WISE Ticket to Work Webinar Expanding Your Job Search with Ticket to Work February 24, 2021 Speakers: Sarah Hyland (Moderator), Ray Cebula (Presenter) SARAH>> Good afternoon and welcome to today’s Ticket to Work webinar: Expanding Your Job Search 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 are able to take time to spend with us today to learn about Social Security’s Ticket to Work Program and how it can help you as you start the path to financial independence through work. Each of us has our own 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 you can interact and get the most out of today’s webinar. First, you can manage your audio by using the audio option at the top of your screen. 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These updates will not affect today’s webinar, but if you experience any technical difficulties, please use the Q&A pod to send us a message or you can send us an email at the Ticket to Work email address, which is webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. On the Adobe Connect platform, you will notice that on your screen there are four 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 weblinks pod. We will talk about these pods in more detail in just a few moments. 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 weblinks pod at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen, and it will be entitled 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 weblinks 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 Communications Commission, FCC, video relay service, VRS. The ASL user guide can also be found in the weblinks pod under the title ASL User Guide. We are here today to answer any 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 the questions to our speaker during the Q&A portions of our webinar. 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If you are listening by phone and not logged in to the webinar or do not have access to the weblinks pod, you can email Ticket to Work at webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. Or reference the confirmation email you received for today’s webinar for a list of available resources. Also, please note that SSA cannot guaranty 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 – two weeks, excuse me, 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 weblinks pod, and this will be titled WISE Webinar. 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 send us an email at the Ticket to Work email address, which is webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. As I mentioned earlier, my name is Sarah Hyland, and I am a member of the Ticket to Work team. I am excited to be here with you today as your moderator. We are also delighted to have Ray Cebula with us today to share with us his knowledge of the Ticket to Work Program. Ray received is 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 the Program Director of YTI Online, which is Cornell’s Work Incentive Practitioner Credentialing Program. I want to thank you again for joining us today. We are going to discuss how Social Security’s Ticket program can help you and answer your questions relating to Social Security’s Ticket program, your employment team, Section 503 for federal contractors, federal employment Schedule A, and apprenticeships. And at the close of today’s webinar, you will be better able to understand the Ticket program, know your employment team, understand how Section 503 opens opportunities for you, identify how Schedule A can help you in your job search, know if an apprenticeship is right for you, become familiar with additional job search resources. And with that, it is my pleasure to turn it over to Ray, who will start us off with the Ticket to Work Program, and support on your journey to work, and Section 503, and much more. Thanks so much, Ray. RAY>> Thank you, Sarah. Good to be with everybody today. Before we get going, we’re going to do a little bit of background information for everybody and talk about the benefits that we’re talking about today. And ensure that you’re able to work with planners and employment networks knowing where you are and what benefits you have for them to work with. Two different disability programs are administered by the SSA. One is Social Security Disability Insurance, and that is a program that is funded by your FICA taxes. As you work and pay into the system, you’re building insurance status. And should you need disability insurance before you get to retirement age, that is available to you because you worked. Tough to tell how much you’re going to get. It depends on how long you’ve worked and how much you’ve paid in. So these are individualized benefits. The other program, Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is a needs-based program. You may not have worked long enough to gain insure – insurance status. SSI is still there to help. This is a very different program. Different work incentives apply to both the SSDI and SSI programs. So it’s very important that you understand which benefit you have before you reach out to build your support team. Now, as far as work goes, no one’s going to force you to do this. This is a choice that is up to you. All of us here, including your – your employment team, which is made up of potentially a benefits planner, and employment network, a state VR agency, we are all there to give you the ability to make an informed choice. Only you can make the decision if work is right for you. And when that occurs. We certainly hope you take our advice and try it, but it’s okay if you decide not to. The Ticket to Work Program started in – it was signed into law in 1999 by President Clinton. And it’s still functioning today and doing quite well. It’s a great program. I believe very much in that Ticket to Work. It’s free, and it’s voluntary. No one is going to force you to do this because you receive a ticket in the mail. What we can do for you, though, is get you very good planning services and support services to help you on that journey to work. And provide you with support services once you are employed so that you can stay at work. It’s really a great deal. All those services are free. We’ll talk a little bit later about how all of your employment team gets paid, because that’s pretty much dependent on you. Career development for people between the ages of 18 through 64 who receive Social Security disability benefits, they’re getting a cash benefit, and want to work, all of those people are eligible. The 18-year-olds have to be determined to be a disabled adult. So a lot of these transition-age youth start out as SSI recipients on a child’s program. They need to have that redetermination before they’re going to get a ticket. Otherwise, everybody else receiving a disability benefit is going to get one. If you threw it away, if you lost it, not a problem. You don’t need the piece of paper. The first member of your employment team who you contact will likely find out if that ticket is available. Free employment services. These are wonderful things again. What if you don’t know what you want to do or if you can work? Or how much you can work. We can help you by giving you information concerning whether work is right for you. Are you in a place where you want to try this? Or can try it? That’s what we’re trying to help. And there’s help for you personally to determine where you are, and there’s help for all of those benefits issues that you might be wondering about. To show you how that’s going to work. To prepare for work, do you need credentials? Do you need a resumé, some interviewing preparation? We can help you do that. We can point to employers that might be interested in your area. Who might be hiring right now. Helping you find a job is much more than just pointing, though. It also involves that resumé, again. That practice interview. Once you get the job, we’re not going to leave you. We want to help you succeed. We want to help you find yourself in a place where you want to continue. We can provide on-the-job support for that, to make sure that you can continue this work. And, ideally, decide that you want to work a little bit more or turn that job into a career. How does that Ticket to program work? If you decide to participate, you choose to receive services from an authorized Ticket to Work provider. These are employment networks, and they are private entities who will provide you with services much like the state VR does. The state VR agency is a state agency. That agency tends to be the agency with the funding. So where you’re going to go depends on what you want to do. If you want to find a job, and you don’t need rehabilitation services, an employment network is probably a really good pick. But if you need a stint at rehabilitation services, the state vocational rehabilitation agency is likely the place where you’re going to get that. But never fear. With the new Ticket to Work, and we’ll discuss Partnership Plus, you can get access services from both. And here in the middle, WF is a workforce EN. They used to be called one-stop shops, American job centers. They are employment networks and can help you. You can go – well, I don’t know if you can go, but you can access these people when you can go to those offices, and sit down at a computer to search for work. Begin preparing your own resumé. And so there are all kinds of services. And I haven’t said anything about how much they cost because they’re all free right now. The employment network, as I said, is – it could be a public organization. I think most of them are private organizations. They have an agreement with Social Security to provide you with free employment support services. You’re the person that has that ticket. And how do they get paid? You build a plan with the employment network, and you make timely progress. And as you’re making progress towards your work goal, Social Security will pay the employment network. So it’s kind – these triangles are absolutely right. Social Security is on one side, the EN’s on the other. And you’re the base. You’re what we’re all helping to move forward. Again, the workforce ENs are there. American job centers – I’m still calling them one-stop centers. But they are there to provide the services that they normally apply – provide. It’s a great place to go and hunt if you’re not sure what you want to do, if you’re not sure how work’s going to impact you, it’s a great place to find out some of that information without making any decision to use your Ticket or not. Great places for you. How can working with an EN help you? I mean, right now, I’m so used to working with employment networks, and seeing what they can do for people who are looking to work after receiving disability benefits, I don’t think you should do it without one. You certainly can, you know. But I think these people help and help you ease into work with a lot of protections. And I think it’s great. Identify your work goals. What if you don’t know what you want to do? What if you don’t know what skills you have? It’s amazing how you can just talk to somebody and find out, you’re not sure what kind of work you want to do, what are you interested in? An employment network could take one of your hobbies and turn that into a job. If you like houseplants, and you take care of houseplants all over, maybe you’d like working in a greenhouse. It’s getting to be that season, right? Maybe that’s a great job for you. You know, and how can you do that job? Would you need reasonable accommodations? How do you ask for those? You’re going to need a resumé to go for an interview, or to send to your employer, or download it to your employer. How do you explain away that gap where there was no employment where you were on disability benefits? Well, is that when you started working with houseplants? And now it’s a hobby and you are tending your houseplants, and we’re going to put you to work in a garden store? Sounds like a great match to me. How do you prepare for the interviews? You know, that’s a really good thing for people to prepare for, particularly – it’s always good, but particularly when it’s a person with a disability. Because you need to know what you need to tell your employer and what you don’t. You know, so the employment networks that can help with that, and there are other members of this team who can help with that. We talked about the reasonable accommodations. If you want a reasonable accommodation, you have to disclose that you’re a person with a disability. Is that going to change your mind about asking for a reasonable accommodation? If it does, how else are we going to get whatever you need to work into this picture? You know, we can talk about when you need to ask and what’s going to happen if you do ask. For the most part, nothing. Reasonable accommodations tend to be $500.00 cost to the employer, and nobody is worried about that. You know, a little garden store might be a little more concerned, right? How much is this going to cost? When they hear it’s only $500.00, usually not a whole – there’s usually not a whole lot of trouble. And you can receive benefits counseling at the ENs. Many benefits – many – many employment networks have benefits planners on staff. It’s a separate wing, but what those benefits counselors are going to do is say, what’s going to happen to my benefits? What’s going to happen to my healthcare? What might happen to my rent if I’m in subsidized housing when I start earning income? You know, you’re going to be surprised as to what’s going to happen because there are lots of Social Security protections. There are lots of healthcare protections. And there are income exclusions that exist in housing. So that we can take care of all of this and make it a very comfortable reduction in benefits that coincides with an increase in your earnings. State vocational rehabilitation agencies, these are the big agencies. You know, there may be a separate agency for visually impaired and blind folks, but it’s still a state agency. They are going to help everybody. Everybody in their state who is eligible can go to VR and get some help. They’re looking to help rehabilitate people, people with disabilities, return them to work, enter new lines of work, or enter work – the workforce for the first time. A great example of returning to work would be somebody who has an accident and has a leg amputated. How are they going to go back to work? State VR can get you the equipment, can get you the prosthetics, and can help you modify the job that you already had so that you can do it again. They’re retraining you to do the same job differently. Want to go into new lines of work? That could very well be the result of a disability. I need to do something different. Let’s search through VR. Do we need a certificate? Do we need a B – a BA degree? Do we need a two-year degree? They’re going to help you with both vocational rehabilitation and training and education. These are very big places. And they’re going to stay with you until you have performed work for 90 days at substantial gainful activity levels. So they’re not going to drop you right away, either. Like I said, good news is coming down the pike. You can then take the Ticket that you put in use at VR, to take it to an employment network for those on-the-job supports to keep you employed. It’s a great combination. What are the work incentives? There are some Social Security rules that are really going to help you go to work regardless of what type of benefit that you have. But I did say earlier that if you are on SSDI, you’re on one set of work incentives. If you’re on SSI, it’s a very different set of work incentives. It’s your job to figure out which benefit you receive. If you can’t do that, we can help, but if you’re prepared with a notice that says SSI, that says SSDI, and how much it is, we’re good to go. You can receive training in new skills. Part of this whole Ticket to Work plan that you’re going to develop with either VR or an EN, I told you you have to keep timely progress with it, well there’s now space in that plan to allow time for education. Allow time to get that plumbing license. Whatever you want to do, there’s learning time involved. Improve the skills that you already have. Maybe while you’re out on disability you learn to be an electrician because you had to fix the house. And maybe we can improve those skills and work you towards an electrical apprenticeship. That sounds like a career in the making. It’s to work with an electrician until you get your license, and then you’re free to go. You can work for an electrician again, but you might be able to start your own business. Pursue your education. Do you have an education that was interrupted by your disability? Or do you think now that you have the disability, you need more education to be able to be competitive in the job market? We an do that. What kind of education are you looking for? Is it a technical education, or is it a degree? We can get either one of them. Try different jobs. This is a great thing for somebody who’s just not sure. Maybe we can get a paid work experience, or a paid internship. With an electrician. With a plumber. With any kind of industry or any type of job, these programs would be available. (Inaudible) get them while you’re pursuing your education. But that gives you a chance at trying different things to see what kind of job suits you, suits your personality, suits your desire, and will let you get ahead. Start a career. It’s amazing what people do. I had a transition-age child I was helping. Was about 16. He came to me with a skateboard. No idea what he wanted to do. No idea. And I looked at the skateboard, and I said, tell me about that skateboard. He put the skateboard together. He fixed it. And I said, well, how about we try a job in a skateboard shop? You’d work in the back room to start, and you’re going to fix all of those skateboards that people bring in. And there was a little glimmer in his eye. And I said, but that’s not all we’re thinking about here. Let’s think about some – at some point, since you built that one, you start building skateboards and start selling them. We can turn this into a career that will allow you to open your own skateboard shop. That’s not a bad thing to turn a hobby into a career. And gain confidence the entire time. All of these educational pursuits, trying different jobs, starting your career is going to build confidence. And we have some great success stories to tell you later on. And both of these gentlemen said it helped me build confidence. That’s very important. So now we’re going to talk about federal contractors and Section 503. You know, we’ve got all these nice sections in law and all this stuff. But this is a good one. This is a good one. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 helped create job opportunities for people with disabilities. It prohibits federal contractors and their subcontractors from discriminating against people with disabilities. And that includes a lot of people. You know, my institute at Cornell gets lots of federal money. We can’t discriminate either. You know, so it’s all kinds of jobs. And it requires affirmative action in recruiting, hiring, training, promoting, and retaining people with disabilities. So the employers who seek these federal contracts take on these obligations. You know, right now there’s a goal of seven percent – seven percent of the workforce for all of these federal contractors and subcontractors is supposed to be made up of people with disabilities. I’m hoping we can surpass that, but that’s a good goal to start with. It allows you to voluntarily self-identify as a person with a disability before the job is offered. You’re not going to get a recruiting preference if you don’t tell people that you are person with a disability. 503 makes this a safe spot so that you can identify as somebody from a disability. And it requires contractors to invite people who self-identify to employ – or to apply for these jobs. And it’s a cycle. Every five years. Every five years, what’s going on? (Inaudible) look. Are we retaining that person? Are we promoting that person? Are you using the general career path that people in that industry are able to use? And that, again, seven percent utilization goal for contractors in hiring and retaining. It’s one thing to hire a person with a disability, it’s another thing to take on the obligation to retain that worker. Contractors have to have a plan to address these issues then. Any issue that might be preventing their success in meeting that seven percent utilization goal. What’s going on, and how are we going to fix it? So, this is not something that happens just during the employment process. It’s happening during the working process as well. And here’s Angel. He suffered neck and back injuries after two tours of duty with the Air Force. His willingness to identify as an individual with a disability became an asset during his hiring process. Not only was Angle a person with a disability he was a disabled veteran. Another nice prize – another nice boost to get him an advantage in the hiring process. With help from the Ticket program and his service provider, he received free benefits counseling, information about work incentives, and reasonable accommodations to help him success. All at no cost to him. Here he is, and here’s what he said. Being back at work has had a positive impact in so many areas of my life, Angel reflected. I’ve been able to show my children the rewards that can go with perseverance and resilience. The job has helped me build confidence, maintain good mental health, and regain a sense of accomplishment, all that are vital for the next chapter in his family’s life. That’s a great success story. And there are lots more where they’re coming from. I’ll give you another link and talk to you about Jesus, another great success story. You know, all we have to do is look at other people who have done this, have taken the chance on work, and have succeeded. That’s going to help you build confidence, too. So, now we’re going to move into the next federal rule and federal employment Schedule A. This is a little bit different but with sort of the same goals. If you’re a person with a disability, you can apply and compete for any federal job for which you are eligible and meet the qualifications. But you may also be eligible for a special hiring authority. And you may get to the head of the line, the head of the choice, you know, because you identified as a person with a disability. Schedule A refers to special – to a special hiring authority that gives federal agencies an optional way to hire people with disabilities. You have to have a big hiring process if you’re dealing with the federal government. So the contractors have hiring processes. Everybody has all of these steps to go through. Well, if you identify as a person with a disability under Schedule A and apply for a job that you are qualified to do, you can move ahead. You can through a special process that allows the federal agency to hire you without necessarily considering dozens of other people. Applying under Schedule A offers an exception to that traditional hiring process. Not as many hoops to go through. You can apply for jobs using the Schedule A. Again, if you’re a person with an intellectual disability, a severe physical disability, or a psychiatric disability. Doesn’t matter what kind of disability you have here. You need to identify and then file an application with a federal agency. The schedule – I mean, to be eligible for Schedule A, you have to provide proof of a disability. That could be a letter from a doctor indicating that you have an intellectual disability, you have a physical disability, or a psychiatric disability. Your doctor can do that. Any other licensed medical professional can do that. A licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist. If you are in a position where you are working with a VR counselor, they can prepare that letter for you because they’ve already had access to your doctors. And that’s a real quick thing rather than going back to a doctor. You stay in your own little network with your VR specialist and get it that way. And any federal, state, or local agency that issues and provides disability benefits. So if you have a Social Security disability benefit coming in, SSI or SSDI, you can give them a notice of award. You can give them that letter you all received in January that says it was 2021, here’s what your benefit rate is going to be. Not so bad. Not too hard to do. And you can look at sample Schedule A letters at https://bit.ly/schdule-A. You can look at other samples. I mean, we don’t want you to invent the wheel if we’ve already got a lot of information that you can use and adapt to your own needs. You know, and that reminds me, I just read that website, and I was supposed to tell you we are not going to address any COVID questions. So if you have COVID questions, not the time to do it. I’m going to give you a site that’s Social Security, and it’s going to have a COVID website for you. It’s https://ssa.gov/coronavirus/. And that’s updated very regularly. And you’ll be able to trace things from the beginning of COVID to the current date to see what kind of changes and questions you may have about your benefits and how Social Security is functioning during this very strange time indeed. How do I know if a job is open to individuals with a disability? That would be a good thing. I think I would be more comfortable applying for a job that I knew was open to an individual with a disability. Gets rid of that one hoop to hook through. You can visit usajobs.gov. Any job notice in that section that is open to individuals with a disability will have that speedy wheelchair. And that’s want we want everybody to be in a position to act in action mode while they’re doing this. There may be other groups listed that can also apply. Go in and look at all the focus groups. Who are we trying to get into our workforce to make it as diverse as possible? And I’ve got to tell you that every time somebody with a disability enters the workplace, you’re helping change the world and make it very normal for somebody to walk into a business and see people with disabilities working. So, it’s not only good for you, it’s good for all of us. You can also select individuals with disabilities in the USA Jobs filter and just limit your search to jobs that are open to disabilities. And your results will display all of the jobs that are open. I think you should take a shot and do the open search first because there might be another job that may not list individuals with disabilities that you feel that you can do, disability or not. Give that one a shot, too. Don’t exclude things that aren’t. What is a selective placement program coordinator? SPPC, Selective Placement Program Coordinator, they’re housed in each agency. Social Security. The IRS. You look at all the federal agencies that are out there. Lots of them. They are the specialists that help recruit, hire, and accommodate people with disabilities. So, if we have somebody on a staff at an agency, federal agency, who has a person who is going to help recruit me, who is going to hire me, and then affirmatively ask me what kind of accommodations you think you need to do this job, sounds like a good place to work. It sounds like there’s somebody on staff to help retain you and that you can talk to if you have issues, before you’re hired, when you’re being hired, and after you’re hired. If you are a person with a disability and are interested in a job opportunity, you can contact that agency’s SPPC using http://bit.ly/sppc-directory. And you’ll find all of these folks. And it’s their job to get you onto their workplace. So what are your next steps? If you’re interested in Schedule A, get that letter. Get that letter that documents your disability. Find that January letter from Social Security. You know, talk to your doctor. Get it from whoever is available to get it to you the quickest. Start updating your resumé. Add the skills that you gained during your period of disability. I’m an expert houseplant person right now. You know, my house is covered with all kinds of houseplants. Good therapy, too. I work with succulents out here in the southwest. And let me tell you, I’m looking forward to getting off this webinar and building another cactus garden. Good therapy. It makes me feel good. New abilities. What about references? Who are they going to call? They have to call somebody. It could be a friend who knows you and knows what you’ve done during that period of disability. And knows how you’ve handled that period of disability. Sometimes just your activities and actions during that period of disability is enough to let your employer know, this person is moving forward. Is moving ahead with intent. Contact the agencies’ SPPC. If you’d like additional assistance, contact the help – the Ticket to help work line. That phone number is 866-968-7842. Or if you’re a TTY user, 866-833-2967. And you will get a list of providers that can help you. This resumé might require the help of an employment network. You might want to talk to a benefits planner. But you can also choose to use Social Security’s Find Help tool. At choosework.ssa.gov/findhelp. You know, I’m using that thing several times a week just to find help for other people. Very easy. I can go in, choose what provider I’m looking for, if I want an EN and I want a benefits planner, I click those boxes, put my zip code in, and hit Enter. And the entire list of people that serve that zip code will come up. It’s very easy, and it’s very user friendly. I like to say if I can do it, you can most certainly do it. And now we’re up to Jesus’s story. Another good one. Jesus was born with spina bifida. He spent most of his childhood using a wheelchair and crutches. With the help of the Ticket to Work employment network, he received benefits counseling and work incentive information. He developed an individual work plan. And he was able to work with the EN to put together the plan he wanted to take steps towards employment. And he received resumé writing assistance and job lead support to transition to his career. He qualified for Schedule A, allowing his prospective employer to avoid the long and competitive hiring process. He was qualified. He was interviewed. He was hired. Didn’t have to deal with the wait for other people to be interviewed. What did he think about this whole process? Work has helped me expand my social circles and my support network as well. I’m very happy knowing that I can be independent, achieve goals I set for myself, and I am more confident every day. The Ticket to Work Program, the help I received through it, helped me find my way to work at my own pace, and I am grateful for that. Another big smile. Another big smile. And we all like to see those big smiles for people who have made a success of themselves. We talked a little bit about apprenticeships, but we’re going to focus on that now. Now, apprenticeships are really, really great. And I’m assuming that many of my colleagues here on this call had apprenticeships of some sort during their journey from being a kid to being an adult and finding that first job. It's a training program combining work and learning. And both on the job. I remember my first internship. It was at the Merrimac Valley Textile Museum in Andover, Massachusetts. And I was sent there instead of taking the class. I learned how that museum operated, what their collection was all about. And as my work, I did some research and put together a fairly large paper that that museum could use in their library stacks for other people to use to do research. That was a great experience. That was a great experience. It combined the development of what you know in your head regarding a particular occupation, or range of occupations, with practical experience that you’ve gained from doing the job. That practical experience, even if it tells you I don’t ever want to do this job again, is good. You know, that’s a good thing. We can eliminate that job. Let’s get another internship and try something else because that wasn’t exactly what you believed it was. Always can learn. Many of these apprenticeships nowadays are actually paid. So, not only do you have the experience of earning income, but you can see what happens during that temporary work stint to your benefits. And as a benefits planner, I really like that kind of experience because I know people are hesitant to take a risk. But if I can work with them through an apprenticeship and show them that what I told them was right, there’s another confidence booster. A little bit of that fear has been set aside. So these things are wonderful. Apprenticeships offer a way into an industry. And here’s chef. You may not be a chef yet, but maybe you like to cook and you’re good at it. Chefs have assistants. They have sous chefs. So we’re going to get you into a kitchen doing some prep work for an internship. While you’re doing that, you are learning. And it's not only one in a million that get offered the job because they did a great job. An internship is a great place to do a good job, be noticed, and be told, okay, now go back, finish your education and training, and you come back here and call me when you’re ready to graduate, we want you to work here. If you can work part time while you’re going to school, come on in. Because you’re going to have an experienced chef working with you. Or an experienced bookkeeper working with you. And showing you the works. And how things work. Opportunities may exist to advance. You’re going to be hired as a sous chef. But you want to be a chef? Let’s do it. Let’s get some training. Let’s get some more education. Then we can get you to be, you know, we can be – you can be the Iron Chef if you want to be. Take on Bobby Flay and have a ball. What are the educational benefits? You are learning how to do a job. You are developing skills that can be transferred to other jobs. That is really a wonderful thing. And maybe you don’t want to be a sous chef, but you like the atmosphere in the restaurant that you’re working in. Maybe you want to be out front and greet people and be the host. That’s, in the right restaurant, a very, very good job. So, you can find your way to other jobs with those skills you’ve developed from a particular internship. Use it as a pathway to college. You know, if you want to be that chef, you’re hired as a sous chef, and you’re going to be cutting up vegetables and getting everything ready for the chef to use, but if it leads you to a culinary arts school, isn’t that great? You’re on your way to becoming a chef and working as a chef’s assistant probably nudging your way into some chef duties while you’re learning. You could even earn credit for these internships. The one I took gave me credit. It was a full college course. I took another one my senior year, and I got two course credits for that. So you’re doing what you need to get your degree while learning new skills that may be transferable to more than that one apprenticeship and taking others to find out what else is out there. Trying different jobs, right? We talked about that earlier. And you might be able to earn a credential upon completion. That’s what a plumber does. You have to have an apprenticeship. So you’re working with another licensed plumber. And when you complete your apprenticeship, you get a credential. And that credential is allowing you to open the door to get your own plumber’s license. All of this is good stuff. All right, Sarah. I think we have exhausted my voice for a while. Let’s take some questions. SARAH>> It was all good information, Ray. Thank you for kicking us off with the Ticket to Work program. As Ray said, we’re going to stop here for a few moments and address the questions that you had in the audience. The first question I have for you, Ray, is are there agencies that can help me to look for remote positions? RAY>> Oh, absolutely. You know, in fact, we’ve had an EN work with us during one of these presentations who specializes in working from home. And, you know, I think one of the benefits of Covid has shown everybody that remote positions do work because everybody became remote. And we all had to focus on how we’re going to do our jobs from a distance. But, absolutely. You could do a search in the Choose Work Finder tool, and look for ENs that might focus on remote work. Just as you could look for an EN who speaks Spanish. Or an EN who works particularly with psychiatric disabilities. And you can find those (inaudible). But absolutely, working from a distance is here to stay. And it’s probably likely to increase as the years go by. SARAH>> Right, Ray. Thank you so much. The next question I have from the audience is, I need help writing a resumé. Can any employment network help me? RAY>> Pretty much anyone can. But what I’d like you to do is use that finder tool, and look for one that suits you. And the whole process of finding an EN is like a shopping trip. You can talk to as many as you want to. You know. But if I have a psychiatric disability, and I go to an EN that focuses on orthopedic disabilities, maybe that’s not a good fit. Maybe they’ve got lots of other good things that I want, but that’s not a good fit for me. I could probably get a resume prepared, but when it comes to explaining what I did during my period without work, during my period of disability, maybe working with someone who focuses on psychiatric disabilities will help me explain that a little better. So you can talk to as many ENs as you want. Make sure you find one that’s a good fit for you, personally, and for the disability that you have. Very important. We’ve got to all work together and understand each other. People with that background are going to be able to understand you better. SARAH>> All right. Thank you, Ray. Excellent advice. And to follow that up, you can locate the Find Help tool in the weblinks pod in the bottom right-hand of your screen. You can also go to https://choosework.ssa.gov/findhelp. Ray, the next question I have for you is, I don’t think the EN closest to me is the best fit for me. In addition to the Find Help tool, is there any other places that they could search to find an EN that is a better fit? RAY>> Sure enough. You know, like I said, you can talk to as many ENs as you want. If you are working with an EN and you find out that they’re not a good fit, the first thing that you need to do is un-assign your Ticket, which requires you to give notice to the EN and to Social Security so everybody is on the same page. We just can’t walk away from somebody who’s providing us services without telling them. And you can take that Ticket and find somebody else to help you. How would you find that person? You know, I – if you’re having – if you’re working with an EN, and you haven’t had benefits planning services, you’re going to need those to find out how your benefits are going to be impacted by work. So that may be a good time to talk to a benefits planner. The benefits planners are people in your community who work with other people in your community. And those ENs are big players in this return-to-work effort. You may be seeking an EN and finding that they’re not willing to help you because they don’t have the funds that you need to get a bachelor’s degree. Well, maybe we just need some information about contacting the state VR agency. So, if your EN is not a good fit, you can find one that fits better. And for all you know, your friends and neighbors who have made the journey from disability to work had a great experience with an EN that’s different from the one you have. Talk to neighbors. Talk to people at the one-stop shops, the American Job Centers. They’re going to know. An independent living center. They’re going to have an idea of who these employment networks are, and maybe some people there have actually worked with some of them. It’s going to be a lot of networking. Not hard work, you’ve just got to make time for it. SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. The next question I have for you is, if I have a prospective job, does my employer have to apply to be part of the Ticket to Work Program? RAY>> Does your employer have to apply? No, not at all. I mean, it is not unusual for an employer to be part of the Ticket program, but employers aren’t generally part of it. You know, your benefits planner, your employment network, and your state VR agency are all part of that Ticket program to get you into your employer. But the employer doesn’t necessarily need to be part of this. SARAH>> All right. Thank you, Ray. I have another question from the audience. I want to apply for a job on usajobs.gov. Am I able to use my Ticket when I apply or do I need to – or do I need the help of an EN? RAY>> You know, you don’t need to have any help unless you want it. Like I said, you could walk into a job center, an American Job Center, or you could be sitting at home using your computer and use USA Jobs. If you find a job that you want to chase right now, you know, you’re free to do that. If you don’t have a resumé ready, you may want to talk to an employment network if you’re not able to put that together. And I can tell you that resumés are critically important. And right now, if I had to get a new job, I haven’t prepared a resumé in 20 years. It’s all new to me, too. So I would have to go to an employment specialist to have them help me put that resumé together. Are you prepared to go to an interview? You know, are you able to prepare yourself? Not only getting yourself dressed up, and getting yourself to that place, but have you explored what this business does so that when they turn that interview around and say, do you have questions for us, you can throw a few questions at them that are directly related to their business. So there’s homework to be done before you do this. Is it easier to do it with an EN? If you don’t have a background in that business, I think it would be. I would want some help developing those questions because I’m not really good at that. You know. So, it’s either/or, or a little bit of both. You know, if you’re working with an EN, getting your resumé up to speed and getting some practice interviewing, you’re not prevented from looking for a job on USA Jobs and taking action to get that job. We’re all in this together to see you succeed. And if you need help, you know what you need. You know. I need help preparing that resumé. I would like practice interviewing. I would also like help writing questions for that job. So I know I would want help. If you feel the same, then the employment network is available to you. If you are prepared to walk into that office, and you know what that business does, because maybe you’ve done it in the past, by all means. You may be equipped to do that without anybody’s help. So that’s your choice. SARAH>> All right. Thank you, Ray. Ray, would you be able to explain to the audience in a little bit more detail, how are apprenticeships different from internships? RAY>> Oh, that’s a good one. An apprenticeship – as I see it, an internship might be anything. It doesn’t necessarily have to be paid. In the old days when I went to school, you couldn’t have a paid internship because you were getting college credit for that. An apprenticeship is really looking at a particular job. That sous chef, again. Maybe I want to go to culinary arts school, and if I’m already beginning classes, I want an apprenticeship during the summer so that I can make some money and learn my skill. So, the difference is earnings and you’re focused on a particular job rather than just having a job experience. You know, an internship can give you a little of that. They can’t necessarily give you money. And may not necessarily focusing on me becoming a sous chef. So they are much more focused, and, of course, bring some money with them. And that’s what you’re going to want if you’re going to be a plumbing. And that’s what you want if you’re going to be an electrician. If you’re going to be a chef, that’s a valuable thing. You know, an internship could – if I went to a history – I have a BA in history. If I did an internship, it could be at a museum. It could be, you know, working as a guide around Plymouth Plantation, or around some of the Indian ruins here in New Mexico. Or selling tickets to people to get in to those attractions. If I want an apprenticeship, I want it to be hands on doing the job that I want to do. I think that separates them out. SARAH>> All right. Ray, thank you for that answer. We are going to move right along to the next portion of the webinar, and I will turn it back over to you. RAY>> Okay. Thank you, Sarah. All right. Taking the next step on your path to employment. You know, here we have postings for apprenticeship resources. How fun is that? We just talked about it, and Sarah always gives me exactly what I need when talking about this stuff. The American Job Centers are available to help you find apprenticeships. Go there from home at https://www.careeronestop – all one word - .org/. USA Jobs is going to help you find apprenticeships as well. And this is something you could use if you are in school or not in school because you want an apprenticeship that’s available to do the job you want. https://www.usajobs – one word - .gov/. The federal agency websites. You can check them out individually or you can find them all on https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies. Hunt through those. See what kind of apprenticeships are available. And United States Department of Labor. US DOL. @w – whoops. https://www.apprenticeship.gov. And how about this last one, Apprenticeship Job Finder. That sounds like a great place to start. http: - what is that - ://bit.ly/apprenticeship-finder. All great sources. And they’re all at your fingertips if you’re sitting at home with a computer and internet. You need help finding a job, if that’s where you are, check out the Find a Job page. choosework.ssa.gov/find-a-job/index.html. Get started on that search. You can do that this afternoon if you want. See what might interest you. Even if it’s a little early for you to do that. Take a look. Take a look. And that can also connect you with the Ticket Program service providers that are necessary along your journey to work. Connect with resources that can help you advance your own employment journey. You know, we’re all here to help, but you need to want to take this journey. How do I find a service provider? We talked about that earlier. Here is the actual picture that’s on – or graphic I should say – that’s on that website. choosework.ssa.gov/findhelp. You can search that by zip code. You can search it by the services that each provider offices. By disability type. By language spoken. Or provider type. If you know you want an EN after today, go on and search for ENs. It’s going to narrow those to ENs. It will get you in touch with the job centers, the workforce ENs. How about contact information for your state VR agency? If you’re looking for a benefits planner, you’re going to check off the WIPA box. That is Work Incentives Planning and Assistance. Or PABSS. We haven’t talked much about them today. Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiary – for Beneficiaries of Social Security. That’s the legal wing of all of this. We talked about reasonable accommodations and disclosing, but what if you disclose your disability and then you’re not hired? Or what if you disclose your disability, and the employer says, well, now how much is this going to cost me? That’s an inappropriate question. And if you are denied the job, there is an advocate at your local Protection and Advocacy agency that can help you address that. You know, that’s a very important thing. If there’s a barrier to work, these folks can help. Or, again, Ticket to Work Help Line for a list of providers. 866-968-7842. Or for TTY, 866-833-2967. They’re open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. All right. We’re back to that question box, Sarah. SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. Lots of helpful resources you shared. We appreciate that. We’re going to take a few moments again and address some of the questions from the audience. The first question I have for you, Ray, is, do I have to provide a reference when I apply for a job? I don’t have a reference to use, and I’m not sure how to address it. RAY>> Well, you should be prepared to do that. You know, most employers want to talk to somebody. That could be a former employer that you had. If you haven’t worked yet, it could be your landlord. It could be a neighbor. You know, there are lots of times where you’re using people in your community. You know, landlord is going to attest to how you keep the landlord’s property. Are you a timely tenant so that you’re meeting your responsibilities? That’s all going to give your employer very valuable information. And a friend can also talk about you as a friend, you as a person, and could maybe address the fact that, you know, you’ve been ready to go to work and have finally started your journey, you know, and you are really serious about this. So, there is reference for everybody. You just need to find those people. But I would be – I prefer that you be prepared to give folks references when that interview is complete. There – if you don’t have them and you have a job – a job interview tomorrow, you can certainly say, give me a day and I will have my references to you. That’s an acceptable thing as well. However, once again, if I were the person interviewing you, I would expect that you would have two references for me. Don’t underestimate your landlord. Particularly if you have a good relationship with your landlord. And don’t underestimate your best friend. SARAH>> All right, Ray. Thank you. And another resource that you can go to for advice would be the Choose Work blog, which you can find in the weblinks pod at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. Or you can go to https://choosework.ssa.gov./contact/index.html. All right, Ray, the next question I have for you is, are there any requirements or disqualifications that would prevent someone from participating in the program? For example, a criminal record. RAY>> No. If you’re on benefits and receiving benefits, that’s not – a criminal record is not going to stop you from participating. And it may even be more valuable to you. A criminal record, depending on the type of crime, could prevent you from getting certain jobs, but it would be very helpful to have an employment network steer you away from those jobs. Or, if possible, refer you to somebody who can help expunge those convictions, get those crimes off your record. There’s a lot of things we can do. And it seems like there are more avenues every day to show employers that what you did when you were 20 years old has very little relevance to what you’re going to do for your employer when you’re 45. So, while it may strictly prohibit you from certain jobs, that doesn’t mean there’s not a job out there. And we just have to find a way around that job. SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. The next question from the audience is, do I have to apply for the Ticket program prior to using some of the services to see what type of jobs are available? RAY>> Not at all. You know, if you want benefits planning services, you can get those right now, free, no obligation. If you want to talk to an EN before you assign your Ticket, the only catch here is that that private EN may have a fee for you to do that. If you want that service free, you’re going to want to use the Ticket. You can always talk to the state VR agency, with our without a Ticket to get some information before you make a decision to participate in this program. You know, I’m going to bet that most ENs will sit down and talk to you for a half and hour or an hour to give you information hoping you’ll come back and use their services. So I think there is a way to get information. If you want services, you may need to use that Ticket. SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. Next question is, I have a college degree? Am I still able to participate in an apprenticeship? RAY>> Absolutely. You know, I mean, some of us, like I said, I have a history degree. I couldn’t do anything, you know, because I – I didn’t have a teaching degree to go along with it, you know. So there was certainly a need for me to start getting apprenticeships to finding out what I can do with a history degree. You know, and I determined that the only thing I could do was go to law school. But, you know, if you have a degree, that doesn’t mean you’re able to do the job. You have the theoretical background, right? You know what you’re thinking, and you know what these jobs should be in your mind, but can you actually provide services to an employer? While you’re at that job. Or is that job exactly what you thought it was? I think participating in those internships, you wouldn’t be using your school department of placement, you know, to find those things, but you can use all of those websites that we talked about when we talked about the apprenticeships to get those apprenticeships now. Already have a college degree? I think that’s one up on some of the people who are still in school that are doing apprenticeships while they’re learning and completing that degree. You can complete that apprenticeship and potentially, if they do like you, stay and start working immediately. So I think there’s a benefit to that. SARAH>> Thanks, Ray. And one of the many resources shared in the weblinks pod today under US DOL will be apprenticeship.gov. If you want to find out more about apprenticeships, that will be a great resource for you. Okay. The next question I have for you, Ray, is what happens if you start work but find that you cannot continue due to your disability? RAY>> You know, that can be the case. And hopefully it’s because you’re – you found the wrong job at the right time and you need some time to get everything together, and maybe rest up a bit before you go back to work. What happens, again, you can stop that job. And the good thing is that the work incentives and the benefits planners have talked you through all of this already before you started work. What’s going to happen to your benefits? There’s a great provision known as expedited reinstatement that allows you, even after you’ve been terminated because of work activity, if that job does fall apart because of your disabling condition, you can use the expedited reinstatement rule to get back onto your benefits without filing a new application. So no more waits. No more appeals. You know, it’s late February. If we applied today, on the 24th, you could potentially have benefits April 1. And you’re provided with six months of benefits while Social Security is determining whether or not you can be reinstated. Overwhelming odds tell me that if you apply for expedited reinstatement, you’re going to be awarded expedited reinstatement. So there is protection even after you’re terminated. If it’s early on, some of these work incentives simply allow you to tell Social Security that I stopped working, and they turn the spigot on and the benefits are back on. But you have to continue to contact Social Security. You have to be in touch. You have to report these events in order for this to happen. Lots of great protections. I told you there was good stuff. Social Security is watching out for you even after you’re terminated because of work. SARAH>> Ray, thank you, Ray. The next question I have for you is, can I wait until after I accept a job to tell my employer about my disability? RAY>> Absolutely. You do not have to disclose your disability unless you need an accommodation. You can continue to work without disclosing. If, in fact, you decide on the – while you’re working that there’s got to be an easier way to do this. If I had a piece of equipment – you know, if I had one of those desks that allow me to stand up some of the time, that would be physically more acceptable to me because I could change positions. I didn’t tell my employer I had a disability, but now it’s become obvious that sitting down is not going to be good for me. I could disclose that I have an orthopedic impairment and would it be possible to get a standing desk? They’re not that expensive, so I would disclose that to my employer, to the HR department. I could talk to my benefits planner, my employment network, my PABSS attorney. How do I have this discussion with my employer? How do I all of a sudden tell them that I have a disability that requires accommodation? And do you happen to know what accommodation might be okay and how much that costs? Because those questions are going to follow. That’s certainly available to you. And no, you don’t have to, and nor can an employer ask you about a disability before they offer you a job. SARAH>> Okay. Thank you so much, Ray. I have another question for you from the audience. You mentioned that you can try to be gainfully employed for 90 days before you let go of your benefits. Is that full time or part time? RAY>> Now that was at the end of your VR experience. You know, the work incentives are much more generous than that. The VR agency will allow you to work, and they want you to work, at what’s called substantial gainful activity. That’s right now this year $1,310.00 a month. But you could be earning $1,500.00 and have deductions that bring you down to that amount. It’s – they want you to succeed. Substantial gainful activity is what Social Security considers work. That’s not full-time work. If you are working full time, all the better because you’re really testing your ability to work. But VR’s closing your case. That’s why I said that you can then take the Ticket from VR and give it to an EN who is going to support you longer. Now, I’ll briefly tell you what happens in the SSDI world. You have nine months of work incentive from Social Security that will allow you to test your ability to work. They don’t have to be in a row. But you can earn as much as you want. So there’s no fear about taking a job full time and working for nine months. At the end of the nine months, we’ll look. Can you continue this? If you can continue it, we’re going to stop paying you cash. You’ll still get your health care. And for the next three years, if you do have a slowdown, we’ll turn the spigot back on with no new applications. So, there’s a lot of great work incentives that are out there for you. That 90 days I said was just applicable to your VR case. And you’d want to see a benefits planner to talk about all of this because that benefits planner can take you through that trial work period, through your extended period of eligibility, and can actually project when your benefits will be terminated, and when that expedited reinstatement process begins and becomes available to you. Good to know this stuff before you start. SARAH>> Okay, Ray. Thank you so much. I have one last question for you from the audience today before we, unfortunately, run out of time. I am considering – sorry – considering changing my EN. About how long can I expect that process to take? RAY>> Here – here we go. I have to give you another 90-day speech. You know, there’s a lot of overlapping information here with periods of the same. If you would decide you don’t like your EN, the first thing you need to do is get your Ticket back. And we talked about the way to do that. Tell your EN, tell Social Security that you are unassigning your Ticket but you’re going to look for another EN. You’ve got 90 days of protection while you’re using a ticket, those medical CDRs that you have every three years, every five years, are suspended. That protection will last for an extra 90 days while you’re searching for a new EN. Now that sounds like a good long time, but remember, you have to find the EN. That EN has to be willing to accept your Ticket, and you had to develop a plan, that IWP. The plan that you and the EN are going to use to get you to work. So that can take a little bit of time. It can be done in 90 days, but just be on top of it. After that 90 days, you know, that CDR protection comes, you know, it disappears. If you find an employment network, let’s say in 120 days, that CDR protection will come back to protect you once you sign that IWP and Social Security approves it. Now, if you have an exacerbation in your condition and need to stop working, or that is enough, you know, your employment network says, well, if you’re not going to be working, I’m not going to be able to help you when you want to find another EN, that’s not a bad time for those medical CDRs to come about. So that protection is there. Outside of the protection, you can assign and take as much time – unassign your Ticket and take as much time as you need. But the goal here is to maintain that protection and get the new EN in place and the new workplan in place before the 90 days is up. SARAH>> All right, Ray. Thank you so much for being with us today. We are out of time for questions in today’s webinar. Thank you to the audience for sending in all of your questions. We hopefully provided you with answers about the Ticket program. And Ray, it’s always a pleasure. Thank you for sharing your knowledge of the Ticket to Work Program stuff. RAY>> Absolutely welcome, Sarah. It’s always a pleasure to be here. SARAH>> 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 that you may have about the Ticket program 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, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Or you can visit the Ticket to Work website at choosework@ssa.gov at any time. You can also find us on social media or subscribe to the blog and email updates by visiting choosework.ssa.gov/contact/index.html. This link appears in the weblinks pod under Ticket to Work Contact Information. To get advice and encouragement and read success stories from people who have had success with help from the Ticket to Work Program, you can receive text messages from the Ticket program. Text t – i – c – k – e – t, ticket, to 474747. Standard messaging rates may apply, and you may opt out at any time. Please join us for our next WISE webinar which will be Ticket to Work and the Path to Employment. This will be held on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Registration is open, and we look forward to having you attend. To register online, go 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 helps us plan for future webinars. Please provide your feedback and tell us what you thought 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 the Ticket to Work website to complete the survey. The survey can also be found in the weblinks pod. Thank you again for attending today to learn about the Ticket to Work program. Please take this opportunity to reach out to any of the resources we discussed today, and take the next steps in your career path. This concludes today’s webinar. I hope you have a wonderful evening. Thank you.