WISE Ticket to Work Webinar
Choosing a Service Provider That’s Right for You
February 26, 2020

Speakers: Sarah Hyland (Moderator), Ray Cebula (Presenter)

SARAH>> Good afternoon and welcome to today's Ticket to Work Webinar, "Choosing a Service Provider That's Right for You." My name is Sarah Hyland. I am a member of the Ticket to Work team, and I will be your moderator for today's webinar. We are so glad you were able to take time to spend with us today and learn about Social Security's Ticket to Work program and how it can help you as you start your path to financial independence through work. Each of us has our own path to follow, and we hope you find some inspiration today that will assist you in moving forward on your path to financial independence. 

Let's get started today by going over some functions of the webinar platform so that you can interact and get the most of the information presented today. First, you can manage your audio using the audio option at the top of your screen. The audio option is an icon that looks like a microphone or telephone. 

All attendees will be muted throughout today's webinar. Thus, when presented with the option to joining the audio conference, choose "Listen Only," which appears at the bottom right in the audio menu. Clicking listening only allows the sound to be broadcast through your computer speakers or your headphones. Please be sure your computer speakers are turned on and your headphones are plugged in. If you are unable to connect to the audio with your computer or prefer to listen to the webinar by phone, please dial 1-800-832-0736 and enter access code 4189148#. 

Next, we will share some information about webinar accessibility. On the Adobe Connect platform you will notice that on your screen there are four different boxes. These boxes are called pods. We have the presentation pod where the slides appear, below that is the closed captioning pod. In the top right-hand corner, you will see the Q&A pod, and below the Q&A pod is the Web Links pod. We will talk about these pods in a little bit more detail shortly. 

If you need assistance navigating Adobe Connect, there is an Accessibility User Guide with a list of controls at http://bit.ly/adobe-accessibility. This link is also available in the Web Links pod at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen, and it is titled "Adobe Accessibility User Guide." Real-time captioning is available and is displayed in the captioning pod, which is the pod that appears below the slide that is on your screen right now. 

The captioning link can also be found in the Web Links pod under the title "Closed Captioning." If you are fluent in ASL or American Sign Language and would like the support during today's webinar, follow the link below that provides instructions to connect with an interpreter through the Federal Communications Commission, FCC, Video Relay Service, VRS. The ASL User Guide can be found in the Web Links pod under the title "ASL User Guide." 

We are here today to answer questions that you have on the Ticket to Work program. Please send your questions to us at any time throughout the webinar by typing them into the Q&A pod. We will direct the questions to our speakers during the Q&A portions of our webinar. We will be addressing questions at two different points throughout today's presentation, so go ahead and send those questions in. We will do our very best to answer as many of them as possible. If you are listening by phone and are not logged into the webinar, you may ask questions by sending an email to Ticket to Work. The email address is webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. 

Another resource available that we think you will find extremely helpful in connecting to the different resources mentioned today is the Web Links pod, which you will find at the bottom right-hand side of your screen. This pod lists all of the links to the resources presented during today's webinar. To access any of these resources, highlight the topic you are interested in and would like to attach and then select "Browse To" button at the bottom of the pod and you will be taken to the website requested. 

If you are listening by phone and not logged into the webinar or don't have access to the Web Links pod, you can email Ticket to Work. The email address is webinars@choosework.ssa.gov, or reference the confirmation email that you received for today's webinar for a list of available resources. Also, please note that SSA cannot guarantee and is not responsibility for the accessibility of external websites. 

Today's webinar is being recorded, and a copy of it will be available within two weeks on the Choose Work website, which can be accessed at http://bit.ly/WISE_OnDemand. This link, as well as others, can be found in the Web Links pod that we just talked about at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen, and this one is titled "WISE Webinar Archives." 

We certainly hope that everyone has a great experience on today's webinar; however, if you run into any technical difficulties, please use the Q&A pod to send us a message, or you can always send us an email at the Ticket to Work email address being webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. 

As I mentioned earlier, my name is Sarah Hyland. I am a member of the Ticket to Work team and I am very excited to be here with you today as your moderator. We are delighted to have Ray Cebula with us today as well. Ray received his law degree from the Franklin Pierce Law Center. He spent 23 years working with Legal Services, providing direct representation to individuals with disabilities having legal issues with the SSA. He became part of Cornell University's Work Incentive Support Center in 2000; and in 2005, he was brought on staff at the ILR's Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disabilities, where he now serves as the program director of YTI Online, which is Cornell's Work Incentive Practitioner Credentialing program. 

Again, thank you all for joining us today. We have a very informative session planned for you, and our guest presenter will be discussing Social Security's Ticket program, establishing work goals, identifying your employment team, benefits counseling, and choosing the right service provider. And we hope that at the close of today's webinar, you will have a better understanding of the Ticket program, be able to set work goals, know your employment team, and be able to choose a service provider to help you meet your employment goals. And with that, it is my pleasure to introduce Ray Cebula to start us off with the Ticket to Work program and support on your journey to work, and plenty of other helpful information. Thanks, Ray. 

RAY>> Thank you, Sarah. Today, we are going to talk a lot about what choices you can make to put together your support team and how you would go about picking an employment network that is right for you. The Ticket to Work is a great program. The Ticket to Work also gives you the power to control your journey to work, and it's up to you to put a support team together that you're going to be able to work with and trust, to protect you and support you on that journey to work. So, today's information is going to be really, really, really helpful for you to make those decisions. 

Remember that Social Security provides benefits through two different programs, the SSDI program, which is the Social Security Disability Insurance Program. That is paying benefits to people who have a work history and have paid into the FICA Tax program. As you work, you buy credits, and the longer you work, the closer you get to your insurance status. It all depend on your age and how much you've worked and how much you've earned. But once you become insured, if you keep working, those retirement and disability benefits just keep going up. 

Then we move to the SSI program, Supplemental Security Income. This is a needs-based program that functions more like a federal welfare program. And because of that, income of any kind is going to have a greater impact. Why do I tell you about these two programs? Because your first job is to determine which benefit you receive. When you start putting your team together, they are going to have to know which benefit you receive in order to get you the correct information. 

How can you find that out? Take out a Social Security notice that you received. Everybody just got one last month to let you know what the increase was, and right at the top it tells you what kind of benefit you get. My Social Security account, if you go to SSA.gov and set those up, it will also tell you what kind of benefit you get. And that's your first step. So, figure out what benefit you receive and then we can go on a hunt for a team that is directed at the right programs. 

Now, when you start this journey, the great thing about the Ticket to Work is that it's voluntary, and it's up to you to decide to make a choice about work. We're just here to give you information that will encourage you to make the right decision for you. I can tell you, with proper counseling, with the right team, this program will make you better off working than you are on benefits, and, likely, with little, little impact on your healthcare benefits. So, I just want to let you know the plan here is to make life better for you. 

Why the Ticket to Work? Earning a living through employment is not something everybody can do, but it might be the right decision for you, and making a Ticket to Work available to everybody who receives benefits as a disabled adult is the way to give you the choice. Once you understand the services, the free services and supports that the ticket brings along with it, I think you're going to find that this scary journey isn't so scary after all, and that the results are going to far outweigh the risks that you're going to see. 

Why do I believe that? Because people are helping you. They are planning for things. They are alerting you to what potholes may be in the road, and if you do hit a pothole, they can point you in the right direction to get that tire fixed. So, the goal here is for us to help you be successful. So, we want you to take time to learn about the Ticket program, and, again, we are here to help you make that journey from benefit dependence to financial independence. 

What is the Ticket to Work program? It was signed a lot of time ago by President Clinton, on December 17, 1999, and, notice, it's free and voluntary. This is kind of a like a three-way contract. Social security is agreeing to pay for support services to a provider that you pick if you pick the provider and then comply with the plan to get you back to work. So, it's kind of a three-way deal. And if you do your part, everybody else is going to be happy as well. 

Career development may be the start. Maybe that's what you need. You know, for people 18 through 64, notice the age. If you are 18, you have to have had a disability. It's called an "Age 18 Redetermination," and you have to have been determined to be a disabled adult. So, that's the only catch of age 18. It will help people up through the age of 64, and that's the target audience for moving from benefits to work. 

The ticket connects you with free services. How is it going to help you? Is work right for you? Is it going to make sense for you to work? You know, if your maximum capacity is full-time employment, wonderful. This is the great program for you. If it's not, maybe we need a different program. That doesn't mean you can't work part time. 

How to prepare for work, what do you need? Do you need education? Do you need training? Do you just need to have a new resume put together? You know, I know with the way resumes are now, if I could get free services putting a resume together, it would be very, very helpful, because I don't even know what they look like nowadays. Help finding a job, the employment networks out there who are going to provide you with a lot of support also are very much in touch with the job market in their local areas. You know, so they're not only going to be able to help put that resume together but they'll give you some practice interviewing and then point to jobs that meet your needs, as well as can benefit you, both financially and personally. 

And then succeeding at work, that's the best part about this program, because we don't want to just put you to work. We want to turn you into a worker, so we're going to provide on the job supports to make that happen. So, even after you have a job, we're not cutting you loose. We're there to support you until you don't need us anymore, and that's one of the best parts. 

So, you have to explore your goals. We all have goals. Your goals may not involve work right now, but hopefully, by the end of this presentation, they will. And how do you do that? You know, work goals are going to allow you to focus on what road you're going to go down when you start this journey to work. You know, I'm a big list maker, and I think listing your goals on a piece of paper, and checking them off, which I do every day on my calendar, check them off allows you to not only see your progress but you know you're getting things done. 

You hold yourself accountable. You know, you're taking responsibility for this journey. You are the one that's directing this employment team. And in order to get these items checked off, you have to find that employment network and then you get a check. You have to find that benefits counselor, and you can check that all. It also keeps you motivated, because every once in a while, you know, you have a day where it's like, I don't want to get out of bed. But if I look at my list and 17 items out of 20 are checked off, that's going to help, because I know I'm almost there. It also increases your chances of success. And it may sound like a game, but, seriously, think about going to the grocery store, if you've got a list, and I always have a list, and a pencil to cross off every item, you get what you need and you get it fast. So, making lists, checking them twice, and checking off each step along the way is seriously going to help. I really believe that. 

So, your work goals, three questions that you can ask yourself -- and take notes when you're answering these questions, write things down -- what type of work do you like to do? Do you want to go back to the type of job you had before you began receiving benefits? Might you need to be retrained to do that job, or do you have a different interest? It's very important that you decide what you're interested in, because what your interests are is going to be a big determiner on how successful you're going to be. You know, we don't want to put you in a job that you don't like? I happen to love my job, and I feel very fortunate. Still, I have those days I don't want to get out of bed, you know. 

So, what are you interested in if you're not sure about work, or if you are an SSI recipient and have little work history, what are your interests? You know, we can make a job that meets those interests, and that's what you want to do. What kind of job do I want now? Maybe you're not looking for a job. Maybe you're looking for a career, so I'm going to answer these last two questions at the same time. Maybe we have a temporary job coming up. You know, for the next two years I'm going work at Wal-Mart, save some money. And what I want is a career in retail. So, I don't want to just work at Wal-Mart, I want to get the education and the training I need to become the manager of a department at Wal-Mart. I'm not going to settle for a minimum-wage job. That's the type of person that we're looking for, you know, somebody who wants to make a career. 

What are your long-term career goals? Boy, these slides are working right for me today. You know, I didn't know what I was going to do when I went to school, and I kind of stumbled into law school. There was no plan. You know, my parents didn't go to college, so they weren't really able to help, and it just kind of all worked out, and I found my way. But if you have the opportunity to put a group of people together who are dedicated to helping you, you can figure this out ahead of time. You know, you know that your long-term career goal is to be a retail manager. It doesn't have to be at Wal-Mart. It could be anywhere. But we need to get some experience first, so we're going to start small and continue with a goal that's bigger to make a career rather than a job. 

Where do you want to work? Do you want to go to a job? Do you want to work at home? What about outdoors, because nothing says you can't become a park ranger? We just have to get you properly trained and make sure that you can do that job. You know, I work at home. I do work at Cornell, but I work at home, and I enjoy that. I have independence. I don't get bothered by other people unless I want them to bother me, and I get a lot of work done, so I prefer that. Or do you want to go to an office job, you know, knowing there are going to be other people there? That's a great thing too. I've been in offices, and I've loved that as well. 

Do you want to be self-employed or work with somebody else? You know, if you want to work with somebody else, that's a wonderful thing? I for one have never wanted to be responsible for making a living, so I work for other people who pay me. But what about those of you out there who think you can begin your own business? Do you have a hobby that you could turn into a business? Many of us have hobbies that, if you thought about them, you could turn into self-employment and begin selling things. You know, if you go on SE website, it's full of people who have hobbies and are now in business. Employment networks can make that happen for you. 

Once you know what kind of job you want, what do you need? You know, we need information about specific job options. The good thing about the Ticket to Work is, it's kind of like a shopping pass, you can go to many ENs and talk to them and see what they can do for you, see what kind of jobs are out there in your area that you might want. Are there any jobs that you might want to do that are further away but you can do from home? There are lots of jobs like that. Do you need training or education? If you do, we can make that happen as well. Again, the resume and interview skills very, very important. Very, very important things. Your resume has to catch somebody's eye, and you've got be ready for these interviews, and you have to have a list of questions that you're going to ask that person that you are hoping will give you this job, and practicing is the way to do that. 

Another important thing, and one of the most important things for most people, is how does work and earning money affect your benefits and health care? You know, there are benefits counselors out there. Plenty of the employment networks have them. Your state VR agencies have them, and they're available to talk to. This shouldn't be a surprise. You know, we don't want to send you to work and have Social Security send you a notice that says, whoops, your benefits dropped. Our job is to prepare you for all of this so that you know when your benefits are going to be affected, and to show you that even though your benefits may decrease, your work income is still making you better off, is still making you better off. 

As far as health care goes, in most states, and if you are on Medicare, you know, you have to work for a very long time before something is going to happen to these benefits. You know, it's one thing I'm pretty sure about. Almost everywhere you're going to bet set for a good long time. What I do like to tell people is that if you're on benefits, you may think that you're getting free health care, but you're not. You are paying premiums. You're paying co-pays. So, when you start reducing benefits, your costs are going to have to come from another place; right? So, the premium that you're paying out of your SSDI benefits has to be replaced with a check you're going to write. So, knowing that you're paying for health care now means that the counselors you talk with need to make sure you can pay for it when it's your turn to do that, and we can make that happen. It's just a very important thing to know that it's not coming to you free right now. 

Reasonable accommodations and assistive technology, you know, there's lots of equipment that's out there that can help almost everybody do a job. Some are provided by an employer. Some could be provided by Medicare and Medicaid. You may have some right now. Reasonable accommodations, in order to get an accommodation, you have to ask for it. 

How do you approach your employer? You don't need to ask for an accommodation in an interview. You can wait until the job is offered to you and then make that request. Do you want to reveal to your employer that you have a disability? That's up to you, and the Employment Network or the Protection and Advocacy Agency, that we'll talk about a little later, could help you make that decision and help you determine how best to approach your employers about these issues. 

Meet your employment team, here we're going to go, we're going talk about all these folks who are out there seriously waiting to help. The Ticket program is going to give you, seriously, about everything you need. Employment networks, they are private agencies that kind of act like the state VR agency. They're going to provide you with supports and preparation to go to work at no cost to you. They're the people that are going to also give you on-the-job support after you've gone to work. Workforce ENs -- used to be called One-Stop Centers -- they're great places if you don't have a computer. Most jobs now you need to have a resume online and send it in. Nobody wants an envelope and paper anymore. There are computers that you can use at those centers. There are people that can help you put a resume together at no cost. 

State Vocational Rehabilitation agencies, there's one in every state, at least one. The agencies for the blind may be separate. I believe there are 87 different ones in the country. But they are available to you, and because you receive benefits, you're a priority for them. And they will help you get some of the very expensive equipment you might need. If you need a van that is handicap accessible and you have the van, State VR will modify that van so that it's useful to you, things like that.

If you're looking for two years-worth of schooling to get an Associate's degree, state VR is more likely to be the folks that will help you with that. And we'll talk a little later about how you can use both of those places. They're great programs. 

The Work Incentives Planning and Assistance, the WIPA projects, they have benefits counselors. If you're working or you're about to start work, you want to talk to one of these people, because you want to know what's going to happen. You know, you want to go to work coming from a place of strength. And if you are proactive and plan and know when things are going to happen, you can control the situation and react to notices that come. If you don't plan and react, you know, you're letting someone else control the situation, so we want planning done. 

Planning is also going to give you another list, and you can check the things off of that list as well. So, it also lets you know what kind of progress you're making. Major advocate here of benefits planning services, because it is the way to let you know what's going on and what will happen. 

Protection and advocacy, I mentioned that before. The last job I had in Boston was as a protection and advocacy attorney for Social Security. It's called the PABSS project, and we provided free legal representation to people who had barriers to work. But any time there was an issue on the job, any time somebody needed a reasonable accommodations, we would either talk to you about it and what is the ramification of disclosing your disability, or what could that be, and how you want to approach your employer about getting that reasonable accommodation. Or is there another way we can get this item or service for you without telling? And if your employer says, no, I'm not going to give you that, we would provide representation if that was necessary. So, you're pretty much covered with every event that could possibly happen during this job search, and that's a great team together. So, those are the people who are potentially on your team. You need to decide who and when to use this. 

Now, the Employment Network, we're going to go through some of these quick, because I just went through them all. Again, private or public agency that is have an agreement with Social Security, their agreement is they will provide you with free services if you have a Ticket to Work. Your agreement with the Employment Network is that you will make progress with the plan that you build with that Employment Network so that Social Security can pay the EN. Again, the American Job Centers, the Workforce ENs, private ENs, the ENs that are out there doing this work now are really fantastic and do a great job, and do a really great job of providing people with services. 

What kind of areas do these people cover? It depends on which one you look at. You know, it might be the local Santa Fe area. It might be all of New Mexico. It might be the entire country. You know, there are some that if you need to send them a resume, you can send them a draft. They'll do some polishing and spritzes it up and send it back to you. If that's what you need, that's what you can get from anywhere in the country. If you'd rather talk to that person, you want to talk to somebody local. But these services can be provided by anyone who serves your area, and you're going to use the "Find Help" tool that is in the Web Links pod to find out who serves your area, and you will find a variety of national, statewide, or local people. 

Again, the services differ too. We can provide services in person, which is the way I prefer to do business? We can provide it virtually using phones, email, Zoom, Adobe Connect, what we're doing now, so more and more information is getting done across computer lines, or both. You know, there may be a time where you want to meet the person. You know, if you're going to choose your employment network and they're a couple hours away, maybe you want to get there to talk to them and interview them and make sure you're going to be able to work together. But after that, we can communicate via email and on computers. So, we're making these services as accessible and easy to get as we possibly can. 

The services and supports that we're going to provide to you our designed for you, are designed for you. Now, we're trying to get you to find financial independence, and that means leaving the benefits role for employment. You'll always be better off working. That's how every program in this country works. Every type of disability program, every type of social program that we have is built so that you're better off working. You know, and we want you to be better off. But you need to identify those work goals. You're running the show here. We need you to help put your resume together, prepare for those interviews, and preparing really does help. 

What about those reasonable accommodations, do you know what they are now or do you need to talk with your Employment Network about them? And receive benefits counseling. You know, benefits counseling is going to happen as needed. You know, you will talk to somebody, put a plan together, but if things change, you can go back and have that plan amended. But, remember, the goal here is for you to be happy, working, productive, and better off than you are now. 

The state VR agencies, they're big programs. They tend to have much more money than some of these smaller ENs have, and they provide a lot of services to people who want to go to work, who need training, who need education, who need some on-the-job supports for a limited time. So, that's where we're going to go if you've got really expensive needs. Again, some states separate the blind agencies from the disability agencies. Not all of them do. But that you need to find out in your state. 

Here's the program that I was talking about, giving you a hint about. Partnership Plus is fabulous. You know, it's just a great, great program. And what it does is allow you -- I'm going to be a teaching assistant and that's what I want to be, and I need a two-year Associate's degree to do that. So, I'm going to go to the state VR agency, and they're going to help me get my education. They're going to pay my tuition and books and fees and maybe transportation to and from school. I'm going to get my two-year degree, and now what do I do with it? 

You know, I got to get a job. I can give my ticket to VR to get my education, and they are going to put it in what's called "in-use status," and they're going to provide services for me. I can then take the ticket from VR when I have my education and go to a local Employment Network and assign my ticket. And that Employment Network can get my resume together and give me some interviewing skills, talk to me about reasonable accommodations that I might need, and then point to employers that are likely to employ somebody like me, because, remember, this all about me. It's all about you. So, we're going to be individualizing these services to meet your needs, and that connection between VR and an Employment Network, and that Employment Network, remember, can also provide on-the-job supports until you're independent, is a fabulous thing. You get the best of both worlds. You get the best of both words. 

Work Incentive Planning and Assistance projects, they are funded by Social Security. Individual people are called "Community Work Incentive Coordinators," or CWIC, and they provide benefits counseling to any beneficiary, and they're talking about how earned income is going to affect your SSDI, your Medicare, your SSI, and Medicaid, and they should also be talking to you about everything else. You know, if you have SNAP or food-stamp benefits, they should be telling you what's going to happen when you reach a certain level of income, and make sure that your earnings are enough to replace the SNAP benefits. 

Housing, they're going to talk to you about that too. How is increased income going to affect your housing, and how is this all going to work out? The best thing about this is the last thing that plan is going to tell you is how much more money you're going to have. That's why we plan these returns to work. 

There are a lot of things out there that are dispelling myths. There are a lot of urban myths out there and they talk very loudly. They say, if you go back to work, you're going to lose everything, and that's heard very loudly. And I'm here to tell you that you can't listen to what the street says. You have to talk to an EN. You have to talk to a benefits counselor, and they will tell you what's really going to happen. Yes, the goal here is for you to work your way off of benefits. But like I said, your health care is going to last for a very, very long time, ideally, until you get health care from your employer. 

Your cash benefits, we're not worried about those so much, because you're going to have more money through earnings if everything is planned appropriately. You know, I love taking calculation sheets and showing them to people and having their jaws drop open when they see how much more money they will have. And it does encourage people, and I want you all to be encouraged and not looking to the street and believe myths that are discouraging. 

Who do the WIPA projects serve? If you're working right now or you're currently self-employed or have a job offer pending or you're actively interviewing, you've had an interview in the last 30 days or there's one scheduled real soon, and you're age 14 to 25, so transition age you, you have a special priority with these folks, and that's a great thing, you're qualified for services. As we said, there are also benefits counselors at ENs at the state VR agencies who can work with you a little bit earlier, they can tell you if you're curious about work and want to know what might happen if you go to work and earn $2,000 a month, the ENs and the VR agencies' benefits counselors can help you with that too. So, we're not just focusing on this. We want everybody to get an equal opportunity to hear the truth and not listen to the myths. 

PABSS we talked about. Free legal services if you run into a problem. Now, not everybody does. Actually, very few people do. But if something happens and you need legal services or advocacy services, they're there for you also. Now, these tend to be very small programs so you need to make contact with the agency in your state. It's generally called Disability Rights Washington, Disability Rights New Mexico, something to that effect, and you'll find them in the "Find Help tool." And you might want to talk to them when you need them. And you will know when you need them if you have to resolve any employment concerns with the employer, with Social Security. 

What about with your EN? You know, you want a super-duper computer and you EN is planning for a baseline computer because that's what they know you're going to need at this point in your career. The super-duper one comes later. That could give rise to your trying to get a jobs advocate to help negotiate what type of equipment, what type of plan, what type of steps are you going to take. The same with VR agencies, you are there to build a plan with VR, and if it's not going the way you think it should, PABSS is there to help. You know, they can talk to VR with you or without you and see if we can make a little left turn here rather than go straight. So, remember, they're out there. 

Some of those programs also have benefits counselors, the WIPA programs in house, so a lot of this is going to be one-stop shopping. Whoops, the slide didn't go anywhere. How to find these folks, again, that Find Help tool, choosework.ssa.gov/findhelp. And it's really easy. You can search by Zip Code and then you can look at EN in your area and find out what types of services do they offer. You know, some of them are big. Some of them are one-person shops. 

What types of disability do they serve? If you have a physical disability and you find an EN that specializes in mental health issues, that might not be a good fit. But you can look at every EN that serves your area and find out what they do and who they are experts at serving. What languages do they speak? They're going to advertise that on their website, because they're looking for people to come to them. 

The provider types, who are you looking for? Each one has, as you can see in that picture, a triangle or a circle or a diamond, and if it's a click on the diamond and you've found the path. It's a click on the circle, and you found the benefits counselor, the WIPA program. Click on one of those triangles, that brown triangle, and you found the state VR agencies. This is a very useful and helpful website. Or if you want to talk to somebody about it, call the Ticket to Work Helpline and they'll give you a list of providers that you can then talk to if you want to. I'm going to give you that helpline number. It's 1-866-968-7842, or if you're a TTY user, 1-866-833-2967. 

All right, Sarah, it looks like we're at the first Q&A session. 

SARAH>> Awesome. Thanks for kicking us off, Ray. Let's pause here and take a few moments to address some of these questions, and see what we've received from our audience on these topics. To start, the first question we have is, why is it important to write down clearly defined goals that include deadlines or timelines for reaching targets? 

RAY>> Ah, you know, it's important because it's not likely to get done if you don't. If you know what you need to do today, if you know what you need to do tomorrow, you know, tomorrow I already have on my list, I'm flying home. I know what I'm doing on the plane, because I have it written down. You know, I know that Friday is payday, so I'm going to set aside time to pay my bills. If I write all of this down and I check it all off, I don't forget to do it. So, when we're talking about a workload, you're going to have lots of steps. Your first step is to talk to an EN. Okay, how do you find it? We've gone through that. Write it down. 

When do you want to go to work? If you want to go to work next month, you best get on the horn with an EN real quick and check that box off. You've done it. When are you going to meet with that EN? Does the EN have a benefits counselor or do you have to go to a separate agency? And so writing that down, not only gets you to do it, because it's staring you right in the face, but when you sit down and are exhausted, you can look back that list and say, but look what I did, I accomplished all of that. So, lists and checking things off as you go along are a fabulous way to keep you going. It's worked for me for 63 years. 

SARAH>> Awesome. And a follow up to that, we had another question about goals. How often should I revise or review my goals do you recommend? 

RAY>> Oh, gosh, you know, I think that revising goals as you're checking things off your list, you know, I think you revise your goals any time you have a serious question about what somebody tells you. If you're working with an EN because you want to do that retail career and they start telling you, in order to do that, your first job will be something like this, and you say, wait a minute. If you're thinking wait a minute -- remember, you're the boss here -- you can say, wait a minute, because I don't know if that's for me. 

And there are lots of jobs out there that you think you know what's involved, but when you sit down and talk with somebody and they tell you what's involved, it's like, I don't like that part at all, you know. And sometimes you decide to do that because you want that job, and sometimes it's serious enough that you want to maybe do something else but with the same interest. But you can reassess your goals at every step of the way. You know, most certainly when you finish your goals, you finish that associate's degree to become a teaching assistant, now I have to refocus; right? I have my Associate's degree, now my focus is getting that job. You know, I know I like it because I had to do practice teaching, so now let's focus on getting the job. 

So, not only are you focusing on what the ultimate goal might be, you may have to readjust that, but you need to focus your current efforts on where you are in that process. So, I think that's an ongoing thing that should be thought about all the time. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. I am going to switch gears with this. The next question is about part-time seasonal work. I have a part-time seasonal job. They offered me full time, but I would like to do a work trial. Where do I begin? 

RAY>> Wow, if they've offered you full time, congratulations, you're obviously doing a great job. But if you want a work trial, you know, there are lots of things out there, and I'm not sure exactly what type of benefit you're on, but I'm going to guess you might be on SSDI, and there's a thing called a "Trial Work Period." 

If you're working with an Employment Network to get this part-time job and you want to go full time, you might want to continue. If you don't have an Employment Network yet, you might want to get one, you know, because there are certainly ways that you can negotiate with your employer. I want to try this. It might work. It might not. Do you want to tell them that you have a disability? If you want to, they may buy into that and completely be okay with it. If not, you don't have to. But I think planning that change, not only requires the help of an EN who can talk to you about what that means, but the help of a benefits counselor who now has to help you determine what full-time earnings are going to do to your benefits and make sure you're going to be better off at the end. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. The next question with have for you is, can a service provider help me find accommodations that will help me at work space on my disability? 

RAY>> Absolutely. You know, that's part of our job. That can be done by the Protection and Advocacy Agency. A lot of them have assistive technology contracts and a person there who knows what type of assistive technology is out there and how you can get it. The Employment Networks can certainly discuss that with you. That's really their job, to figure out, okay, now that we've got a career goal in mind, what do we need to make sure you're successful? And it could be anything from a flexible schedule to a piece of equipment that you need, and that would be something the EN would be able to help you figure out. 

Last thing I should say before I stop that is, there is state VR too. They're going to be there to get you some of that equipment as well, and help you determine what type you may need. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, the next question I have for you is, you mentioned benefits counseling. Can you explain what benefits counseling is? 

RAY>> Sure. Benefits counseling is a wonderful thing. I'll start with that. If you are on benefits right now, you have cash and health care coming from Social Security. There may be other benefits that you have coming in. A benefits counselor will sit down with you and talk, figure out what types of benefits you receive, how much is each benefit worth, how much do you receive in food stamp, how much do you receive in SSI or SSDI. And then they're going to go through a process of verifying, because, you know, sometimes if we hear, oh, I get about $200, that's really not helpful. So, we want to know exactly, so we'll write to these agencies or get a notice from you that says how much it is so we can try to be right to penny. Now we have to figure out what work incentives are available to you. And I said it depends upon whether you're on SSI or SSDI. They both have their own sets of work incentives. 

The other thing you need to know, [inaudible] and SNAP, [inaudible] and housing. So, there are lots of these work incentives there to help you become independent, and we need to help you plan for the effects of earnings on all of them. Now, what's your job going to be? That is really not my bailiwick. So, as a benefits planner, I'm more interested in how much are you expecting to earn. You know, you can find out your job. That's the Employment Network team members, they're going to help you decide what your career is going to be. But once you decide that, if you tell me I'm going to be an assistant teacher, do you have a job yet? Not yet. Okay. Well, you live in Spokane, Washington, let's see what the average wage for a teaching assistant is, and it's $22,000. So, if we divide that by 12, we can determine monthly what your income will be. How does that affect your SSDI? 

What work incentives are going to kick in if you earn that much money? How much is that going to affect your SSI? How much of your SSI going decrease because of that earnings, and are the earnings more than what you're losing? How does it affect your Medicaid? How does it affect your Medicare? What happens to your SNAP benefits? I'm there to help you figure that all out and put a plan together so that you will know. 

Let's go back. I can bring in that part-time worker. That part-time worker, I put a plan together so that part-time worker knows exactly what's going to happen when. When might that SSDI check end? Will it end with part-time employment? But now you're talking about full-time employment, so let's come back in and tune up that plan. And what I can tell you is that, after several months, you might end up losing that cash benefit. 

Your Medicare is going to be fine, and you're going to have more money, but we've got to make sure that we can pay that premium for Medicare to keep it, and we're going to have to look at the food-stamp situation and see what's happening there, and make sure there's enough money there. Then I'm going to give you steps, depending on where you are, of things that you need to do. And a lot of them are to make my life easier. You're going to keep all of your notices, you're going to keep all the receipts you buy for things that you buy that you need for work, and you're going to learn how to keep records. If you are unbanked, we're going get you to a credit union, and you're going to open a checkbook. No more check-cashing stores. So, it's a lot of assistance and direction. 

And I said I'm building a plan. I'm not doing it. You're going to do it, and so you have to have a lot of input into this plan as well. So, we're working together to figure out what's going to happen to your income situation and your healthcare situation, and my job is to make sure you're better off. 

SARAH>> Ray, thank you for the thorough answers to the questions that were sent in by our participants. We do have more questions for you, which we will address later in the webinar. But we're going to stop right here and continue on. And before we move on, I would like to remind everyone that accessible materials for today's webinar are available either the Web Links pod or in your confirmation email for today's webinar, or you can email Ticket to Work at webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. And, Ray, I'm going to turn it back over to you to share some information about working with your service providers, and even more resources. Thanks, Ray. 

RAY>> All right, thank you. Working with those service providers, there are a lot of them out there, and it is going to be a team, and the first thing we need to do is make sure everybody's on the same page. So, when talking to our service provider, you know, you're choosing who these people are, particularly the employment network. So, what you want to do is ask them some question, you know, where you can go to every EN who provides services in your area, and you're really interviewing them. 

Do you serve other people who have the same disability that I do, or something that limits the work similarly to what my limitations are? If they say, yes, what types of jobs have these people gotten? Where have they been placed? You want to know that too. How do you work with people? I know I'm sitting here talking to you now, but do I come in to see you every time, or do you send me emails? Can we talk via Skype? You know, if you're in Montana, that's a big place. I don't want to be driving six hours, so maybe we can talk via Skype. If that works, you want to know that. 

And what happens after I assign my ticket? How does this work? And that Employment Network should explain the entire process. Once you hand over your ticket and say I want to work with you, there's some negotiations going on. That plan has to be built, and you're helping to build that plan. Once you come to an agreement as to what types of services you're going to need, what type of job goals you have, then that ticket can go into assignment. And, again, you have to remember that your responsibility is to keep up with the plan and make progress toward your goal. The Employment Network's responsibility is to provide you with support. Social Security's responsibility is to pay the employment network. So, remember, everybody has their own responsibilities here. 

Make sure that you talk about some of these things, the services you know you're going to need. Resume writing, you know, they are different. I don't even know what my resume looks like, but I know it's wrong. It's wrong for today's job market, so you need help putting one together that is current. How do you explain a three-year gap in your employment? Well, there are lots of ways, and ENs know how to do that. What kind of volunteer work did you do? You know, were you babysitting your grandchildren while your child was working? We can put something in there that means you were building some kind of skills while you were receiving disability benefits? 

Interviewing skills, you know, if somebody asks you a question in a job interview, you don't have a whole lot of time to think. You have to be able to respond quickly, so practicing makes perfect. And the recent information that I've had concerning interviews are that if they say, do you have any questions for us, and you say, no, I think I'm all set, like I used to do, you're not going to get the job. So, the EN can help develop questions that you can ask in a general context to make your appear more interested. And, potentially, because the EN might know these employers, they can give I don't mean some questions that asks, you know, how do you handle this type of situation in your company? And a question like that just goes to show that you've looked, you talk to people about this company. So that kind of stuff is very important. 

Benefits counseling, always, and many times possibly. You know, every time you reach a goal, I've reached a goal of working part time, what does that look like? Okay, I'm now reaching the goal to work full time. Tell me what's going to happen now. Why are we looking for these services? You need to let people know why you want these services, and that's ideally to leave the benefits role and become financially independent. And I believe most of you out there can do that, and I want you to just give it a shot. 

How can you help me get to my goals? You know, that's something -- like I said, you're interviewing these people. How can you help me get to that? If my goal is to become a teaching assistance, how are you going to help me become a teaching assistant? I certainly can't pay tuition right now have and benefits, so how is this going to work? Those questions are very, very important for you to answer before picking people to help you. So, keep these questions in mind. 

And I'm going to tell you about a worksheet soon that's going to allow you to take notes, because you really need to keep all of this in one place, and this worksheet is great. 

Did the staff seem friendly to you? Did they sound like they were willing to help, or were they just taking notes; what's your name, where do you live, what's your disability, what limitations do you have for work? Did they seem interested? Does that employment network that you're talking to, or the state VR agency, provide everything that you need? And if they can't, can they access it? Because if you don't get everything you need, it's not going to work, and maybe another EN is the place to be. 

How does the service provider compare to others that you're considering? If you take notes while you're interviewing these people and talking to them, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to go home and compare those to the other EN you met with. When you leave, you don't want to write down, this person really doesn't like me and is not interested while you're talking to the person. But the moment you leave that office, if that's the way you feel, write it down so you'll remember who you don't want to pick, and you're narrowed your search of that. Do you know anybody else who has worked with that provider? Talk to them. See what their experiences were. Get as much information as you possibly can, because this is an important journey you're on, and you want it to work. We all want it to work for you. 

Now, everybody's path to financial independence is different, and the reason why there are so many sources of assistance is because of that very fact. You're all individuals and every service you get needs to be individualized. Do you know what your work goals are? Do you, again, have that hobby, have that interest that somebody might be able to say, hey, you know, this is a job that pays money doing exactly what you're doing for nothing. Let's get those work goals in. That can be talked about with the state VR agency or the employment network if you're unsure. 

If you know what you want to do, all the better. Talk to the person about that and find out what that job really means, because as I said earlier, some of these jobs have tasks you may not be fond of, and the question is, is it worth going there and putting up with that to do that type of job. There's lots of things I have to do. I just spent hours putting things into the computer for my annual review. That is a task I would rather not do. But my job is good enough for me to put up with that stuff, and we have to balance that. 

Create a plan. Set timelines. You know, when I put plans together for people, or with people, it's going to say, you are going to meet with your Employment Network before the end of March. And then it's up to you to meet with an Employment Network and check that off the list. So, we're going to put steps together that you can complete and that you can see the progress that you're making. You know, understand your responsibility for reporting work and earnings. You have to do that. Every agency that you're working with that is providing you with benefits requires you to report income or other things that might affect your benefits. I'm going to give you a list. 

Call Social Security, at the 10th of the month, after you know what your earnings are. So, when February ends, you've got until March 10th to tell Social Security how much you made. That might also be the case for SNAP or food stamps, and I'm going to tell you when that needs to be done, and you're going to do it and check them off. If you're uncomfortable, let me know. I will then work with you. Maybe I'll report for you that first time. Maybe we'll do it together in my office. Eventually, you're going to do it yourself, because you're going to independent. But this has to be also done at your comfort level. 

Follow the plan. If something doesn't work, contact that person who helped you with the plan and say I tried to do this, but it's not working. You know, we can run interference or, potentially, extend that deadline a little. But you've got to keep on top of us, because, really, you are the boss of us with this job. 

So, additional resources, there are tons of them out there. There are tons of them. You know, choosing the right EN for you, I think we've talked about that a lot. You really are interviewing these people, you know. And, look, that's a factsheet, choosing the right Employment Network for you. It will give you some tips, some more detailed information about how to interview an employment network to make sure that they're going to be able to get you to your goal. There's nothing wrong with asking them, what else have you done for a person who has the same disability that I've done? Are they succeeding, you know? I mean, can I have a reference, if you don't know anybody that's worked with that. I mean, this is an important decision. So, to find that resource, questions that can help you choose your service provider and an explanation of the process that's going to occur, download the worksheet, and it's at -- where is it -- it's in your Web Links pod, and it's going to give you a great worksheet to keep notes on and do all kind of comparing and contrasting all in one place. 

Check out the new Find a Job page. I can see that one. It's in your Web pod under find a job, you know, to get started on your job search. You know, you don't need to wait until you have an EN to get on the computer to see what's available. You know, if you think you want to go into retail work, if you think you want to go into teaching, get on the website and find out. You know, Google "Teaching jobs near me." Use Find a Job, and it's going to let you see what's out there. And they may have some job descriptions that will give you enough information, but then you might be able to take it to your Employment Network and say, well, what does this really mean? Connect with those resources. Keep on top of us. We're here to help you succeed. And sometimes, if we don't know you need something, you need to let us know. 

Get updates. You can come here every month, and there's going to be new information. This stuff changes all the time, so you'll want to be on top of it. You know, your Employment Networks are keeping on top of it, you benefits counselors are keeping on top of it. State VR is keeping on top of this stuff. You should do the same thing. You never know when you've got to tune into one of these WISE events and you're going to find that nugget of gold you were looking for. If you want to learn more about the monthly WISE events, you can subscribe. You know, when you registered today, you could click that little button for what may come up, or go to that webinar, the WISE webinar subscription link is in your pod. 

You want to know more about the Ticket program, employment service providers, other things like that, subscribe to the Choose Work blog, and get weekly updates sent to your inbox. And there's a lot of good stuff in there. There's a lot of great stuff in there, actually. How does somebody else react? Are there success stories? You can get encouragement from some people who have already done this and made that transition and are very happily living without benefits. And, again, that's our goal. It's not only to make you financially independent but independent of these agencies that you're dealing with. 

Okay, Sarah, we're back to you. 

SARAH>> Ray, thank you. Lots of great resources you shared there, which, again, can be found in the Web Links pod. We're going to pause now and take a few moments to address some of the questions we've continued to receive while you were presenting. The first question we have is, do I have to apply for the Ticket program to using some of the services to see what type of jobs are available? 

RAY>> Not really. You don't have to use the ticket at all. Remember, I said it was voluntary. You know, the benefits planning folks are going to be out there, the benefits counseling people are going to be out there to give you some information if you're job ready or already working, or some, if you're thinking about it, you can do that without using a ticket. If you're looking for some real heavy-duty job goal searching and some job searching or placement, then, yeah, you'd need to work with your ticket. You know, the Employment Networks are out there to make a living, you know, and if your ticket is not in their hand, they're not going to get paid, but they are going to provide you with a service, so remember that triangle. You know, I'm thinking of what else is out there. State VR, you don't need to use your ticket, but, you know, you can if you want to. And there are some benefits that benefits counselors can tell you about that, having your ticket assigned. 

You know, the other thing you can do is call that helpline again. And we gave you that number. The helpline is always there to help, and they will give you answers or get you referred to somebody who can get you some more detail. Now, I'll read that number one more time, 1-866-968-7842, or for TTY users, 1-866-833-2967. I'm not going to read it again. 

SARAH>> I just might though, Ray. 

RAY>> Okay. 

SARAH>> The next question that I have for you is, how do you know if you are in need of an EN or a VR? 

RAY>> Well, you know, you just have to think about what your situation is. Again, everybody's situation is a bit different. Do I need state VR services? Well, what do I need to go to work? You know, again, if I have had a job before and now, because of my disability, I want to return to that job, do I need to be retrained or learn how to do things differently? If you need services like that, you need state VR. If you're not sure about your work goals, you know, you got some ideas, but you need to talk to somebody about that, then you want to talk to an Employment Network and see if they can help you focus. If you're listening to the street, you know, you might want to talk to a benefits counselor to hear what's really going to happen. So, it depends on how you're situated? 

Are there jobs that everybody can do? I think there's a job out there for everybody. I really do believe that. But we have to sometimes get help preparing for it or finding it. And if that's your situation, then we need VR or an EN. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. The next question I have for you is, will my benefits stop if I go back to school? 

RAY>> No. No, not at all. You know, social Security is not interested in pulling the rug out from under you. If you're going back to school, you are looking to better your situation, and that's part of the journey to independence. It may very well be a necessary part of your journey. So, if that's in your plan, and you're working with state VR or an Employment Network and you're making progress, you're going to school and you're taking classes and you're passing them, then, no, your benefits are not going to stop. Social Security wants you to continue. 

SARAH>> Ray, I have one last question for you. Could you clarify, I have a disability and receive benefits -- how do I know if I'm eligible for Ticket to Work, and how do I get started? 

RAY>> All right, the ticket, as it began a long time ago, and they use today be paper, then they went virtual. Now they're in paper again. So, Social Security most likely mailed you a Ticket to Work. The question is, have you used it? If you haven't used it, you probably have it there, you know. If you lost it, if you threw it away, you don't need the paper ticket. You can find out and, Sarah, you set me up, you got to call that helpline. They can let you know if you have a ticket. And it's easy as making a phone call. Again, you don't need the paper. But if you are a disabled adult between the ages of 18 to 64, you are most likely eligible for a ticket. You know, if you've used it already, you know that. If you haven't used give that helpline a call, and they'll let you know that you have a ticket. Did I take care of that entire question? 

SARAH>> You sure did, Ray. Thank you so much. Unfortunately, we are out of time for questions for today's webinar. Thank you to the audience for sending in all of your questions. We, hopefully, provided answers to your questions on the Ticket program. And, Ray, of course, thank you for being here with us today and presenting. We appreciate you. 

RAY>> Thank you. 

SARAH>> Okay. Social Security's Ticket to Work program has a number of service providers and other resources ready to help you get started. To get a list of providers in your area, or to get answers to questions about the program that you may have and other work incentives, you can contact the Ticket to Work help line at 1-866-968-7842, or for TTY, 1-866-833-2967. That's Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, or you can always visit the Ticket to Work web site at choosework.ssa.gov at any time as well. You can also find us on social media or subscribe to the blog and email updates by visiting choosework.ssa.gov/contact, and, of course, this link appears in the Web Links pod under "Ticket to work contact information.” 

Please join us for our next WISE webinar, "Expanding Your Job Search with Ticket to Work. This will be held on Wednesday, March 25th, 2020, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Registration is open, and we look forward to having you attend. To register online, please go to choosework.ssa.gov/wise, or you can call 1-866-968-7842, or for TTY, 1-866-833-2967. 

And, of course, your feedback is very important to us. It helps us plan future webinars. Please provide your feedback and tell us what you think about today's webinar by taking our survey. To take the survey, you can follow the link that will pop up after the webinar, or you can always visit the Ticket to Work website to complete the survey.

I want to thank you again for attending today and learning about the Ticket program. Please take the opportunity to reach out to any of the resources shared today that we discussed and take the next step in your career path. This concludes today’s webinar. Please have a wonderful evening. Thank you.