WISE Ticket to Work Webinar
Working from Home with Ticket to Work
October 21, 2020

Speakers: Sarah Hyland (Moderator); Ray Cebula, Paula Vieillet & Lori Adler (Presenters)

SARAH>> Good afternoon and welcome to today's Ticket to Work webinar, Working from Home with Ticket to Work. My name is Sarah Hyland, and 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 to learn about Social Security Ticket to Work program and how it can help you as you start on the path to financial independence through work. Each of us has our path to follow, and we hope you find some information today that will assist you in moving forward on your path to employment and financial independence. 

Let's get started by going over some functions of the webinar platform so that you can interact and get the most information out of today's webinar. 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. That's when presented with the options to joining the audio conference, choose "Listen Only," which appears at the bottom right in the audio menu. Clicking "Listen Only" allows for sound to be broadcast through your computer speakers or your headphones. Please make sure your speakers are turned on or 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, 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 more detail shortly. 

If you need assistance navigating Adobe Connect, an Accessibility User Guide with a list of controls is available 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. It is titled "Adobe Accessibility User Guide." 

Real-time captioning is available and is displayed in the Captioning pod, which is the box that appears below the slide that is on your screen right now. The captioning link can be found in the Web Links pod under the title "Closed Captioning." If you are fluent in ASL and would like support for today's webinar, follow the link below that provides instructions to connect with an interpreter through the Federal Communication Commission, FCC, Video Relay Service, VRS. The ASL User Guide can also be found in the Web Links pod under the title "ASL User Guide."

We are here today to answer questions that you may 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 those questions to our speakers during the Q&A portions of the webinar. We will be addressing questions for both speakers at three different points throughout today's presentation, so go ahead and send those questions in, and we will do our best to answer as many of these as possible. If you are listening by phone and are not logged in to the webinar, you may ask requests by sending an e-mail to Ticket to Work. The e-mail address is webinars@chooseworks.ssa.gov. 

Another resource we think you will find extremely helpful in connecting to 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 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 connect to, and then select the "Browse to" button at the bottom of the pod. You will be taken to the website requested. If you're listening by phone and not logged in to the webinar or you don't have access to the Web Links pod, you can e-mail Ticket to Work. The e-mail address is webinars@choosework.ssa.gov, or you can 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 responsible 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 in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. It will be titled "WISE Webinar Archives." We hope everyone has a great experience on the webinar today; however, if you run into any technical difficulties, please use the Q&A pod to send us a message, or you can always send an email to Ticket to Work. The e-mail address is webinars@chooseworks.ssa.gov. 

As I mentioned earlier, my name is Sarah Hyland, and I am a member of the Ticket to Work team. I'm excited to be here with you today. I will be your moderator. We also have with us and are delighted to introduce three excellent speakers, Ray Cebula, Paula Vieillet, and Lori Adler. 

Ray received his law degree from the University of New Hampshire's Franklin Pierce School of Law. He spent 23 years providing legal services to individuals with disabilities in their interactions with Social Security. He became part of Cornell University's Work Incentive Support Center in 2000, and in 2005 he joined the staff of Cornell's Yang Tan Institute on Employment and Disability, where he now serves as a program director of YTI Online, which is Cornell's Work Incentive Practitioner Credentialing Program. 

Paula Vieillet is the CEO and Founder of My Employment Options Inc., also known as MEO, or MEO. Paula has been helping people with physical, mental, and emotional challenges find suitable jobs over 20 years as a nationally certified vocational evaluator. She is also nationally recognized as a consultant, author, and speaker. My Employment Options has been a part of the Ticket to Work program since it began and specializes in both work at home and onsite job placement for those receiving SSDI and SSI in 47 states. Many of her staff have also used the program personally to return to the workforce. 

And we have Lori Adler, who is a communications mentor at My Employment Options, and is also a Ticket to Work program participant. Lori has used the program personally to return to work remotely from home, as that was the best option for her invisible disability. The program allowed Lori to gradually work from home, and, over time, she was able to use the program to work off benefits and have a career. She now helps promotes the Ticket to Work program in her job to help others like herself on SSDI or SSI to learn more about it. Lori was also chosen by SESA as a program success story. 

Thank you so much for joining us today. Today we're going to discuss how Social Security Ticket programs can help you answer your questions relating to Social Security Ticket program, Ticket to Work service providers, benefits of working from home, finding work from home opportunities, and pulling it all together. 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 service providers. Thanks, Ray. 

RAY>> Thank you, Sarah. It's good to see everybody today. I have one ground rule for you all. We will not be taking any COVID-related questions today. Social Security does have a website that is devoted to anything and everything COVID that is affecting the administration. That is at http://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/. So, just fair warning that we're not going to be picking those questions up. 

The Ticket to Work program, I've been a major fan for 20 years, and it's going to give you a lot of support for your journey to work in many, many ways, as you're going to hear from the other two speakers. But I just want to go through some of the programs, how they're working, and some of the more mechanical details and save the good stuff for Paula and Lori. 

Now, we've got two disability programs that are being administered by the Social Security Administration, SSDI, which is Social Security Disability Insurance, and SSI, which is Supplemental Security Income. And the big difference between these two is SSDI is, in fact, an insurance program. As you're working and paying FICA taxes, you are buying insurance status, whereas in the SSI program, it is a needs-based benefit. You do not have had to have work; however, you have to meet the same definition of disability as you do with the SSDI program. 

It's very for you to know what benefit you're on before you start talking to people for help. One way to find that out is to open up a My Social Security account on the Social Security website. I think everybody should have one. So, after you leave today, that is your homework, set up your own Social Security account. 

Whether or not you're going to start a journey to work is completely up to you. You have to make the decision as to whether this choice is right for you. We are here to help you after you have made this decision, and we can be available to help you if you have questions about the programs that might help you before you make that decision. So, we want everybody to make the decision that work is the right choice, but you're not required to. We think it's the right decision, but you may not. You may think it's the right decision two years from now; that's fine. We'll still be here waiting for you. Remember, this is a voluntary program. 

Why use the Ticket to Work? Lots of great reasons to use the Ticket to Work. You know, earning a living through employment is not something that everybody can do, but it may be the right choice for you, whether you can earn a living or just supplement what you have. Once people understand the services, the free services and supports that are available to them during the journey to work, they're going to find out that the rewards, not only monetary but the other rewards, far outweigh the risks of taking a chance to go to work, and I've got to tell you, it's the truth. You know, what you hear on the street is generally a bunch of myths about what happens when you start working, and they're just not true. There are some marvelous protections provided under the Ticket to Work. 

So, what is this? It is just what it says, the Ticket to Work program. It is free and voluntary. The social security administration administers it, and it's going to allow you to get help determining which jobs might be right for you. Today we're going to be talking about home-based jobs, is that the right decision for you. How do you do that? You know, how do you set up a home office, all of these things are things you can find out by using your Ticket to Work and discussing this with an employment network. 

Career development for people between the ages of 18 and 65 who receive a social security disability benefit and want to work, you know, everybody wants to work, but we would rather set you on a career path so that you're not just getting a job. You're going to have something that is more meaningful than that. You're going to develop a career out of this Ticket to Work program. Again, free employment services, decide if working is right for you. How do you prepare for the job? What job might you want? Finding a job and succeeding at work, and that last part is really important, because we're not going to get you a job and place you in a work situation and leave. We're going to be there to support that work effort until you no longer need us so that you can succeed. And I think that's a great benefit. 

Now, who are all of these people who are going to help you? They are affectionately known as your employment team, and they are the Ticket to Work providers. Through the Ticket to Work program, you're going to have access to all of these. You don't need to use them all, but you may decide that it's time to use another one as you go along. The employment networks, otherwise called "ENs," are private agencies. They may be large businesses. They may be small businesses that can help you go to work. They may be little shops that will help you put resumes together, help you fill the gaps, get you some interview practice, and know where the jobs are. Or they may be more Paula like, and you're hear from her and provide some more intensive services that might be necessary. 

The workforce ENs used to be the one-stop-shop. American Job Networks are also part of the system, and they're great, because you don't really even have to commit to go to work to talk to people their or to make access of their services. You know, they're great as knowing what jobs are available, and they can provide you with a computer at their site to search for work. How do you build a resume? They'll help you. There's a lot of free assistance from those folks too. 

State Vocational Rehabilitation agencies, those are the big guys, you know, who can provide you with education, who can provide you with a lot of medical equipment or other assistance that you night need in order to return to work, and for longer-term rehabilitation services. The WIPA are benefits planning providers, simply to let you know what's going to happen to your benefits when you start earning income. Protection and Advocacy is the last part of this. 

The PABSS organization is the legal wing. Sometimes you'll go to an employer for an interview and they will ask an inappropriate question, or you may be on the job and something happens and you need a reasonable accommodation, and that is denied. The PABSS agencies are there to provide you with legal services at no charge to make sure that your rights are protected and that you can continue in that job with that reasonable accommodation. 

Now we talked a little bit about this, but I want to talk more detail. Again, the employment network could be private, could be public, could be large, could be small. They have an agreement with Social Security to provide you with free services. And it's kind of like a three-way contract. Social Security will pay the employment networks to give you free services, and your obligation is to make progress to work, then Social Security will pay. So, everybody has responsibilities here. You know, they have this whole ticket running really well right now. The employment networks that are out there now are very good. They're very fine people, and they're good at what they do, and they are actively taking new clients. Many of the state public workforce systems, such as the American Job Centers, are also employment networks, and, again, that's the no obligation, I'm thinking about this, I want to ask some questions. I do need a resume; how do I do that? Some very basic, probably some pre-EN work that can be done there. But it's very valuable work. 

How can working with an EN help you? I think in many, many, many ways. I mean, identifying your work goals. You know, some people have been working, suffered an injury, became disabled, or some other reason and had to stop. Can we talk about putting you back in that job, doing it differently, and is there something else that you're interested in doing? How much work can handle? And we can talk about all of that. You can discuss hobbies with your PABSS that could be turned into jobs, because we don't want a job, we want something that you're interested in. We want to put you on that career track. 

Writing and reviewing your resume, and a lot of people are on benefits for a long time, and what do I do with that four-and-a-half-year gap? Well, an EN can help you fill that gap. What kinds of activities were you involved in while you were receiving benefits? If you were babysitting your daughter's children, you were doing something, and that is a skill that has a value, so we want to fill that space with good things that can translate into other jobs. 

Preparing for interviews, this is the one I always say I need. If I were to get another job right now, I have no idea what it would be like to interview, it was so long ago that I interviewed with the courthouse, but I just don't remember. But that kind of practice and that kind of focus on determining what kind of questions should I have prepared to ask my prospective employer. That's a very important part of the interview, probably one of the most important parts. How can I research what's going on through this employer's shop so that I can ask intelligent related questions? 

Requesting reasonable accommodations, you know, this is also something that is very personal and very optional. You don't have to request a reasonable accommodation when you're being interviewed. You don't have to tell people that you have a disability. You can do that if you choose to. If you need a reasonable accommodation, most certainly you are going to have to tell your employer about your disability. But that is up to you. How do you have that discussion? You can talk with your employment network to get some information so that you're able to tell why you need it, how you'll be able to use it, and, potentially, how much it costs, because employers tend to think reasonable accommodations cost much more than they really do. 

And receive benefits counseling. More and more ENs have benefits counselors embedded in their operations, and benefits counseling is how I got involved in all of this, and it is a great thing. Wouldn't it be great to know that if you go to work next Monday and you earn $400, what is going to happen to your benefits, rather than just earning $400 and finding out what's going to happen? Benefit planners will put a plan together and let you know when things will happen, and that is being proactive. And proactive is one of my favorite words, particularly in this business, because you have the power. You know when things are supposed to happen, because you've worked with a benefits planner. Otherwise, you're reacting, and if you're reacting to a notice that Social Security has sent to you, that's not a position of strength, and I'd rather that you keep the strength in your pocket. 

The state rehabilitation agencies, again, the big shop at the end of the mall, great state agencies. Every state has one. Some states have a separate agency for people who are applying who are visually impaired. As a recipient of benefits, you're a priority, so the state agency doesn't have a choice but to help you, and I know there are sometimes wait lists and we have to deal that, because may have limited funds. But they're the shops that are going to be able to get you some serious rehabilitation services, durable medical equipment, and training and education. So, if you're looking to get an Associate's degree, if you're looking to get a four-year degree, you're going to be looking at the VR agencies. When you're talking with VR, they're not telling you what you are going to be doing. This is a negotiation process. You tell them what you want to be doing. You tell them where you'd refer to go for your education. Now, if I'm going to get an Associate's degree to become a teaching assistance and I say, "I want to go to Harvard." That's not likely to happen. "How about state college?" Let' be a little reasonable. But they will get me what I want if it's all suitable and makes sense, a little give and take here. But good agency, you know, deep pockets. 

Partnership Plus is a marvelous thing that came about in 2008, and I think states are jumping on the band wagon more and more staffing [inaudible]. This allows you to get services from the state VR agency, and the state VR agency won't take your Ticket to Work. They will put it in use, which means it's active, you're getting the protection from medical CBRs that you would if you had assigned your ticket, but they're not assigning it, and that's important thing. 

Once you have closed your case with VR, which happens about 90 days after you are working, you can then take that ticket, which still has value, and go to an employment network for continued services. What I'd like to say about this is, this 90 days puts you to work. If you continue working with an EN to get the supports you need, to troubleshoot with you, just to talk with you, you become a worker, and those are two very different things, and we should be focused on making you a worker so that you stick with it and it becomes part of your normal life and routine. 

This Partnership Plus allows us, those two agencies, to provide services to you. And that didn't happen early on with Ticket to Work. So I take my ticket from VR that was in use, and I then assign it to an employment network, then I still have the protection from the medical CVRs and I can still get all of the supports I need to maintain my job, somebody to talk to when Mr. Wal-Mart calls me next month and says, "Hey, I need you to work five extra hours a week between now and inventory in January." It happens every year around the holidays. What does that mean? Well you're still attached to an EN? You can find out. You can find that out and decide whether or not this is a good thing to do or not. And for all we know, you're accepting that extra five hours, if it works out, it works out great and Mr. Wal-Mart says in January, "How about sticking with it, the extra five hours," and you're making more progress. 

Even if your state doesn't have a formal partnership plus agreement, this works just the way I told you. Once VR closes your case, your ticket is available to assign to a private EN, and I would encourage you to play the Partnership Plus game even if it's not formalized in your state, and you can learn more about this as Choose Work Partnership Plus. 

Work Incentive Planning and Assistance project, these are the Social Security-funded benefits planners. They are available to help you at no cost to talk about what's going to happen to your SSDI, SSI, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as any other publicly funded benefits that you might have; TANF, SNAP, subsidized housing, because it's important, as your income increases, you know what's going to happen to those benefits. How much do you need to work to replace SNAP benefits that might be offset when your income increases? It's better to know that before everything just happens. They can explain the potential benefits of employment and dispel all of those myths that are out there on the street. You know, the street talks very loudly, and, unfortunately, the street doesn't have the correct information. You will not lose your benefits if you go to work on Monday. That will not happen. It's going to take a very long time. 

How do these work incentives work? There are a lot of them. Some of them are fabulous. They're going to explain which work incentives might apply to your situation and when. And how does that impact the bottom line at the end of the month? A benefits planner is there to make sure you are better off working. That's the goal. What kind of services and supports are you going to need from the Ticket program? Which ones are right for you? How are the ENs going to be chosen? And there's a lot of thought that has to go into this in order to make this a smooth and successful transition. So, you can talk about all of those with your -- they're called CWIC's, they're called Community Work Incentive Coordinators, and they're available looking at that fine help tool in the Web pod links. You can find out which WIPA serves you by typing in your Zip Code and doing a broad search. 

Who do they serve? Now, it's a small program, but they focus on people who are working or are self-employed, people who have a pending job offer or people who are actively interviewing for jobs. That is defined as, they've had an interview in the past 30 days, or they have another one scheduled within the next two weeks. We're looking at people who are ages 14 to 25 as somebody who is a priority. They're called "transition aids to youth," and what we would rather see is that you, with a disability, become a worker with a disability and avoid public benefits. We can always get them onto benefits if it doesn't work out, but let's give those kids a chance to work first. 

Protection and advocacy -- this was my last job before I joined Cornell -- free legal assistance for social security recipients who still have a cash benefit and want to go to work but run into a disability-related employment issue. It could be anything. It's very broadly defined. It could be a public housing eviction. It's next to impossible to get a job if you don't have an address. It's most likely going to be something related to your work. And I said that inappropriate question, and someone sees you walk into an interview with crutches, okay, how much is this going to cost? That's just the wrong question. That's not a good interview question. Or if somebody on the job does something inappropriately, or reasonable accommodation is denied, the past agencies can take those cases and try to work it out, or some of them end in court. But they are a vital part of this program, because, again, we don't want to just put you to work and cut you loose. 

These folks are also good at talking to people about how to ask for reasonable accommodation and when it's necessary to do that. They're protecting your rights. I think I've already talked about this slide. They're requesting those reasonable accommodations and things like that, any disability-based legal issue that poses a barrier to employment. Yeah, and, of course, I like to stretch things as far as I can, that's why I mentioned the housing, because people really do need an address or it's going to be very hard to work. 

How do you find these people? Well, you look at that Web Links pod and go to choose work.ssa.gov/findhelp, or in the pod it's the find help tool. And you can search by Zip Code. You can search by the type of service offered, so you can look for a benefits planner, you can look for an employment network. And if you're looking for an employment network, what type of people does that service provide? Who is a good candidate for what employment networks, because you're going to be shopping and interviewing your employment networks? 

What about disability types? If I find out that there are two employment networks that look real good and they're real close to my home, but they both specialize in serving blind people, maybe that's not the right employment network for me, because I'm not blind. So, we have to match your characteristics up with what services are being provided. 

What languages does that employment network provide services or, again, state VR, PABSS, or WIPA, we can do these services to find out all of this information and figure out what is best for you. Or you can always call the Ticket to Work Help Line for some services and get a list of providers we use. And I'm going to read out that number for you. 1-866-968-7842 or, for TTY users, 866-833-2967, and they are available Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. All right, Sarah. 

SARAH>> All right, thank you, Ray. 

RAY>> Questions?

SARAH>> We do have some questions for you. Thanks for kicking us off with the Ticket to Work program and service provider information. We are going to pause here and take a few minutes to address some of the questions that we have received from the audience on these topics, and the first question I have for you, Ray, is, is my Ticket to Work only usable once? 

RAY>> That's a really good question. You know, you get one Ticket to Work. That doesn't mean you can't use it more than once. The question is, do you have a ticket that is assignable. If you've gone to state VR, some of the value of that ticket is gone. If you assign it to Paula's employment network and she provides you from services, value is going from your ticket. If you do end up having a dispute with Paula and don't want to continue with her, you can take your ticket and assign it to a different employment network. But, again, remember, there's still a lower value that's left. So, you really are using it one time until the value of it is gone. There are opportunities to get another ticket, but that's a whole different webinar, and it's years after you've begun this process, so I'll end with that. 

SARAH>> All right. Thank you, Ray. The next question I have for you is, can retired individuals participate in the Ticket to Work program if they are still within age limitations? 

RAY>> If you have retired early, you know, at 62, it is possible that you have a ticket. We're looking at SSDI and SSI recipients. Some people at the age of 62 who are disabled retire, and they're not determined to not be disabled, so there may be some ability to use that ticket. What you have to remember is that Ticket eligibility ends at 65. So, if you're looking for a long-term retirement -- I mean, work program, that's not likely to happen, and your employment networks are going to use that information in making a decision as to whether they're going to be willing to help you. There are a lot of other factors out there, and it's a hard question to give a general answer to. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. I have another question for you, Ray. What do I do if I want to change my employment network? 

RAY>> Well, the first thing you have to do is sit down with Paula, if she is your current employment network, and let her know that you want to move to another network. I assume Paula will then say, "Hey, what's going on? Can we discuss this?" And if you decide to move after that discussion, you need to give Paula a quick letter in writing that has to also be sent to Social Security that says you are withdrawing your ticket. You can take that ticket, and you'll have 90 days to take that ticket to assignment to another EN. So, it sounds like 90 days a long time, but to put together another plan and get it to Social Security for approval makes that 90 days go by very quick. So, you can do that, just remember that you have contract with Paula and Social Security, so when you are going to break that contract, it's necessary to do it properly. So, a letter is the best way to do that. 

SARAH>> All right. Thank you, Ray. We are going to move forward and go to Paula next. Thank you for all the thorough answers to all those questions. Paula, I'm going to turn it over to you to share some information about working from home. 

PAULA>> Okay, that sounds great. So, I'm Paula and I've actually been working from home since 2006. Our company is completely virtual, so I've been talking about this for a while. That looks wrong. I guess it's in a different order. That's okay. So, working from home might be right from you if you need special transportation arrangements due to your disability. You might have a visual problem. You might be someone who is tired a lot and going to a job just really makes it difficult for you to go to work, and also work and then go home. It just might be working from home is less strenuous that way. There might not be any kind of parking at an outside job. You may need to work from home as a reasonable accommodation. 

You know, you might have trouble leaving the home because you might have anxiety. Some people with social anxiety, working from home is a reasonable accommodation. You might be sensitive to your environment. Maybe there's construction dust. I had a guy who couldn't work anymore just because of the dust in his air and his lungs. You might have problematic lighting. I get a little strange with fluorescent lights. I don't like them. That would bother me, working in a place with fluorescent lights. You may have a disease that makes you sensitive to cold, and maybe you can't work in the freezer at Wal-Mart. You might be allergic to perfume. So, there's a lot of reasons why working at home works for a lot of people with disabilities. 

And the thing about work from home, you know, you may also need to manage your medical needs. Maybe you're taking insulin, and it's just easier to do that at home without having to have all these breaks at work where everybody notices you. I mean, you might still need to let your employer know about your breaks, but it might make it a little bit more private. People with diseases, gastrointestinal disabilities might need to use the restroom more frequently, and, again, that's easier from the comfort of your home. 

You might get a more flexible work schedule. We're going to talk a little bit more about that later, because not all work-from-home jobs are flexible. But at least you've got a little bit of flexibility with not having to drive to work in traffic. So that's one advantage of working from home. It could be a less stressful work environment. When you're at work and people are talking to you all the time and distracting you, some people have problems with distraction when they work, and this minimizes that distraction. A lot of people say they're more productive working from home. 

Maybe you want to try something different, a different field of work, and work from home, there's opportunities that you won't find in your local environment. A lot of people in rural areas do a lot better with -- there would be a lot more opportunities from work-from-home jobs. I have a lot of people in these rural areas, and I look for jobs for them, and there's just nothing. But work from home right now is just plentiful, plentiful, plentiful. There's a lot of work-from-home jobs. What used to be reserved for people with disabilities now affects, honestly, almost the whole world. 

It used to be that just people with disabilities knew that you're better off if you have an immune disorder working from home. People with disabilities have known for a really long time that there's less distraction, and now people all have that. So, I think that make it a little bit easier for everybody, because you don't have to explain yourself anymore. You don't have to think, well, they're going to think something's wrong with me because I have to work from home. Well, everybody's working from home now, and with that, it is actually the very best time ever to find a work from home job. We have hundreds of work-from-home employers and jobs that are currently recruiting right now. 

It used to be most the work-from-home jobs were in customer service or tech support, and you would have to have some background in that in order to get hired for that type of job. But, now, we're seeing a lot of writing jobs, proofreading jobs, transcription jobs. Now, transcription, you have to have background in it. A lot of these jobs, just because it's work from home, doesn't mean that you have to have a work history that corresponds with it. But that's what we do as an employment network, we look at your background and we help you figure out, well, where is your best match. Often, we think of things that you would never think about. 

So, there's a lot of jobs out there still in tech support. There's sales jobs, more and more sales jobs, sale management jobs. You may never go into an office in some sales positions. The biggest increase I'm seeing right now is in health care. There are so many contract-tracer jobs. It's not really health care. It's more epidemiology, but they're watching over people's health. There are nursing positions everywhere. Now you may need to have special training or -- you know, I had one you had to be an OB-GYN. You had to have that background, so they're out there. And there is a medical billing. Again, you're going to want to have some background in medical billing, but they're there. So, I really encourage you, if you're thinking about working from home, now is the time to do that. 

So, what do you need to work from home? Well, you need some computer skills. All the jobs that we have that are work from home involve working on the computer somewhat. You're going to need internet. You're going to know how to keyboard. Now you don't have to keyboard fast for every type of job, but if you're going to work in a customer service job, you're going to have a typing speed of around 35 words a minute to keep up. But that's not never job. Some jobs like accounting, we're seeing a lot more accounting positions and data entry positions work from home, they may give you a keyboarding test. So, just because we want to work in a certain work from home job, we still have to have some background, and if you don't have background, we can also help you figure out how we get that. 

You are going to need to have some understanding of how to troubleshoot your computer. You're going to need to know how to download software. You're going to need to be able to hook up simple things. I have people, sometimes they want to work from home, and they don't know how to send a resume on an attachment by e-mail. So, you need to be able to use the computer. So where are we? So, let's see, if you're on a phone, you've got to be professional. The customer service experience that you would need for working from home generally fall into these three categories that you might have had retail experience. You might have worked in a Dollar Tree, and that counts. You might have worked in a hotel; that counts. Or you might have call-center experience from your local community. 

So, a little bit of advice about working from home, how are you going to set up your office? Well, some of us don't have a whole lot of choice. We don't have more room, and some people now are working out of their kitchens. But it's not recommended. But sometimes we have to do what we have to do. So, in your work space, you need to have quiet. It needs to be quiet. It needs to be private. I'm working from home right now, and I'm in a separate room. I wouldn't want anybody to overhear me when I'm doing my case work or managing my staff. You know, it's private, and I think that makes it a little bit easier to concentrate if you have a separate workspace. 

When I go into this room, I know I'm going to work, and I'm lucky to be able to have a room, but you could still set up kind of like a little separate area, and then when you're done, closing up the area. You're working on the kitchen table, take off the table cloth and then put the table cloth on when you finish working, something like that, just something to make it feel a little bit different. I am running short of time. Let's see.

Now people are a little bit more tolerant of background noise than they used to be, but, still, we want to try to eliminate background noise. I have one of my staff who has kids and she set up a little schedule for her kids, and they make their lunch at the beginning of the day, and then they have a time for lunch, and then they have a time to go on the computer for their lessons, and she plans that, and the kids follow their little schedule all day long. I thought that was quite a good idea. 

You know, isolation is really. When you work from home, you don't have that socialization the same way -- when you're working from home, you don't go and see somebody and, oh, I liked your dress. You don't get time to chitchat at work the same way. In our company, we use instant messaging to talk between us quite a bit, and we actually solve some of the isolation problems that way. And I had a person who we had a baby shower for. We had a work-from-home baby shower. So, it's fun. You can do that. 

You need to think about getting out. You know, go walk for your dog for 15 minutes. Schedule a break. Stretch. You can't just work and sit at the computer all the time. You have to balance it in order to really be successful in your return to work. Now, not all jobs have the same hours, so you need to understand what the hours are expected of you and the job that you're looking for or that you've been hired for. You may, depending upon the employer have to travel to the office for presentations. Some the companies that we work for require you to work first, in the office, before you can work at home. Or some companies want two days in the office and three work at home. So, there's all sorts of different ways that this works, these types of job. So, I guess we're here, and we have time for questions. 

SARAH>> Thank you so much, Paula, for all that information about working from home. We will revisit that topic shortly, but we're going to pause and take a few of the audience questions. The first question I have is for you, Paula. I have a felony from 20 years ago. Which service should I contact, EN or VR? 

PAULA>> Well, there are some ENs that are more specialized in working with people with felonies. I know that we work with some felonies that are old. Some felonies, if they're drug-related, the employers will often think it doesn't cause a problem. If it's for fraud or something related like that, you know, it's the employers that are the problem. So, it really depends upon the individual EN and their experience, and possibly contacts in the local community. So, good will is often a good employment network that has programs specifically for people with felonies. But, basically, if you're working with an EN that has employers, they'll know when you talk to them if you're going to have problems getting that job. That's one of the real advantages of working with an EN is that we've already dealt with that problem before, so we know what's going to work and what's not going to work. 

SARAH>> Thanks so much, Paula. I have another question for you. What if I need more training or would like to pursue a degree to gain education and skills to pursue my career goals? Is education and training supported within the Ticket to Work program? 

PAULA>> Well I will say yes and no. Some ENs, and especially Department of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Career One Stop, they have training programs that they could recommend for you, and they have some funding to help with that training. Most of the other ENs are really set up to be placement agencies. We take you after you've had your training. So, I would certainly get a good evaluation. Sometimes people think that they need training and that the training really won't get them to where they want to be, but, yes, it's not specifically a target of the Ticket to Work program, but many of our people will go to training and then come back to an employment network. 

SARAH>> Thanks, Paula. I have another question for you. Is there a work-at-home resume template that is successful in obtaining employment? 

PAULA>> Oh, I don't know about a template. You can always look at the employer's job description and pick out some things from there to include on your resume. It's always the key words. You're going to be work from home. You need to have work from home. I had one lady who recently, who sent me her resume, and it was very artsy and beautiful to look at, but it was a PDF format, and in PDF, the screen -- a lot the employers now use the automated processing programs that screen for key words like work at home or ten key by touch. And if they can't read the resume, then you're not going to get called. So, look at key words. Make sure it's not in a PDF format. 

SARAH>> All right, thank you so much, Paula. I have another question. This one is for Ray. Ray, what do I do if I want to change my employment network? 

RAY>> Okay, we talked a little bit about that before. If you want to change, you can. It's your right to take you ticket back and reassign it or not. But what you should do is most certainly make contact with the EN that you want to leave and let them know what's happening. It should be in writing as well, although I think a discussion to begin is a good way to begin. You should also let Social Security know that you want to take your ticket to a new EN. You'll have, again, 90 days to find a new EN to assign your ticket to in order to keep that medical continuing disability review protection intact. And, as I said earlier, 90 days seems like a long time, but in order to find an EN who will accept your ticket, put a plan together, and get the plan approved, that 90 days can go very, very well fast. Just remember that it's a formal process that you need to participate in. It's not just a walk away. 

SARAH>> Thanks, Ray. I have a question for Paula. Paula, if my employer denies my request to work from home, can I appeal the decision? 

PAULA>> Well, it's going to depend upon what type of work-from-home job or what type offal job you have. If the essential duties of the job, the essential functions of the job require that you meet on site with people, then you might not be able to work from home. So, each case is going to be a little bit different as to whether or not you -- a lot of employers, let me just say, don't really know what kind of accommodations you can do at home, and so there may be some accommodations you can do, but that would just be a one-on-one question. 

SARAH>> All right. Thank you so much, Paula. We are going to address some more of the questions after the next section, but we are going to move along. And, actually, I'm going to be turning it back over to you, Paula, so you can continue to discuss working from home. 

PAULA>> My favorite topic. 

SARAH>> Thanks, Paula. 

PAULA>> It is. I mean, I love work from home. I can't even imagine working in an office anymore. But I think I've got a little bit more time to go out and garden or something like that. So, let's say now you want to really consider a work-from-home job. First, we need to take time and decide what type of work at home job is going to be the best job for you. Now, if you're working with an employment network like My Employment Options -- and there's plenty of other ones -- we are going to help you with your resume. We know how to tell if a resume is good or not. Really, the short answer to that is, if you're not getting interviews from your resume, you're either looking in the wrong place, you've got the wrong job goals, or you need a new resume, or you need a new job goal. So, well help figure out the kind of skills you have. You might be good at organization. That would change the type of job we would help you find. So, if you haven't worked at all, you may have been doing something with your time. You might have been helping your aged mother, you know, and that would be caregiving. So, don't think about work experience only as paid. You might have been the leader of the PTA and have a lot of leadership background. So, it is really helpful, and I think that's one of the real benefits of the Ticket to Work program, is that you can get this kind of help. 

There's over 500 employment networks, and all of us, I'm sure, have some input on this. You're going to want to notify your references and maybe who to use as a reference. And, of course, we also help with practicing interview skills. So, you have the employment networks if you're on social security, and can participate in the Ticket to Work program, and there's a resource for you to see all about the different employment networks, and that is at Choose Work SSA. You can see the link in the Web Links pod, that's Choose Work website, and in this Choose Work website there are some different icons that you can click on, and one of them is for the Ticket to Work. Another is some resume tips, and there's some other types of tips in there to try to find somebody who can help you or even just find out a little bit more about different job programs. 

So, you do have to be cautious. Not all work from home opportunities are legitimate. Red flags include promising high-income for little work, yeah. Providing unclear or vague description of the job; if they can't tell you what the job is, then they're not really hiring. If it you can earn $500 in two hours, and if it sounds too good to be true, it is probably too good to be true. There's the envelope stuffing companies. They say, oh, you can do envelope stuffing, but in order to get started, you need to pay some money to buy your first batch of envelope. So, if you're seeing a job like that, it's probably not a real job. They just try to make money by getting some money for the envelopes, and then there's never any real work for you. 

So, one of the things that stress to people if you're wondering if it's a scam or not, you can always put in your website browser, you know, the name of the company, and spam and see what comes up. People will write if they've been deceived and ripped off before. You will see that on the internet. And, also, employment networks that specialize in work from home know who to avoid. Yes, they don't interview you. The only one I know if they don't interview, you still could get hired is Schedule A, federal hiring. But that's a whole different subject. And, so, yeah, if there's money involved, then it's not good. 

So, there's two different kinds of ways that you can get paid. One way is the W-2, and that's do you have steady hours. You know how much you're going to make every week, usually. They take out taxes. You may get benefits, PTO time, sick time, and then, you know, you're with a company. And then there's a 1099, which is your self-employment basically. The taxes aren't withheld, and it's your responsibility to pay jobs. Now, 1099 jobs may or may not have set hours. Usually, it's more of, like, contract work. So, you know, you can't really work steady hours, 1099 may be the best option for you. But it makes it a little bit more difficult to depend upon how much you're going to make, because the hours aren't always there, and so you have to be careful with that type of work. 

Putting it all together, where are we here? MEO, My Employment Options, so we are one of the oldest employment networks in the United States. We started when it first began, and there's a lot of other employment networks besides us. You know, there may be employment networks that are more specialized in working with you if you, like Ray said, have visual impairments or hearing impairments. It makes it difficult sometimes. You may have an intellectual disability or you might -- I had someone call me this morning and, you know, she's been really doing great. She's been working as a childcare worker. But she'd like to get into a different job. But she's not really good at filling out applications. She's a lower-level intellect, so she's going to need somebody onsite that's going to work with her. It's hard to coach somebody with a developmental disability by phone. You know, a lot of time they need some hands on. They might need a job coach. 

So, there is so much variety in the Ticket to Work program, and that's what I love about it. You can choose your provider. There are all these choices of different kinds of providers that can provide maybe specialized services to you. There are some employment networks that specialize in self-employment, and then there's ours. And we specialize work-from-home jobs and one-on-one counselors. We have a whole counseling system to get you back to work, and --, oops, can't do that. I've been good with the arrows until now. 

So, yeah, if you want to see if you qualify or you'd be a good match for My Employment Options, there's a link in the Web Links pod that will take you directly to our website. We have excellent rapport with employers that love to receive our referrals. But you still have to interview for the job. Nobody just gets a job. You have to have the skills and abilities, and you have to learn how to interview for this job. But it's nice to have support the whole way, and that's what an employment network can do for you. So, I would really encourage you, if you're thinking about working, talk to one of us. We can give you a good idea of is this a good plan. Sometimes we have to say, I think you'd be better off doing this instead. But we've got experience. 

We certainly don't want to set anybody up for failure. We don't want to say "Oh, well I can help you get this job," when I know you're just not going to make it in that type of employment, so talk to us. So, okay, well, listen, let me use the arrow and turn it over to Lori. Now Lori is My Employment Options communication manager, and she is actually a former ticketholder. I used to be her counselor. And she has worked her way off benefits, woohoo. I'm really proud of Lori. It was tough at the beginning. It was a big adjustment, and she'll talk to you about that. But she's with us now for eight years. I have to say Lori's journey has inspired so many people, and she has inspired people to try to go back to work with the success and the Ticket to Work program. So, Lori, it's up to you. 

LORI>> Okay. Thanks so much, Paula. Hello everyone, and thank you so much to Social Security and Ticket to Work for having me today. My story in the Ticket to Work program and returning to work has been a journey over several years, as Paula mentioned, and it hasn't all been a perfect little straight line. But I must say the program has given me the support and help I needed to try working again. I hope by telling a little bit about my story, I can give someone home on the call, or knowledge this program. 

I always say I'm just an average girl from the Midwest. That's where I was born and where I live. I went on SSDI at the age of 27, around 2005. I became sick due to my disability and couldn't work anymore at my corporate job. I have an invisible disability, which we talked about a little during the presentation. I have generalized anxiety, depression, and panic attacks, and I have dealt with these issues since I was about nine, so for a long time. I still deal with them today and I probably will for a long time to come. These issues have made life very challenging at times, and sometimes even hard for family or friends to understand. But the issues have also made me a more driven person in some ways, and I'm able to be more empathetic to other situations now. 

Going on disability in my late 20s was not something I could have ever imagine would happen or could have ever planned for. I had worked since I was a teenager or had gone to school. It was all I knew. It was a huge curve ball to suddenly not be working anymore, or not have a routine. After a few years of big on SSDI, getting treatment, medication, and rest, I was feeling a little better and I thought about working again. I really missed the focus that work gave me, and I really, honestly, wanted to help contribute financially for my family and just to give back. 

Before I started thinking about work, I did volunteer a little, which we mentioned in the presentation, at my local church and in my community when I could, and I did it slowly, and I feel that helped me feel connected to others again. With having my disability and anxiety and receiving SSDI, back in 2009, I had no idea where to start with returning to work, and I was very, very nervous at that time. I knew that working from home was going to be the best fit for me because of my invisible disability. But in 2009, work from home really wasn't as popular than it is now. It was a little harder to find jobs. I didn't really feel I knew what to do, where to start, and I had heard so many different things from family or friends about going back to work. 

I had a lot of questions, and Paula can vouch for that. I had many. And some of you might have similar questions, too, about your journey. You know, how would SSDI or Medicare -- would it stop if I started working? How do I find legitimate work at home? How much can I earn? I couldn't lose my Medicare, because I had doctors' appointments and therapy appointments and medications. 

I did do research on my own, and I encourage people to do that, and I did try to find work at home, but just wasn't finding the right fit or the right job, and I had concerns about my disability benefits and how all that would work. A friend of mine, by chance, in 2009, saw a post about My Employment Options and Ticket to Work on a work-from-home forum, and I decided to apply for their free work at home job placement services that Paula talked about. That one decision that day to use the Ticket to Work program truly changed my life. 

Paula and the My Employment Options team helped me with things that I needed, like tweaking my resume, because I had gaps in my history. Helped me practice for interviews, which I hadn't done in a long time. Connected me to good legitimate work-at-home jobs, answered all the many benefits questions I had, and I had many. They helped me over many years step by step, and most of all, they provided moral support, which was really what I needed. 

I was relieved that I didn't have to navigate going back to work on my own anymore, and I feel that support and guidance from employment network was why I was able to keep moving forward. It actually reduced a lot of anxiety and allowed me to focus on working, just knowing I had people or someone to turn to as questions came up. 

In 2010, Paula was my personalized counselor, as she mentioned, and every client at MEO gets one. She helped me find a work-at-home job with a pharmaceutical company, which I liked. It was really good experience, and I worked there during my nine-month trial work period. However, that company downsized, so I had to start over a little bit, and Paula and I did stay in touch, and she had an opening in marketing, which I applied for and was hired in 2011, and I've been with MEO for over nine years, which is hard to believe. As she mentioned, I'm a communications manager, and my role is to help get the word out, and it's the program that helped me, so that is very humbling to have a job like that now. And after going through what I went through, I jest really wanted to help people. That's just who I am. 

Having an employment network to help me directly go through my journey is why I feel I was able to achieve goals, and I even achieved goals that I didn't originally set for myself. Ticket to Work, over time, allowed me to have a career, which I didn't think was possible. It allowed me, most importantly, to gradually return to work, test the waters over several years, and see how I would do. 

The biggest tip I would give any of your if you receive benefits and are thinking of returning to work, is, first of all, always be kind to yourself, and one of my favorite sayings is Rome wasn't built in a day. The great thing about this program, as Paula and Ray mentioned, is it is gradual, and it allows us to test the waters of working and have the support over many years in your journey, and that was awesome for me. You can find the right Ticket to Work agency that is right for you. 

Now, not everyone's journey or situation will be just like mine. We're all different. But Ticket to Work is there for us, for those of SSDI or SSI, to get the help we need to help us reach our goals. The program truly, and I can vouch for this both for myself and watching our clients, helps change lives every day. I am so thankful for the program and its many free services and, remember, never give up. And thank you again for having me today. 

SARAH>> Lori, thank you so much. It was a pleasure hearing your inspiring success story. We are going to stop here again and address some of the questions that we have received from the audience, and the first question I have is for Paula. Can an EN help me with equipment for an accommodation; for example, a desk that raises and lowers so that I can alternate between standing and sitting? 

PAULA>> Well, every employment network is going to be a little bit different. We have a policy that will help people up to a hundred dollars investing, if they need a headset or if they need a computer monitor, and so the answer would be possibly a portion of it. This is an outcome-based program, so we have to be a little careful. Now, some other, like, rehabs might be able to pay for that for you. But, you know, you just don't know. We could teach you another way of how to accommodate yourself if you don't have a standing desk. 

SARAH>> All right. Thank you so much, Paula. I have another question for you. Can you talk about some of the challenges -- excuse me. Can you talk about some of the challenges of working from home? Can you talk about, for example, loneliness and socializing and how to incorporate that as a difficulty of working from home? 

PAULA>> Yes. It's real. You have to have some kind of hobby or some kind of outlet with other people. Most of us do. I exercise. I have my exercise schedule, and I meet up with my friends doing that. I have to work with boundaries for people though. One of the challenging things for me initially was telling my friends and family, you know, you can't just call me or come by at any time of the day, because I'm working, and I'm really not able to work with you that way. And the isolation, you know, right now, where we're all stuck at home, or a lot of us are -- and I Zoom with my kids, so that helps me as a way of staying connected. What other things do we do to stay connected? Just you have to be careful of it, and you will learn. You learn what works for you. 

SARAH>> Paula, thank you so much for that. I have one final question, and that is going to be for Ray. Ray, could you clarify on how to disability and receive benefits? How do I know if I'm eligible for Ticket to Work and how do I get started? 

RAY>> Okay, you are likely eligible for Ticket to Work, but in order to find out for sure, you can contact the Social Security Help line, and they will know immediately if you are available -- if you have a ticket that's available to assign. I think I read that number. Do you happen to have it quickly, Sarah? 

SARAH>> Yes. 

RAY>> Do you happen to have the Help line number available? 

SARAH>> I do. And I will go over that. Sorry about that, Ray. 

RAY>> That's okay. 

SARAH>> The Help Line is 1-866-968-7842, or for TTY it's 1-866-833-2967. 

RAY>> Thank you. 

SARAH>> Okay, Ray, thank you so much. And, of course, Paula and Lori, thank you so much for being with us today. We are out of time for questions. Thank you for sharing your expertise on the Ticket to Work program. 

Okay, Social Security 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 Ticket program that you may have, and other work incentives, you can contact the Ticket to Work help line again, at 1866-968-7842, or for TTY 1-866-833-2967, and that's going to be Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and, of course, you can always visit the Ticket to Work website at choosework.ssa.gov. You can also find us on social media or subscribe to the blog and e-mail updates by visiting choosework.ssa.gov/contact/index.html. This link appears in the Web Links pod under "Ticket to Work Contact Information." 

Subscribe to learn about the latest WISE webinar or to find out when we have new blog post available. To receive text messages from the Ticket program, text TICKET, T-I-C-K-E-T, to 474747. Standard messaging rates apply. You may opt out at any time. Subscribe to WISE e-mails by going to http://bit.ly/WISEsubscribe. Subscribe to our ticket program updates at http://bit.ly/subscribeCW. 

Please join us for our next WISE webinar, which will be Debunking the three Biggest Myths about Disability Benefits and Work, which will be held on Wednesday, November 18th, 2020, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. Registration is now open, and we look forward to having you attend. You can register online by going to choosework.ssa.gov/wise or you can call 1-866-968-7842, or, for TTY, 1-866-833-2967. 

Your feedback is very important to us and 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 visit Ticket to Work website to complete the survey. The survey can also be found in the Web Links pod. Thank you again for attending today and learning about the Ticket to Work program. Please take this opportunity reach out to any of the resources we discussed today and take the next step in your career path. This concludes today's webinar. I hope you have a wonderful evening.