>> Good afternoon everybody this is Ray Cebula from Cornell University's Yang-Tan Institute, and I want to welcome you to today's very special webinar. We're discussing work incentives and special supports for veterans. It is a little bit late, we're eight days late, but happy Veterans Day, and thank you for everything that you've done to allow us to do what we do. We have some great folks with you here today that were going to introduce in a few minutes. But we've got to go through some technical stuff first. Today's webinar you can access, couple of ways. You're on the computer right now, you've been automatically connected through the speakers in your computer system. If for any reason you do end up losing your connection, I know there's still some pretty bad storms floating around. You can get us on the phone at 1-855-749-4750 and that will ask you for an access code, 648073428. Once again, the phone number, the toll-free number is 1-855-749-4750 and the access code is 648073428. Now you did receive a copy of today's PowerPoint in an acceptable PDF format and text. They were located with the link that was sent to you to confirm your attendance at today's webinar. When we get to accessibility and start talking about webinar accessibility, it's one of the things that we very much take very seriously around here and we want everybody to get the benefits of today's webinar. So if you do have any issues accessing anything, please let us know. We want to know what problems you're having and more importantly, if you know the solution to your problem, please let us know what that is too. That way we can take steps to fix the future sessions so that everybody can enjoy them. Real-time captioning is provided at the media, in the media viewer, which is in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. You can make that larger or smaller or close it. Whichever you see fit, or whatever you need and the closed captioning website today is http://www.edi.cornell.edu/ captions.cfm?activity_id=5104. You can make that again, the media viewer panel larger or smaller but be sure to know that as you're making that panel smaller, it's going to close and open the question and answer box. And we want you to ask as many questions as you have. In about two weeks, Michael will have the webinar cleaned up. We don't want to embarrass ourselves in perpetuity but we will have the webinar cleaned up and posted to the website so that you can access it again or access any of our other webinars that might be posted that are of interest to you. And that can be found www.ilr.cornell.edu/ edi/m-wise-webinars.cfm. We will be having a question and answer period after each topic. And we do want to have your questions and we'll let you know how to do that. There are several ways to do it, we want you to access the Q and A box on your computer screen as much as possible. If you don't choose to do that you can, by all means, email us a question at webinars@choosework.net. That will send a question to Jamie and she can post it for us in the chat box. We're going to ask you to stay away from that chat box as we try to let the presenters use that box to communicate during the presentation. Anytime after today's webinar, there is going to be a Facebook chat session after the webinar but if you aren't participating or you have a question, something wakes you up in the middle of the night, I should've asked that, here is a site where you can get an answer. Send your questions to support@choosework.net and somebody will get you an answer to your question. Now let me get to the panels. On the left-hand side of your screen you're going to see a Q and A box. It's probably closed at this point and mine has an arrowhead and Q and A. If you click on that it's going to open up the box and you'll be able to type in your question, hit send and that's going to appear on Jamie's website. She'll be monitoring that box for us, and sending us the questions. Now we are going to have lots of questions. There are hundreds of you out there and I can assure you that we're not going to get everybody's question. We will give you information as to how to get those questions answered, however. So what Jamie will be doing will be screening those questions and she's going to take the questions that appear to be of the most interest to the most people. So if you have particular questions about your particular situation, we're likely to save that one and have you ask that of the folks that we refer you to. This isn't really the right forum to be asking personal questions but any general questions you have, please feel free to get them into us. Now what I didn't tell you, which I should've told you, we should move this slide back, I guess. If you do lose connection, you're going to be able to go up to the communicate box at the very top of your screen and open that up and just switch to, I will call in. And it's going to give you today's phone number and that access code again. Also if you do have a problem with your Internet connection you do have another way to access us. Now before I get into today's agenda and introduce our speakers, I've got a favor to ask of you all, We've got some polling questions, very simple questions, but they're going to help us in the future to do some outreach, let us know who we're targeting and how we can best get this information out. So the first question's a nice easy one, how did you learn about today's national WISE webinar? Did you get an email? Was it through Facebook or Twitter? Was it a website, family or friend, a WIPA agency or something else? And if it was something else, let us know what it was so that we can connect with that something else next time. Give you a few seconds answer to answer that one. [ Background Noise ] And then we will move on to the next one, okay. All right, thank you very much, I've got to wait 20 seconds so you can still click in. [ Background Noise ] And I can assure you that none of them are harder than that. Everything is easy, but it is very helpful information for us. The second, polling question; so what do you hope to learn from today's session? Do you want to learn about the Ticket to Work? The work incentives for SSI, the work incentives for SSDI, employment networks and vocational rehabilitation or legal protections? Or do you want to know about something else? If you want to know about something else, again let us know what that is. So put it in the question-and-answer box, because we have been known to build webinars around your suggestions. I'll give you a couple of seconds to get your answers in. [ Background Noise ] All right, we can shut that down, another 20 seconds is coming at you. [ Silence ] Five seconds. [ Silence ] All right and question three, what is your gender male or female? [ Silence ] Okay, I'm going to close that one down. [ Silence ] Very interesting for a veteran's session, we have a majority of females who are responding. That's a great thing. [ Silence ] And polling question four, what is your age 18 or younger, 19 to 25, 26 to 40, 41 to 55, 56 to 65 or 66 and older? [ Silence ] All right, you beat me to it. We'll close that one down and give you another 20 seconds. [ Silence ] Five more. And finally, we know that at times there are more than one person sitting at a webinar screen. So besides yourself, how many other people are sitting with you watching today's webinar? So let us know, give us a better guess as to how many people are there. [ Silence ] All right, 20 more seconds and then we'll get our information to you. Thank you for that, it's a great response. [ Silence ] We have a couple of small parties out there. All right, so for today's session I'm going to be your moderator and give you some information about some of the work incentives. We have Sheriene Knox from Indiana with Operation Job Ready Veterans who's going to talk to you about her program. It's about to become an employment network. She'll talk to you about what that means and talk about the Ticket to Work and then we have with us, Rob Statum. He is a success story, he is a veteran, he does have a disability and he actually used his ticket and is back at work now. And we'll talk with Robert about his experience using the ticket and talk about the Paralyzed Veterans of America as well as a few extra questions that we're going to have for Robert. We're going to hopefully not beat him up too badly. Again as I said, we're going to take questions throughout the session but were also going to break for questions [clears throat], excuse me, as we end each one of these little sessions as well. Okay so I'm going to turn you over, I'm not going to turn you over to Sheriene, I'm looking at the Social Security disability benefits programs. Now to get you set to get you to begin your return to work journey, if you are receiving benefits based on disability from the Social Security Administration, there are three situations you can find yourself in. One is, you're a recipient of Social Security disability insurance. Now SSDI is title II of the Social Security Act and it is what it says. It's an insurance program, you become eligible by buying this insurance and you buy it through the payment of FICA taxes, so if you have had a job where FICA taxes are being withheld from your paycheck, you were buying credits. Depending upon how old you are, if you're under the age of 31 you're going to qualify a bit quicker. If you're 31 or older you need to have a current history and current insurance and the trick with this program is that you must become disabled while you are insured. Also, what you can do if you don't have a My Social Security account yet is after today's website, get on to SocialSecurity.gov and set up my Social Security account. It's very easy and it's a great way to know whether you're insured and exactly how much you'd be eligible to receive today if you were to claim it. And it's something that we should all have and keep track of. So this is an insurance program and you're entitled if you are disabled and are insured at the same time. The other program SSI, Supplemental Security Income is a needs based program. It's a federal welfare program for people who either have minimal work history or no work history and are poor. There are income limits and there were resource limits. The definition of disability for both programs is the same but as you can tell they're very, very different programs. This one is all income based, which brings in the whole notion of supplement when we're talking about it. You could also be receiving both programs. If your Social Security Disability Insurance amount is below the federal limit for SSI you would receive an SSI check to supplement your SSDI and bring you up to the federal limit. Right now the federal limit is 721 dollars a month, that will go up in January by 1.7% and some states also provide supplements. So if you are receiving SSI and receiving more than 721, you're in one of those states that supplements. If you receive SSDI of $500 and you have limited resources, SSI might be able to bump you up to that 721 dollar figure. Now, that's an overview, it's important to know what benefits you receive so that we can then begin to help you. If we have no idea what benefit that you are receiving we can't really talk to you in specifics. So we might ask you to get some information from Social Security and that Social Security, My Social Security account is a great way to get that information quick. Now we're going to talk about the Ticket to Work, we're going to talk about it specifically for veterans. However, before we do that, we're going to get to know Ben. So Michael if you can cue up Ben's video and we'll let that that play for everybody, it'll give you a good overview. [ Background Noise ] >> 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 could it help you? Ticket to Work is a free and voluntary from Social Security that provides you employment support services to help you go to work while both providing access to Medicaid and/or Medicare. It can help you go to work, which can give you get a greater sense of purpose and help you give back to your community. With time, you'll 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 receives 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 316,000 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 helpline, they talked to him about support on Social Security he could use to go to work. He found that with Social Security, Ticket to Work and work incentive, 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 goal. Both could offer him specialized services and he could choose what was right for him. ER 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. EN's are private or public organization 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 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 road to employment through the ticket program is a two-way street. In return for assistance in getting a job, Ben's pledge to Social Security that he would take specific steps, determined by the plan he developed with the EN, within timeframes set by Social Security. To work at a specified earning 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 support 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 helpline at 1-866-968-7842. For TTY, call 1-866-833-2967. 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. [Music]. [ Background Noise ] Okay. Thank you Mike. Now, I'm going to turn this over to Sheriene Knox, who is an employment network or about to be that way. And she is with Operation Job Ready Veterans, so Sheriene, take it away. >> Hello everyone and thank you for having me as a guest speaker today. Foremost, many thanks to those who have served our country and I in turn look forward to serving you as well. But let's talk about Ticket to Work for veterans. This month, gladly, we are honoring America's veterans and many veterans with disabilities are facing challenges to transition back into society and to transition back into restarting a career. And the Ticket to Work and work incentives can help make that a smoother one. Next slide, please? The Ticket to Work program can help veterans, age 18 through 64 who are receiving disability benefits such as SSDI and/or SSI, that Ray just explained. And to explore your work options and to pursue your career goals. Next slide. Now, taking the next steps, gather your information and resources is really key to start towards employment. And what you should be looking at, and further on into this presentation, we'll be talking about things to consider when selecting employment network. But in taking the next steps, going through all of the transition services that are provided to you as a veteran upon fulfilling your service commitments, and in going through, perhaps, WorkOne, the workforce agencies that's in your location, to talk with them. They may have some classes for you. If you go in and you talk to the veteran's representative, they'll ask you for your DD 214. So make sure that you have that on hand when you go to talk with them. And the next slide? As a veteran, you have so much to offer to employers. A lot of the skills and experiences that you have fit right in. One thing that I encourage you to do would be to go on the internet and look for a military skills to civilian skills translator. There's a lot of websites, one that I like to use is [inaudible] the timeline. And what you can do is you can put in which branch of the military that you were at and what your code number is. And it will come out and tell you which types of jobs that you qualify for. And specifically in looking at what those requirements are, then you can take a look and so how, to explain, your military skills in what, my company likes to call, civilian ease. Because they are two different languages for sure. The discipline and the teamwork that you bring to an employer is phenomenal. I see employers just very happily be excited to see those skills that they're not often finding in the non-veteran sector. And the courage and the resilience to push through any situation, to, again, be a team member. Those really are skills that many veterans don't look at as a skill, but in the civilian life, they're very strong strengths. Next slide, please? So, as a veteran, what can you gain from the Ticket to Work program? Financial independence. That's what we've been talking about for the Ticket to Work program. If you're receiving a service connected disability, you can also work and have earnings to support even your family. And the chance to use your current skills and to develop new ones, there are jobs out there that do relate in terms of the skills. To the skills that you acquired in your service to America. And then the biggest thing is the chance to connect with people on the job and in your community. And to be a part of your community and in providing the support back in and giving back as well. Next slide? So, take advantage the Social Security's Ticket to Work program and the support services and resources that can help you find a meaningful career after your military service. There is a website on your TicketToWork.com. And they're in that resource page for veterans. So I definitely encourage you to go to that website and seek out that resource page. It's newly developed. I've been on it. It's very detailed and provides a lot of wonderful information. Next slide, please? The Ticket to Work program, what we do is we support career development for people with disabilities who want to work. And again, between the ages of 18 and 64, we want to make sure that the skill that you have developed through your military service is utilized in the civilian world. And again, finding the terms to state that during an interview is very important to develop that. And again, what my company likes to call, civilian ease. And also, again, the Ticket to Work program is free and voluntary. And Ray, I'm going to turn it back over to you now. >> Okay. I think you can do that after I get to ask you a few questions that have come in. >> Okay. >> Somebody wants to know if they need a copy of their Ticket to Work. >> They do not need a copy of it. Actually, there is not a paper ticket. Anyone that is receiving Social Security Disability and/or SSI automatically has what Social Security states is a ticket. And so, going in and talking with an employment network, they will check the system to make sure that everything is in good order with you and make sure that your ticket is assignable. >> Okay. And somebody is interested in how SSDI and VA benefits interact. >> They are two separate entities. People who are receiving VA disability benefits can return to work. I've not worked with anyone yet that has had those benefits disturbed when returning to work. And so those are separate from each other. >> Okay. And once again, can you give that Ticket to Work age range? >> Yes, the age range is from 18 to 64. >> All right. Okay. Now I can give you a break [chuckles]. Okay, I'll be back to you soon. >> Okay. Thank you. >> We want to talk a bit about the work incentives that Social Security provides for folks who receive benefits based on disability from Social Security. So, either SSI or SSDI. And these are the benefits and work incentives that we're looking to put into place to help you get to work. And a lot of them are very, very beneficial and very important. And planning for a return to work is critically important. Again, if anybody has any questions, just use that Q and A box and get them in. Now, work incentives that Social Security have set forth in their regulations, are special rules for people who return to work. They allow you to receive training for new skills, now that's part of that Ticket to Work. There are other programs, like the PASS, A Plan to Achieve SelfSupport, that will allow you to set aside money that would be sheltered for education and gaining new skills. Help you improve the skills you already have. You know, as Sheriene indicated, transferring that military experience into civilian experience requires you to speak a new language. Much like translating Social Security ease into civilian ease or into English, requires some assistance. So we can get you the help, translate those skills, in a very simple fashion so that a prospective employer knows exactly what you have to offer, in language they can understand. Pursue your education. If you do need a degree for the job that you want to get, likely, we can help you out with that. We can help you set aside money to save for it. We can connect you with a state VR agency or the VR rehab agency that will also help you pursue your education. How about trying different jobs? We can put together a plan particularly with an EN like Sheriene. If you're not quite sure what you want to do you can experiment a bit. Let's play with this job. I don't like that job. Let's do this. You know, I don't want to be a front line staffer, I'd rather be up the management ladder a little bit. We can try all of those jobs to see where you fit and what you enjoy most. Start a career. Do you want to start your own business, with a combination of Sheriene, the state VR agency and the Veteran's agency, you can get a lot of assistance to start your own business. And gaining confidence. While you're doing all of these things, you're gaining confidence. And I think just because of your military experience, you've got a whole lot more confidence than most of us have. Because you can do just about anything, I'm pretty sure. So, we're going to talk about some of the most common work incentives. And notice that they each have the label SSI, SSDI or both. And so, those are going to give you a hint as to which programs these work incentives apply to. Now the first one is the earned income exclusion. And that's an SSI test because SSDI, it doesn't much matter. There are certain limits and it's an all or nothing program. But the SSI program has a fabulous earned income exclusion. Now what they basically do is deduct the first 65 dollars a month that you earn and then cut the rest in half. So for SSI purposes, Social Security is interested in less than half of what you earn. Which means that if you are receiving 721 dollars a month, you could get a job earning 12 hundred dollars a month and still be eligible for a small cash SSI benefit. As your income increases, your SSI decreases but there are special protections even when you reach that breaking point where you are eligible for 0 dollars. Now, if you think about what I just said, an SSI recipient who returns to work will always have more money at the end of the month. And as we get into these protections, you'll see that your medical protections are there as well. Now, the CDR protection, a CDR is a continuing disability review. Now this applies to both programs. If you are using your Ticket to Work, you are protected from medical reviews. Every once in a while Social Security is going to pull your file and they're going to say, it's time to review Ben's file. It's been five years. And they're going to look to see if you still meet the medical criteria. Now, if you do, all is well and good. If you don't, your benefits will be terminated. Well, in order to help people to get back to work, having the rug pulled out from under you is not real helpful. So if you do assign that ticket to someone, like Sheriene or your state VR agency, you will be protected from medical reviews and Social Security will not do anything to disturb your benefits while you're making timely progress. You heard that during Ben's video. Timely progress is simply meeting your plan's expectations and that's a plan that you put together with Sheriene. So that you know what it says, you know what's expected of you. Now as we move into SSDI, there's a trial work period. This is an old work incentive, it's been around for a long time. But the trial work period gives you the ability to test your work ability. Do you have the stamina right now to work a full time job? Well, Social Security is going to give you 9 months to find out. Right now, if you earn 770 dollars a month, you use one trial work month. In the month of November, if you earn 771 dollars, November is month number one. However, if you earn 3 thousand dollars in November, November is also month number 1. So, you can go out and earn as much as you want without any impact on your health care or your cash benefit for a period of 9 months. And that's to test your ability to work; it could be used to experiment with different jobs. But you have 9 of those months. They do not need to be consecutive. They do not need to be at the same job but they do have to occur within 5 years. And that 770 dollar figure is going to go up again in January. Medicare, which comes with SSDI, this is the health plan that comes with SSDI, is going to continue. You know, a lot of people are hesitant to go to work because they're afraid of losing their health care. Even if we can explain to them that they're going to have more money, they are afraid to lose their health care. Well, I can tell you that after the 9 month trial work period, you will have Medicare coverage for at least 93 months. That's 7 and a half years, somewhere around there. So what I usually tell people is, you go to work and you figure out how much you're able to work and how much you're able to earn. And if you can continue with that for 5 or 6 years we'll get together and talk about what might happen to your Medicare coverage after you've been working for 7 years. It could be longer, or you could be in a position at that point where your employer's providing benefits. Or you could simply end up buying into the Medicare program. Loss of health care is not that big a deal anymore. Most states have very good health care coverage. Now, Medicaid is the health program that comes with SSI. A bit different, it's a little more inclusive. It's a better program. However, there are probably fewer providers out there. Now this comes with a protection called 1619. Now remember as I said, as your income increases, your SSI decreases. As long as you have cash, SSI, you have Medicaid. Well when you equal 0 and your earnings cause you to be eligible for 0 SSI dollars, 1619 comes into being to protect you. Because you lost your cash benefits due to earnings, you are still considered an SSI recipient and still eligible for Medicaid. And that continues for a good long time. The limits are different in each state. But many of those states are up to 30, 40, some of them 50 thousand dollars a year before you will lose your Medicaid coverage. And that's not the end of it because 45 of the states have programs where you can buy into Medicaid as well as a disabled individual who is working. So health care is not that big a concern. And we have the added benefit for you people of the veteran's health benefits that are out there as well. Expedited reinstatement? What happens if you are terminated from benefits because you went to work? Eventually, that's the goal. And we need to throw it right out there. Eventually, the goal is that you will be terminated from benefits because of work. Well, for the five years after you were terminated, Social Security still provides a safety net called expedited reinstatement. And what expedited reinstatement allows you to do is that if your work efforts stops or if your earnings drop below what is called substantial gainful activity, you can walk into Social Security and apply for expedited reinstatement. Now, today's November 19th, if you were to apply today, your checks would likely be in pay status January 1st. If we were applying a little bit earlier, if we were applying on Veterans Day, there is a potential that your checks could be in place December 1st. This is a very quick way onto benefits. And what Social Security does is pay you what you received in the past and provide you with health care while they are deciding whether you should be reinstated. So there are six months of provisional benefits, which are paid to you, which will never be collected in the absence of fraud, so you don't have to worry about overpayments, while Social Security decides if you can be reinstated. And the fact of the matter is, 97 percent of the people who apply for EXR, we call it, are awarded EXR. Of the three percent of the people who are denied, half of them are denied because they found another job. So the chances of you falling through the safety net are next to nothing. Now that's a quick and dirty overview of a lot of information. But again, I mentioned planning and I want you to consider talking with a benefits planner. And we'll give you some information as to how you can connect with those folks. They have all been specifically trained to work with recipients of Social Security benefits and can predict when certain events will happen and tell you what your monthly financial outcome will be if you decide to go ahead and work. And it's much better to make that decision knowing what's going to happen. And Jamie, we're going to take a break for questions right now. I'm trying to see if we have anything in there. >> Apologies, Ray. I'm here with a couple of questions. You just mentioned there are some people out there who can help me learn about all of these work incentives and how they'll work for me. >> Okay. >> [Inaudible] process and what is the WIPA project? >> Okay. They are the WIPA projects, Work Incentive Planning and Assistance. Now they are located in every state. They are funded by Social Security. And where you can find them is at SocialSecurity.gov/work. It's a free service. They will work with you to help you determine what type of benefits you receive and they're going to want to know everything. They're going to want to know about your Social Security, your veteran's benefits, your health care benefits, any subsidized housing benefits, any type of public benefits that's going to be impacted by work. So they're going to ask you lots of questions about  they're going to be real nosy, but they need this information. And they will help you build a plan. They'll take a snapshot of where you are now and then help you get enough information so that you'll know what happened if you decide to take a parttime job at 15 hours. And if you want to take a job at 25 hours, they'll let you know what'll happen. There'll be a scenario for that. And then there'll be a scenario for full time work. And you'll know what will happen to your health care and your cash benefits along with your housing and your VA information when it's going to happen. You'll have complete knowledge of what's going on. They are available to you free of charge as I said, and it's not a one shot deal. I like to consider changes in employment as opportunities for a benefits planning tune up. You know, if you are working at 15 hours a week based on your benefits plan and your employer says, hey, it's holiday time, can you work an extra ten hours a week? That changes everything. So, yes, you can work that extra ten hours a week but it's time to contact that benefits planner to see what that's going to do to your plan. How is it going to change things? So we want to know that. But they'll work with you to get all of this information about every kind of benefit and put together scenarios so that you can make an informed choice as to whether or not you want to work. And the combination of a benefit's planner, an employment network and you, is putting together a great employment team to take care of everything that's going to happen along the way. And should something happen along the way that you don't like, if something happens that was unexpected; there are also free legal services available through the protection and advocacy agency. And they can also be found at SocialSecurity.gov/work. And there'll be a map that shows up, click on your state and you'll find information for all of those places. Don't be upset that if you live in Montana, that Protection and Advocacy office is 12 hours away. They likely have someone close to you but their main office is the office that you need to contact first. Anything else come in Jamie? >> Yes, we sure do have some questions. You mentioned at the beginning when you were talking about work incentives that there were opportunities for training. How do I find out about that and what are the first steps I should take? >> Well, that first step I think is to get on SocialSecurity.gov/work and find the service providers near you. Now I think Sheriene's going to be able to help us because when we start talking about Operation Job Ready Vets, she's going to talk about those employment networks and those employment networks are going to be able to work with you when you pick the right network. You know, the one that's best suited to your needs, they'll able to help. And if you decide you want to start a career and need training and education, they may not be able to provide that to you but they certainly have the resources to call in. To put a plan together so that you can get that. You know, most four year, two year degrees are either put together using a PASS plan or through state VR. But we can, you know, you also have your GI Bill out there that we can access. There are lots of resources and somebody in Sheriene's position can help you orchestrate that. You can start by contacting a benefits planner. Because a benefits planner who's going to talk to you about what will happen if you do go to work, if you do get that training, if you do get that degree and what your projected income will be, we can put that together for you and then the next logical step would be to bring in Sheriene to help put that plan into effect. So that you can get that. But SocialSecurity.gov/work is where you'll find the resources and there's really no wrong door. >> Great, thanks, Ray. We've had somebody go online already and they're with us really far away, can a WIPA work with them over the phone? >> Absolutely. You know, and I'm going to use the Minnesota program as an example. The Minnesota program is based in Minneapolis and Minnesota is a very big state. And they cover the entire state. They work with people on the phone and as a matter of fact that program will meet with you in person regardless of where you are. That program will come to you with a completed plan and discuss it with you. With email, with telephone, with Skype, you can work with anybody. You can work with anybody from a distance, that's not a problem at all. Even in some of the smaller states, if you happen to have difficulty with transportation, it's very likely that a WIPA can come to your home with their computer and sit down and chat with you. >> All right, Ray, thank you very much, I think we'll go back to the presentation now. >> Okay. And now I'm going to turn it back over to Sheriene and she's going to talk about Operation Job Ready Veterans, take it away Sheriene. >> All right, thank you, Ray, I appreciate it. Yes, Operation Job Ready Veterans. We're a nonprofit organization and we are very dedicated to preparing our service members, veterans, military staff [inaudible] and caregivers for successful employment. And how we do that is by connecting them with employers. There are a lot of employers out there who want to support our veterans in employment when they come into the civilian world. And they realize that our veterans are top quality and they're well trained. And we talked about some of these things earlier, what we like to do is make a personal connection. And assist veterans of all eras and ability levels with their employment and their career goal. We are primarily situated in Indiana and we do offer classes. It's a week long transition class at no charge to the veteran or the caregiver of the spouse. And the best thing is that we also develop relationships with employers and we have about a 65 percent placement rate for those that complete the class. Now, I do work with anyone outside of Indiana as well, that's just not available to make the classes, but that's something that I can share with the individual that doesn't live close to me. But, it's of great benefit. If you are in Indiana, you can attend those classes. If not, like we said before, the Ticket to Work is a voluntary program and we want you to select an employment network. So if you would go to the slide that says employment networks, please? What an employment network is, it's an organization or agency. And what we've done is, we've entered into agreement with Social Security to help people interested in going back to work through the Ticket to Work Program. Basically, it is free employment. All the services are at no charge to the veteran. And Vocational Rehabilitation Services is also an employment network and there's other types of support services to people under the ticket program. And again, many vocational agencies are also served as employment networks. An employment network, EN, the next slide, please? What we can provide is career planning. And how we do that is getting to know the person. I like to know what you  what jobs that you did in the military. To take a look at that translator with the person to see how those skills translate into civilian needs. And actually plug them into resumes. It is a different language as Ray also mentioned earlier. And it's basically assisting the veteran to present their skills in a way that an employer understands. Veterans, you have so many, so many great qualities that many of you do not realize. And so speaking with someone and saying that these are things to share with an employer that they would find interesting and find necessary for the candidates that they're looking for. And so the career planning will talk about that. Also, can do some mock interviewing. And if you needed accommodation, you want your employment network to share with you how do I explain that I've had some time off? How do I explain the accommodation that I need or do I even need to disclose the accommodation? So those are things to look for. Employment networks, we're also supposed to help you with job leads and job placement. And after getting to know you during the career planning, there's an individual work plan that's developed and on their specific vocational goals or jobs that you're interested in. And so the job leads and placement services that your employment network provides to you, will be based on what's on that plan. If you are wanting human resource position and you have the skills for that, then an employment network should not be sending you a lead to work in a factory because that's not where your interests and your skills and your abilities lie. So it's important that you be transparent with your employment network when developing your individual work plan and getting to know yourself and getting to know the types of job that you would like to do. Because we all know that if we're not at a job that we like, we're not going to stay very long. And so an employment network, we want to focus on something that you would enjoy doing, something you're capable of doing. Now after you get the job there is ongoing employment support. Employment networks, I myself, can be a sounding board; I can be a third ear. I can be someone to talk to if there are some issues on the job that you may not feel comfortable going to human resources at first. If it's something technical or something job specific, of course, I would be sending that person directly to human resources. But, if, you know, you think there's an issue with a coworker or something like that, and you just want a sounding board, just someone to maybe listen or give a little bit of advice, an employment network can do that also. And of course, benefits counseling, as you go through, once after you begin working and you go through the process and you begin earnings, to know where you're at in your benefits, how many months are you into your trial work period. You know, when are you going to reach the point of your disability check ceasing or if you're receiving SSI, how your earnings as Ray mentioned earlier, will affect that, as that particular monies will go up and down. That will fluctuate with your income. Next slide, please. Tips for selecting an employment service network. Determine what kind of help that you need. Ray had mentioned that employment networks can provide a variety of services and supports. Some can provide a one on one on the job training. If that is something that you need, other employment networks they don't have the manpower to do that. Also, you know, do they offer job seeking skills training? Is there a class that they can offer for that that's close to you? Or can someone provide that to you one on one? Some people like that one on one training and experience because then it makes it personal. And to the person that you're talking to and their specific situation. Do you need computer training? Do you know how to find jobs online? And employment networks should be able to help you with that and teach you that. And of course, the ongoing benefits counseling. You also want to find out, you know, what's the frequency that the employment network is going to be connecting with you. And how often should you connect with them? What's the usual frequency of that. And then also knowledge of different types of jobs that your particular skills and abilities and interests are available and to help you find those whether through specific search engines or other resources. But it is important to talk to multiple employment networks not only for what they offer but also to see if they are a good fit at meeting your needs. And I believe that's the end of this section. >> Yeah, you'd think so, wouldn't you, Sheriene? [Chuckles] somebody's asking a question about your EN and what types of jobs you might have found for people. >> I have found anywhere from director of human resources all the way to, I mean, I've worked with people with  one gentleman had two masters degrees, two individuals who have completed their GED and gone into the service, so. Specifically, I've helped people find individual jobs, whether it be in the health care industry. I've been doing this for 25 years so I have a lot of jobs that come to mind and yes, I just told my age, unfortunately. [Chuckles] but I am young at heart. So, yes, anything from manufacturing to white collar professional to blue collar. The sky's the limit. But basically, just looking at the area that the person is living in. Looking at the job market and looking at what types of jobs are being sought after can get the person hired the fastest. Because that's what we are here for, is to help you to become employed. >> Okay. You just like turned on lights everywhere. [Chuckles] have you helped anyone with training that was necessary to go into a field that was different than the one they were in? >> I have referred them to resources to help look for the funding for that. I recently did help a gentleman, he was 42, and he had not completed his GED. He completed that and he said his next step was to go to school while working. And so he is doing that and so one resource that I suggested to him is the college or the vocational school that you're interested in. Take a look at the funds that they have. So, if it's something that I cannot provide financially, then I will help find a resource to make that happen for the person. >> Okay. And how far away can I go from my home area to find an EN? >> Anywhere. You can go  the person that has lived the farthest away from me is in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who accepted a job. And I just had another person recently go with a government contract and she lives in Kentucky. >> So it's pretty much just finding somebody who's a good fit as you indicated earlier. >> Exactly. >> Okay. And is it possible to work with vocational rehabilitation, let's start with the state VR agency and an EN. >> Not at the same time. During the job search, if you work with vocational rehabilitation, then they will have someone to work with you. After so many months with vocational rehabilitation, which is usually 90 days or 3 months, then they will do what's called a hand off service through, what we call, partnership plus. And at that point, then, you could come to an employment network such as myself to help you with the ongoing employment supports. Or you can choose an employment network to follow you through the entire path. >> Yup. Okay. And I have one very specific question and I think it's kind of interesting because it's one of the resources that we're going to share with people later. And this person is an accountant. And the person went to Hiring Our Heroes events and the employers there were look being for mechanics and factory workers. And this person wants to know where they can go to try to find a job to suit them. Where are they going to find somebody who's going to hire them to be an accountant or be in the business world? >> I would suggest using the search engines. Indeed, I love indeed, there's Indiana Career Connect. Spiders into all of the Monster.com, I like Simply Hired. Also, maybe getting with a little college if you have a degree. And get with their placement program because all colleges and schools should have their own placement colleges so that they have some connections with some employers as well. If I would be working with someone without any experience at all, there are some jobs that are available for accountants through some temporary services. There are some accounting firms that are utilizing temporaries when they need them. If it's for a tax accountant, I suggest getting your feet wet, doing taxes and get that experience under your belt. So it depends on the individual and me talking with them one on one as to see what their interested in, what they like, what they don't like as to helping them in a more specific path. >> So that person is really ripe for working with an employment network. >> Definitely, yes. >> Oh, okay. Okay, and one more, the more you talk, the more the questions are coming in [chuckles]. How about resources for starting your own business? >> I know here in Indiana there is a group called Score, and I put people in touch with that group and they actually help to write the business plans. Each large city also has a small business advisory group and also a small business company, which is usually attached to the Chamber of Commerce who can help to find grants. There are a lot of grants out there for veterans to start their own business. So, basically, I connect people with the resources to help to develop the plan and to find the funding. >> Yeah. And I also know, I just worked with a Veterans Boot Camp for Entrepreneurs. And we found a little known grant through the VA rehab services that will provide grants beginning at 25 thousand dollars but going up to 150 thousand dollars to buy equipment. They won't buy real estate or pay rent, but they will buy equipment that you might need to start your business. So working with the VA in those instances is a good thing too. And Jamie's telling me, we need to move on [chuckles]. So, I'm going to let you go now. >> Okay. >> And we may be calling upon you in a few moments to chat again [chuckles] okay? >> Okay. >> All right. So, what we want to do right now is introduce you to Robert Statum. I poll apologize for mispronouncing your name earlier. But as I said, Robert is a success story. He's more than a success story. He is a veteran. He served two tours and was in Germany and then went to work, as I understand it, for the post office and had a mishap during some surgery. Which left him paralyzed. We are going to let him tell you a bit about his story and then I'm going to talk to him. And we'll find out how he actually got himself back to work. So, welcome Robert and thanks for sharing your story with us. [ Background Noise ] Robert, are you there? >> Yes. I'm here. Can you hear me Ray. >> Yes, we can hear you now, yes. >> Okay. Well, again, thank you for having me and I'm just glad to be a part of this and being able to share my story with everyone. So again, thank you for having me. >> Okay, can you tell us a bit about your military service? >> Yes, Ray, I've served in the United States Army. I've spent 7 years in the military. Throughout my career, I was a communication specialist and I've spent most of my time overseas in Europe and Germany and I can say basically, I had a pretty good career and I enjoyed my travel and my time and service. After the military, of course, I came home and I began to work. I worked for the United States Postal Service as a city letter carrier here in Chicago. And after my health kind of took a toll on me from that job, I ended up coming off work and I had a surgery that kind of a, a mishap in regards to knee surgery which rendered me paralyzed. And I've spent about 13 years in the wheelchair and went through a lot of rehab from that timeframe, from that time period. And throughout that rehab time I was, I did a lot of volunteer work and kind of just made some choices on how I wanted to restructure my life and from that time I was introduced into, I was introduced to the Ticket to Work program while drawing Social Security. And from that, I was a little leery, of course, and didn't know what to really do, I was a little afraid to make a choice at that time. >> Let me ask you what you were afraid of. Can you share that with us? >> Well, you know, basically, I think I was more afraid of not knowing if I was actually prepared to take on a full time job again, being able to work. Because I knew I wasn't able to do the type of work that I came from, labor type of work. I knew I was going to have to go into a different type of field. And I didn't even know if I was even prepared to even make that transition to, you know, go back and get the training that I need. I didn't know if I was mentally ready for that, even. But as it came about, I was able to go back to school, get a little training; even during my rehab I was introduced to learning about the computers and different things. So, it really worked out well for me. And again, once I was introduced to the Ticket to Work program that really kind of took some of the ease off of that fear. A lot of times I think most of us we're afraid of, you know, not playing around with Social Security, because for most of the stories that I hear, most people go through a challenge of what they have to go through to get their Social Security, so. It's really a delicate situation when it comes down to making a choice with that. >> Okay, and when you used your ticket did you work with an employment network? >> Actually, my counselor, Jesse [phonetic], he worked with me for a short period of time because throughout this time when I was volunteering, I was already being noticed and recommended for the position in which I'm working in today. I was not sure, again, if I was even qualified or could I even be able to work, you know, do 40 hours. But, again, this person, they worked with me. They ensured me that I would get the training that I needed. And so it was that I did receive the training and I've been at this job as a National Service Officer for the Paralyzed Veterans of America for over 5 years now. >> Okay, and during the time when you were transitioning back to work, did you have any benefits planning assistance? >> Yes. Basically, in regards to that, I guess that you may be speaking in the fact of how the Ticket to Work program was able to assist me. >> Right. And how your earnings were going to impact your benefits. >> Well, you know, that was one thing that really gave me the assurance that everything would be okay because when I learnt that the program kind of had an insurance, had something like a safety valve there. In other words, for one year I knew I was still able to draw my benefits and it was like a trial period. In other words, if the job didn't work out or if it did work out, if I just gave up on it because it was just too much for me, I don't know, whatever the reason was, it was always a security there to say that, my Social Security would still be there available for me. And even after that, you know, I think, I was still being monitored for like, five years after that. And so, I mean, I really didn't  all the worries that I was carrying, they were not worries at all because there was something there to protect me from everything. >> Well, that's good to know. That's good to hear too. Can you tell us about your job with PVA? >> Yes. Today I work as a National Service Officer for the Paralyzed Veterans. What that entitles is, I'm a benefits counselor advocate for veteran's benefits. So, we advocate for veteran's rights as far as VA health care, making sure that they receive the quality health care and the ample benefits that they're entitled to throughout the Department of Veterans Affairs. These benefits can range from everything from housing benefits, vocational rehab, life insurance, burial, survivor's benefits; the list goes on and on. >> Okay. Let me ask you why it was important to you to go back to work. >> You know, I believe, it was important for me to go back to work because I knew for a fact that, although, I felt that I was living with a disability, I still had a strong will to know that I wanted to, I had a life ahead of me as an achiever. I had goals. I had plans to making something more with my life than just the fact that did everything just stop because of my disability? And I knew that was not, you know, that was not true. And even through, like I said, while I was going through my rehab and the years of just really kind of getting myself back in order. I was learning and getting more confident in the fact that there was more out there, there was a lot more for me to do. And going back to work kind of just really just, kind of gave me a new lease on life. >> Okay. And does helping other veterans make a difference to you as well? >> Yes. That makes a huge difference to me. I feel like I'm able to give something back, you know? Being right there and seeing what a lot of veterans go through with trying to obtain VA benefits. And being able to be an advocate to help them. And to help so many others and the family members. And even just to talk to other veterans about the Ticket to Work program, it just makes me feel a great sense of pride to know that, I've struggled and made it through something catastrophicically. A health issue that kind of put me in a  I don't know  I guess kind of like in a vice where I didn't know which way I was going to go. But somehow, I seemed to have made it through and I just want to be able to show others and help others and let everybody know that, you know, there's another option. And you know, you can be an achiever again, you know. >> Okay. You're doing a great job inspiring me. Do you have any other words of advice for the folks who are listening? >> Well, the only thing I would say is, to anybody who may be where I was and, you know, having any doubts, while it took me a while after  you know, I was introduced into the Ticket to Work program twice. And I kept that doubt until I took that step forward. And taking that step forward, it really, actually it just took away the doubt. Just kind of left and just by me taking that first step. And actually getting back into the workforce itself, really, it just made the whole difference. And even as I was going through that transition period of not knowing it, this was the job for me. You know, it gave me enough time to know that yes, I'm right where I needed to be. And without the Ticket to Work program I don't know if I could have had that opportunity, just on the outside getting a job without their support. So it worked out a hundred percent for me and I think it would work out that way for anyone else too. >> Okay. I've got one more question for you, Robert, are you happy? >> Yes. I'm very happy [chuckles]. I'm very happy. >> [Chuckles] you sound like you are. All right. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. >> Oh, well, thank you. >> Okay. Now we're going to get you some other resources, some of them are going to be specific for veterans. And others are going to be generally available to folks who are receiving benefits from the Social Security Administration. There's a lot out there for you. And the combination, don't be afraid to use all of these agencies and get what you can from each one of them. Because if you do get what you can get from the VA, and take that a state VR agency for some extra assistance and some extra resources, you'll have a plan all ready put together. And the state VR agency can step in and provide some extra assistance. Everybody has their limits, but we can add these resources together. And that's a very important thing to know. Now the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services from the Department of Veterans Affairs is a great thing. There are extents of vocational rehabilitation services available to folks. Now it all depends upon what your rating is. You need to be at least 20 percent and you need to need rehab services. There needs to be a barrier to work that you need to overcome. If that barrier is severe, it could be that being less than a 20 percent rating will get you some of these services as well. But, you have job training options, employment accommodations, résumé development, job seeking, skills coaching. A lot of that stuff, I mean, is what Sheriene was talking about. How do you translate your military experience into civilian experience? The VA is there to help you do that as well. They have a lot of resources to help people start their own businesses. Again, that boot camp that I was participating in was a great thing. It was a 9 day session where people were actually building their businesses under the tutelage of some very, very talented people and taking that back to their homes and putting it into action. And one of the things that is really exceptional about the VA is their independent living services. If the disability that you're dealing with is so severe that work doesn't look like it's a possibility right now, the VA will still accept you for rehabilitation services to assist you in being as independent as possible. That's a great thing because that no longer exists in the state VR rehabilitation world. And that might be that first step. Robert indicated, there's always taking a first step and becoming independent is the first step. Hire Heroes USA is available. They have job fairs that are all over the place. They've hosted more than 750 hiring fairs in all of the 50 states, and Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. And they've given jobs or found jobs and placements for 24 thousand veterans and military spouses. There's their website, www.HireHeroUSA.org. So, check that out. Veteran recruiting. www.VeteranRecruiting.com. Dedicated to serving the military community, including the military community with disabilities. Virtual career fairs, live video interviewing services to connect you with potential employers who offer a wide range of jobs that might be available to you. Again, another website. You can get on all of these websites without any obligation whatsoever. Just check them out. The National Resource Directory, www.EBenefits.VA.gov/ EBenefits.NRD. It is a national job bank for veterans. They're looking for veterans to hire. It's a bank of employers. They're looking to identify folks who are coming from the military making that transition. Hundreds of thousands of private sector job openings specifically for veterans. So there are jobs out there for you. And, yeah, I know we've had a tough economy, but it is getting better. So those jobs are real. Now, for those of you who are looking to participate in the Social Security system, visit www.ChooseWork.net/findhelp. That's going to get you into the Ticket to Work services, which include the employment networks as well as the benefits planners or the WIPA agencies. And you can search by zip code, by the types of services offered, by disability types. Certain EN's, employment networks are going to provide services to certain people with certain disabilities. What types of languages do they speak? What type of provider are you looking for? Are you looking for an employment network? Your state VR agency? A benefits planner? Or those legal services, the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security. You can find all of that information at the website. More information for those of you who have specific questions, call the Ticket to Work helpline at 1866-968-7842 for voice and for TTY users, 866-833-2961. Or visit SocialSecurity.gov/work. You can connect with us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ChooseWork or follow us on Twitter, www.Twitter.com/ChooseWorkSSA. And you can keep in touch with us and get uptodate information. Now we're always looking for people like Robert, people like Megan, who share success stories with us. So if you are aged 18 through 64 and you did participate in the Ticket to Work program and are a veteran, we'd really like to hear from you. And we can help give you your 15 minutes of fame. The stories really help inspire people. And if you want to help somebody else, just share your story with us so we can share your story with other people who are looking to make that transition to work. And you can submit your story at stories@ChooseWork.net. Nice and easy. Just sit down and write your own story and somebody will be in touch with you. We're going to have a Facebook question and answer after today's webinar. It's going to run from 4:30 to 5:30 eastern time. And you can view it at www.Facebook.com/ChooseWork. In order to participate, you have to have a Facebook account. You can create one real fast at www.Facebook.com/ help/createaccount. And if you have accessibility questions or assistive technology questions for Facebook you can get the answers to that at www.Facebook.com/ help/accessibility. You can participate via HTML at http://M.Facebook.com/ Choosework#!/ ChooseWork?V=feed&_user=0. If you cannot access Facebook, please send your questions to webinar@ChooseWork.net. Or visit the Choose Work blog after the session and you can access the Facebook Q and A transcript. So we are at the end of the session, we're a little bit over. Please join us for the session. When we sign off, which we will be doing in about two seconds, there will be a brief survey that will popup on your screen. That will take you about 30 seconds to complete and we really would appreciate your help with that as well. So I want to thank Sheriene and I want to thank Robert for their help with today's presentation. You were both great. Thanks to Mike in the background making all things webinar work. And thanks to Jamie. Everybody, thanks for joining us. Have a great afternoon. Take care. [ Background Noise ]