WISE Ticket to Work Webinar
Working from Home with Ticket to Work
May 26, 2021

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

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. 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 on 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 in path to financial independence. 

Let's get started by going over some of the functions of the webinar platform so that 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. The Audio option is an icon that looks like a microphone or telephone. All attendees will be muted throughout today's webinar. Thus, when presented with options to joining the audio conference, choose "Listen only," which appears at the bottom right in the audio menu. Clicking "Listen only" allows for the sound to be broadcast through your computer speakers of your headphones. Please be sure your computer 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, I am going to share with you some information about webinar accessibility. You may have noticed that the Adobe Connect platform has made some updates since the last time we were together. 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 e-mail at the Ticket to Work e-mail address, which is webinars@chooseworks.ssa.gov. 

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, which is 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. And we are going to talk about these pods in a bit 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. It will be 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 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 point throughout the webinar by typing them into the Q&A pod. We will then direct your questions to our speakers during the Q&A portion of our webinar. We will be addressing questions at three different points throughout today's presentation, so please go ahead and send in those questions. We will do our absolute best to answer as many of them as we possibly can. If you are listening by phone, or not logged into the webinar, you may ask questions by sending them to the e-mail address for Ticket to Work. The e-mail address is webinar@choosework.ssa.gov. 

Another resource available that we think you will find extremely helpful in learning the different resources mentioned today is the Weblinks Pod, which you will find at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. This pod lists the links to the resources presented during today's webinar. To access any of these resources, simply highlight the topic that you are interested in and would like to connect to, and then go back to the "Browse to" button at the bottom of the pod. You will then be taken to the website requested. 

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

Today's webinar is being recorded, and a copy of it will be available within two weeks on the Choose Work website, which can be accessed at http://bit.ly/WISE_OnDemand. This link can be found in the web links pod and is titled "WISE webinar archive." We hope that everyone has a great experience on the webinar today. However, if you run into technical difficulties, please use the Q&A Pod to send us a message, or you can send us an e-mail at the Ticket to Work e-mail address, webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. 

As I mentioned earlier, I name is Sarah Hyland, and I am 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 here today to share his knowledge of the Ticket to Work Program. Ray received his law degree 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 YPI online, which is Cornell's Work Incentive Practitioner Credentialing Program. 

 And we want to take a moment to thank you again for joining us today. We will be discussing how Social Security Ticket to Work Program can help you and answer your questions relating to the Social Security's Ticket Program, Ticket to Work service providers, the benefits of working from home, and how you can find opportunities working from home. 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 much more. Thank you, Ray. 

RAY>> Thank you, Sarah. We are going to start by letting you all know that we will not be answering any questions concerning the Coronavirus or COVID-19. I do want to give you a link to Social Security's Coronavirus page, and that is www.ssa.gov/coronavirus, and they update that little page as needed, so you could find lots of good information about that there. 

We're going to talk about Ticket to Work a lot. We're going to talk about supporting your path to work and try to emphasize how it really is, your path, and how we see you as a major player in this effort. Before we get to that, there are two different disability programs that are administered by Social Security, and it's very important that you understand which benefit you're receiving, because it's going to then guide your benefits planner and your work support team to the right answers for you. The first one is Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI. This is exactly what it says, it's an insurance program. It is paid out to workers who have paid into the system through FICA taxes, and it insures you against a disability. It can provide benefits if you need meet the Social Security definition of disability and are unable to work, and that brings along with it a lot of work incentives that are particular to that program that will help you a lot in getting back to work. 

The other program is SSI, Supplemental Security Income, and this is a federal poverty program. It's more like a welfare benefit. It's available to people who have not had a work history or who have had a work history, and they're just not insured currently for SSDI. So it doesn't have any work requirement. Because it it's a needs-based benefit, it has really fantastic work incentives, and it's almost impossible to lose if you think about adding earned income to this benefits package. Lots of benefits sound the same but they're used differently, so it's very important when you call one of the players that we're going to talk about today, one of the members of your support team, that you will know what benefits you have so that they cannot spend a lot of time talking about the wrong work incentive. 

Everybody is encouraged to sign up for a My Social Security account. I've had one for several years now, and it's just a good thing to have, whether you're on benefits or not, or just working, you can go to ssa.gov/myaccount, and it's going to give you a couple of questions. You provide the answers to those questions and you will have an account. And you know what I use it for, it's a good time, Social Security sends me an e-mail every year and says check your wages, make sure they're correct. It will tell me, if I became disabled today, how much money I would get, how much would be available for my family, and if I retired today, that would be their too. And if I waited until full retirement age or age 70, it would all be there. So it's a really good way to keep track of things, and I most certainly want to make sure that my wages have been posted correctly, and that's a way to do it. So I encourage everybody to get a My Social Security account. 

The journey to work, we have lots of different avenues, more than the two on that little stop sign. You know, the choice to work is completely up to you. You're the person who knows your limitations imposed by your disability. You're the person that has the desire to want to work, the desire to get out of the house, also the desire to just meet new people and just get to know your workers and know the community. But only you can make that decision. Those of us who vantage planning, those of us in employment networks, the workforce people, are all here to help you get to work, if that's your decision. So you've got to do a little bit of soul searching. Are you ready to do this? It doesn't matter if you know your capacity, but are you ready to give work a shot. And if you think you are, then we're here to help. 

Earning a living through employment is not something that everyone's going to be able to do, but it may be something that is right for you. Again, your decision. Once people understand the free services and supports that we're going to talk about today, and that are available to you as a beneficiary, most people do realize that the rewards of work, the financial rewards, as well as the social rewards and the personal rewards far outweigh the risk of losing either cash or health care. 

Now, the Ticket to Work Program is free and voluntary. There's no cost to you whatsoever. You can start with career development, ages 18 through 64 who receive Social Security disability and want to work. That's all that's required, and you can participate at no charge for these services. The Ticket to Work is going to get you free employment services that are going to help you decide, is work right for me? Is it something I want to do? That might be your first question. I'm not sure. I think I want to, but I'm not sure. Talk to me. To prepare for work, what do you need to get ready to go to work? If you need training, if you need accommodations or any kind of adaptive equipment, your team is going to make sure you have all of that ready to go. 

The employment networks and the VR agency can help you find a job. And in notice this last bullet, succeed at work, that's a real important part about that. You have to understand that we're not going to get you into a job and leave. We are there to help you succeed. Then if you want us to leave, we'll step aside, because you've got it now. But we're not going to leave you and not help you maybe get that accommodation a few months in. You weren't sure if you needed it, but you didn't have it. Now how do I go about talking to my boss about that? What kind of equipment or accommodation do I need, and how much will that cost? It's always good to know all of those things before you start to have that accommodation. So we're going to stick with you until you tell us, go away, Ray. Go away, I've got it. And I might say, just give me a call if you need me. Here's my card. 

The Ticket to Work Helpline is a great place to stop. These people know this stuff. They know the Ticket to Work providers. They know how the Ticket Program works, so there's great to just talk to. How do I get started? What do I need to prepare before I make this first phone call? And you can call that line Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and that number is 1-866-968-7842, and if you use a TTY, it's 1-866-833-2967, and give them a call. They'll get you the first phone number that you knee, maybe get you a couple of phone numbers, and you can certainly start the ball rolling. There's really no wrong door to knock on. You'll get to the people that you need just by knocking. 

So, who are these service providers that I've been talking about? They are there. I need to tell you, at this point, they are all providing wonderful services to people who want to go to work, beginning with that first call and this is where I want to go to supporting people until they feel they've got to ball. So we've got a couple here. Here are the employment networks. These are private vocational rehabilitation agencies. They may be a branch of the state. They are doing a lot of what state VR does but without the really big expensive rehabilitation. Now, if you need a college degree, if you need some serious durable medical equipment, we're going to looking to VR. But the employment networks are great at helping you prepare resumes, helping you get a certificate if you need it, get you some training in computer skills. And we all have computers on our desks. 

The workforce ENs are the one-stop shops, and they're there for your use, whether you use the Ticket to Work or not. If you need to go in to use a computer, provided you're in a state where you can do that, because some of them may still be closed. But they will provide you with a computer to do a job search. They will provide you with computers to listen to another WISE event. They will help you put your resume together. They're also employment networks. The state vocational rehabilitation agencies, they're big agencies. There's one in every state. There may be a separate agency for the blind and visually impaired, but they're where you go to become physically and mentally ready for work. 

Now we move into the Work Incentive Planning Assistance projects, these are benefits plans. The staff there are called CWICs, Community Work Incentive Coordinators, and they're the people that are going to sit down with your, and you're going to know, because you've prepared for this call, that I'm an SSI recipient. If you I go to work and start earning money, what's going to happen to my SSI, and what's going to happen to my Medicaid? Those are all important questions, and I think you'll find that if you go to work and earn money, you may lose some SSI, but when you add what you have in SSI to your earnings, you're going to have more money, and they will also talk to you about all of the different work incentives that apply to the SSI program. 

And the last player here is the PABSS, the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security. It's a legal organization. My last job, before I joined Cornell, was with the PABSS organization. And what we did was provide a beneficiary with legal services if they had a barrier to work. Now, that could be that you were asked the wrong question, an inappropriate question during the interview. You believe that you are qualified for that job, but that company hired somebody without a disability. Maybe on the job you're having issues because of your disability, things like that. There are a lot of things that could be. It could be an eviction. If you're homeless, you're not likely to get a job or to stay on that job. That's more basic things to worry about. But keeping you in your home will remove a barrier to work. Lots of things. There's one in every state. 

Okay, the employment networks, we're going to focus on some of these, because we've talked a lot. These organizations are private, and, as I said, sometimes might be public with state government, and they have an agreement with Social Security to provide free employment support services to people who are eligible for the ticket and those that are 18 through 64 and receiving a cash disability benefit from social security. We're looking at, again, the public workforce, the American job centers, and I may have led you to believe that all of those one-stop centers are [inaudible] and all of them, a lot of them, a lot of them. There's an exception to everyone. I say this is isn't the rule, it's just an exception to it. 

The ENs that exist to are really fabulous and they're doing a great job. And, again, how do I explain a five-year gap in my resume, because I was disabled and not working? Well, the ENs are great people to talk about that. You did something while you were on disability benefits. Did you have a hobby? Did you start maybe taking your hobby off to a flea market and you're producing things? Are you gardening? You know, there are skills you can develop that you're even unaware that you're developing, and the EN can bring those forward to sew up that gap. And, again, they're local. Lots of them are local. Some of them are national. Lots of them are local, and those local people really know where the jobs are, and who is hire. That's a good thing to have. That's a great thing to have on your team. 

They're going to help you identify your work goals. If you're unsure of what you can do, if you're unsure of how long a workweek you're capable of, there are ways to do that. It may be that you just need to be trained to do your past job differently. So that's another good thing for the employment networks. I talked about helping your resume. Wouldn't it be nice to have some practice interviews? You know, I always point out during these WISE events that those questions that you're supposed to have for that employer are very, very important. And when they say, do you have questions for us, yeah, you should have questions for them. How does this run? How does that run? What is the overall mission in your company, things like that? The employment networks can help you get through what is a pretty nerve-racking experience quickly and comfortable because you're be prepared.  

Requesting reasonable accommodations, you don't have to request these in the interview. Your employer has no right asking any questions about your disability during the interview. If they offer you a job, you could get that job offer without ever disclosing your disability if you choose not to. But what do you do if you need a reasonable accommodation? You can get a little bit nervous, a little worrisome about how your employer is going to accept the fact that you now are telling them that you have a disability and that you need an accommodation. Are you sure what accommodation it is? Is it just an extra break in the afternoon, and in the morning, to take care of pain management? That's okay. 

What if it adjusting your hours? You know, most of these accommodations are not expensive and they're not going to run interference with the company's mission. So I think that you need to know that, but talk to somebody about it. How do I have this conversation, and you might want to talk to PABSS. You know, they can help you do that. They can talk to you about what's available. Most of those offices have assistive technology programs. There's a lot of ways to get this information, and PABSS is certainly available even if your employer says no. And receiving benefits counseling. Not all of the ENs have benefits counselors on staff, but lots of them do, and maybe you want to do that as a one-stop shopping event. If I'm going to work with this employment network, I want to get my benefits planning done so everybody is on the same page moving forward. You don't have to do that. You may choose to do that, because it always goes to the WIPA program, can talk to a [inaudible] if you want to do that. 

State VR agencies, these are very good agencies, and they have lots of resources, and their job is to provide lots of services that can help people with disabilities return to work, enter new lines of work, or work for the first time. So we're talking about people who are on Title II and people who are on SSI. So both disability programs are going to be involved in this program. As a matter of fact, people who receive benefits from Social Security are priorities for this program, so you are automatically eligible for these services. You can get vocational rehabilitation, again, physically and mentally. You have to develop what you have and be ready to get into the workforce or be ready to manage things while you are working. 

Training and education, that's critically important. As I said, I think everybody is going to have a computer at the workplace. There's going to be something. You're going to have to login someplace, and maybe you're not up to date if your computer stills are ten years old. Computers change really fast. They change too fast for my taste, so maybe we need training on that. 

What about being a bookkeeper? It's a sedentary job. If you are in some kind of -- you're working at a lumberyard, you were working a construction job, and you were helping people get what they needed to build their little shed in the backyard, that has skill that maybe you can't do anymore. You're not able to lift. You're not able to be on your feet so much. How about being a bookkeeper for that company? You've got knowledge, and if we give you training in some accounting skills, you can use your knowledge from being on that workplace in a different capacity and sit down more. 

Again, some states have separate agencies for those people who are blind and visually impaired, and you want to go to the appropriate one. The blind and visually impaired people are focused on blindness and what is necessary to get people to work, and know those combinations better than the VR agency that works with physical and mental impairments. 

Partnership Plus, here's where I start getting really happy. Partnership Plus is a wonderful business. When the ticket had some adjustments, they created this program, and what it does is allow you to take your ticket, choose state VR, choose a state permission for the blind who helps blind and visually impaired folks, and get the services that they can provide for you, get the training, get physically and mentally rehabilitated so that you're ready to go to work. 

And once you start working, you can take your ticket and give it to an employment network, and that employment network can help you with the transition from disability to financial independence, from disability to working with a disability, and help you get support that you didn't think you would need, the accommodations, maybe a job coach for a while. They're going to take you through that process so that we can transition and disability to being a worker with disability and be ready to just tell us all, I've got it. I've got it now. I can go on my own. 

The VR agencies usually close cases after 90 days. If you're successfully worked the 90 days, they're going to shut you down, you've successfully gotten a job if you are successfully working. But if you need that continued support, more benefits counseling, accommodations, job coaching or job retention. I get the job now, how do I keep it? I'm not sure I can work 30 hours a week. It might be better if I cut back to 20. How do you make those changes while staying in the same job? Those are very valuable sources, and, personally, I believe that if you have 90 days of work under your belt and you can get another six months, nine months of services from an EN, you've really made the transition to a worker with a disability and you're going to be well ahead of the game because of those extra services that you're receiving. Partnership Plus is a great thing. 

Now, the state, you can assign your ticket to that EN after the state agency closes your case. Again, you don't have to, but you can. When you are participating in the Ticket to Work Program and you are making progress with your goals, you are not going to experience a medical continuing disability review. That's a great thing. They tend to be scary events for the person who has a disability, and we don't want to interrupt your progress with something that might really toss you for a loop. It may very well get you overly concerned about why am I continuing to work if they're reviewing my disability. We don't want that to happen. Social security doesn't want it to happen. So what we're going to do is not have those medical VRs if you are participating and making timely progress with your plan. 

And if you voluntarily take your ticket out of assignment, maybe this VN is not working out and maybe I want to go to another one, or it takes time from VR closure to find an EN you want to work with, that protection is going to last for 90 days. And 90 days sounds like a good period of time, but it's going to pass quick, because you need to meet with an employment network, you have them being willing to take your ticket, and you need to develop that return-to-work plan. If your state doesn't have a formal Partnership Plus agreement, that's okay. We can still work with an EN after your VR closes your case. Lots of states do have formal agreements so that this works very sufficiently. And what you want to do is go into the Weblinks Pod and find that link for partnership plus. 

Now we have the Benefits Planning program, the Work Incentives Planning Assistance project. These are benefits planners who are funded by Social Security. They call themselves CWICs, Community Work Incentive Coordinators, and they provide free benefits counseling to Social Security disability beneficiaries, and they're going to talk to you about how earning income will affect SSDI, SSI, Medicare, Medicaid. And what about all of those other benefits you might have? If I go to work, what's going to have with SNAP? My family gets TANF, what's going to happen to TANF? Will my rent go up if I'm subsidized housing? They're going to talk about everything. They tell you you're going to be better off working, rent increases, food stamp decreases will all be made up with income, and, still, you're going to have more. You're still going to be more because of the work. 

One of the benefits of employment, we all have much more than paychecks. You know, I've got three dogs. We wouldn't have them if I didn't work. I have a car. I have a house, all because of work. It's much more than a paycheck. And how about the dispelling those myths. We all know that the street speaks very, very loudly, and the street is still telling everybody, that if you go to benefits and you're on Social Security, you will lose everything immediately, and that can't be further from the case. That can't be further from the case. It's just plain wrong. Social Security is going to stick by. You will find out how much you have to earn before you are at risk of losing cash. Again, it's okay to lose cash, because you're going to have more at the end of the month by working. 

What about health care? Sometimes Medicaid can pay for a lot of services that private insurance won't pay if your employer offers you a plan. Well, I'm here to tell you that there are lots of ways to keep that. If your cash benefit ends, it ended because you work, not because you're not longer disabled. And if you continue to be disabled, there are lots of wonderful ways to keep Medicaid, to keep Medicare, if you're on the other Title II programs. Just understand it's not going away. And there are lots of other myths out there that they will help you get over and learn the truth. 

How about the other services you may need? Maybe you're not sure about EN, or you're not sure which EN is the right one for you to approach. We can find that out for you. You don't want to go to an EN who specializes in blindness if you're not blind, or specializes in mental health if you don't have a mental health issue. You've got to match up nicely with those ENs. But there is an EN out there for you. You're just got to do some looking. 

Who do these programs serve, the WIPA programs? They currently serve people who are working or are self-employed, have a pending job offer, or are actively interviewing. And that means you've had an interview in the last 30 days or you expect to have one in the next two weeks. There's also a special slot for transition age youth if you're age 14 to 25, even if you're just thinking about going to work, if you're not [inaudible], if you don't have a job, then you can talk to these people, and they'll put a plan together for you. And they'll be around if something happens, and you either get a raise or you realize I need to cut back a little because I'm not sure I have the physical capacity to do what we planned. They'll run the numbers again. They'll get the programs back in sync with your needs. 

And the Protection and Advocacy organization, again, the legal wing, this team of yours. You don't need any of these services. If you don't need them, you get what you need. Legal support, advocacy, or how about help resolving employment concerns. That employer may not know that you are disabled. What if they find out? How do you self-disclose? But there's lots of stuff that the PABSS can do. They will also get you back to ENs, in contact with the CWICs, the WIPA programs so you can have some benefits planning done. Everybody in here is going to need the right door to knock on and will get you to the services you need to succeed. 

They're going to help you protect your rights in the workplace. That's what PABSS do. They make sure that you are able to continue to work if something else in your life goes awry. They are all disability-based legal services. There are other services that are out there in the community that they may point you to, but the PABSS work in disability specific. How do you find a provider if you don't want to talk to somebody? You just get online, get on your smart phone, choosework.ssa.gov/findhelp. I'm on this website several times a week. ZIP Codes are great. Put in your ZIP Code, who serves you? You can pick benefits plans. You can pick WIPA if that's what you want, and you will find the WIPA agency that you need. If I need legal services click, PABSS, or you can call the Ticket to Work helpline, and I gave you those numbers, between Monday and Friday 8:00 to 8:00 p.m. Eastern. 

All right, Sarah, it looks like I'm ready for questions now. 

SARAH>> All right, thank you, Ray, for kicking us off to the Ticket to Work Program. Like Ray said, we are going to pause here and take a few moments to address some of the questions that you, the audience, has sent in for Ray. The first question I have for you is, how long can I work at home and still receive SSDI benefits? 

RAY>> That's a very good question. If you're working, you get a trial work period, that is nine months long, that is non-consecutive months. Then you move into an extended period of eligibility. That's another 36 months. And if you do end up getting terminated because of work, there's an expedited reinstatement mechanism to get you back into benefits if that work effort stops because of your disability. So you've got -- I can't count very well. You know, you've got at least 45 months where you're firmly going to be in work incentive territory. And if you don't earn at a specific level, you can be working forever. The benefits planners can put that into more simpler terms by showing you the numbers. But it all depends on your level of work. Even if you do get a good job and are earning $30,000, you've got that nine months of trial work, 36 months extended period of eligibility, and it won't be until after that that a termination may occur. 

SARAH>> All right, thank you so much, Ray. I have another question for you from the audience. I recently found a job. What steps should I take to notify social security? 

RAY>> Well, it's a very good thing that you're asking that question, because when you do start a new job, you do need to report. You know, if you just started it in May, your report of earnings and a lot of other information is going to be due by June 10th. You're already reporting income within ten days of the month following the month that you earned it. But for that first time, you've got to provide Social Security with information about who your employer is. How can they contact your employer? Who is your supervisor? What's you're hourly or weekly wage going to be? How many hours do you think you're going to be working? And that way they can get the employer and your situation into the system. 

After that, it's just a report of income. But you've got to do that. It's very, very important. Ten days of the month following what you've just done. You can do that by phone. You can do that in writing. Make sure that if you do do it in writing, you keep a copy of it for yourself. Or you can use the phone app. There's a phone app for both programs, and they're in the app store, and they're free. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. I have another question for you from the audience. You stated, if you are homeless, it is not a good thing to go to work. Why? Can the work support team help with a shelter too as a follow-up question? 

RAY>> I didn't mean for you to come to that conclusion. I said if you are homeless, it tends to be harder to stay at work or harder to find a job. And I was talking about the evictions that I would defend against to keep somebody housed so that it would be easier to do that. If you're homeless, you can certainly go to work. And that's a great need for an EN, you know, how do I get an address? How do I help an employer if this is the situation right now? It's a tough thing to talk about it. But, yes, you can move from homelessness into a job, and you can get these ticket services. There's nothing to fear. There really isn't. 

SARAH>> Awesome. Thank you for clarifying that question. The next question I have for you from the audience is, if I participate in the Ticket to Work Program, am I still able to search for jobs on my own? 

RAY>> Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, again, this Ticket to Work Program is all voluntary. And if you're doing work to get yourself ready to go to work in accordance with the plan you build with VR or with your employment network, if you happen to find a job, that's great. Your plan may change up enough to get support services specific to that job. The only thing that you need to do is to let the employment network know that you found a job, and let VR that you found a job, so everybody's on the same page. But lots of people find jobs on their own and then come back into the system to say, hey, I need some benefits planning, hey, I need an employment network to help me with supports that I didn't know I was going to need. That's perfectly permissible. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray. Thank you for your thorough answers to the questions sent in by our participants. I do have more questions for you, which we will address later in the webinar. But are going to stop and turn it back to you so you can discuss the benefits of working from home. Thanks, Ray. 

RAY>> All right, thank you, Sarah. The benefits from working at home, I know all of these. I've been doing it for about 21 years now, and it can be absolutely wonderful, absolutely wonderful. Why would you choose to work from home? Maybe you need special transportation arrangements due to your disability. Maybe there's limited parking or it's expensive parking. I have worked with many a recipient who has needed special transportation or paratransit, and those public paratransit services may tell you they'll pick you up at 7:00 o'clock to get to your work for an 8:00 o'clock start. But that doesn't always happen. How many times is your new boss going to want to see you come in late because of that? How many times do you want to wait outside of a business that's closed for a paratransit bus that said they'd be there at 5:00 but doesn't show up until 6:00? That's just not feasible for a long-term and continuous job. 

Home work, it doesn't take have long to get from my bedroom into my home office. It's a great commute. I don't have to pay for parking, and I don't have to worry if I have access to accessible parking. What about those big lots in New York City? If you drive in with a van, they're going to charge you more. What about the workspace on the job? Do they have an available worksite or accessible workstation for you? If they don't, and you can't do the job successfully with what they can give you, and you have an office at home or can set one up, that is completely acceptable, maybe that's the way to go. 

Or how about being sensitive to environmental issues. You know, we know there's construction. When I was working in downtown Boston, there was construction all the time, and jackhammers all the time, and fire engines and police sirens all over the place. Temperature sensitivity, maybe you like it a little warmer, and maybe something not good is going to happen to you if you're in too chilly of an environment. What about those -- oh, what do they call them -- those tubular lights that flicker all the time. People do have serious problems with those. Maybe those are all reasons to choose to work at home. 

Do you need privacy to manage medical needs, such as using your bathroom, taking meds, receiving treatments during day? Those are all good reasons. Do you need a more flexible work schedule? That's the wonder of working at home as far as I'm concerned. I was up this morning to start a webinar that was East Coast time at 6:00 o'clock. If I had to get up and be ready to teach at 6:00 o'clock in the morning, that's probably going to mean when I say goodbye to you, I'm going to stop working. Get your job done. Maybe if I need to take a break in the afternoon, I take a medication that makes me a little bit dizzy, I'm going to take an hour, and then I'm going to go back to work. But I have flexibility as to when I get my daily hours in. Is it less stressful? Oh, my God is it less stressful. The only thing I have bothering me is a dog that needs to go outside. That's not real stressful. 

Can you find opportunities in different fields of work by working at home? Sarah and I found each other because we work together. I had the opportunity to make presentations for folks every month because of my working at home. Does this work as part of my job? Fortunately, it does. But if it didn't and I wanted to do this, I've got an hour-and-a-half while I'm talking to you. I'll do my paid job later. 

What about living in a rural area? You know, I am living in rural Santa Fe. It's not very long into town, but I can tell you, if you go 30 miles in any direction, you're in the middle of the desert. The commutes can be very long and the roads are not necessarily very good. Maybe that's the reason. You have the job opportunities of that, and, yeah, I think telework is here to stay. I don't think it's going anywhere. And I believe now there are lots of employers that didn't want to do that are now saying, yeah, it does work. It does work. And we're getting, actually, more production from people. 

What can you do? Here are just some of the possibilities. Customer service and support. You know, when you call Amazon because there's something wrong with your delivery, you're likely talking to someone who is at their home. Transcription, that can be done from home. I work with transcription companies all the time for captioning, for everything else. People can do that from their home. Writing, editing, and proofreading, great jobs. You can do them at home. You can do them sitting in a recliner if you need to. I can't because I fall asleep. But you can read where you're comfortable. 

Technology support, if you have computer knowledge and the closest office to do that type of job is a hundred miles away because you are in a rural area, that can all be done over the phone. You can take over my computer. I know they do that at Cornell. They take over my computer to fix things. You can do that from home. Sales, you know, insurance, you know, I know two or three people call and say they want to give me an introduction to a hotel, and they're going to give me a free weekend stay provided a sit through a sales pitch. It happens all the time. There are people who do that who make a living doing it. 

Health care, are you a nurse? Are you a doctor? Telehealth is real. It's very real. I've had visits with my doctor over Zoom. And can you do that? Tutoring, there's lots of kids, lots of kids, and lots of kids like me who can't count, you know, or couldn't count and still can't. I need tutoring in math. My math skills are horrible. You can do that using Zoom very effectively. The teachers have been doing it for an entire year from their home teaching kids, and lots of other things, you know lots of other things. Just trust me that I've been very busy for the last 27 years. And I think Cornell learned a lot about how people function from home now, and that the jobs do get done. So I think after this pandemic is over, there may be more jobs than we're listing and thinking about that are able to do from home. 

What might you need? You're going to need some computer skills. You're going to have to have a computer. You're going to need an internet connection. You're going to need to know how to type just to keep up. I'm on this keyboard all day long, and if somebody asks a question and needs help to support a consumer, I've got to be there ready to do it as soon as possible. What about a professional phone presence? I actually had to Zoom and record a presentation I gave, and I was very nervous about it, because I'm used to doing presentations live. And when I did it, I was worried about how I would sound, what I would appear to be doing. Am I going to put somebody off with my voice? And when I heard it, I thought to myself, huh, you don't have a professional presence. I didn't know it, but it's there. You can get some training in that. An EN can help you with that. 

Customer service, retail, hospitality, what about a call center? There are lots of those places. When you call Microsoft because you have a problem, you're not necessarily calling a big room full of people who are taking calls. You may be talking to somebody at home. So if you do have computer skills, and you can help me fix my computer over the phone, you've got a job. You've got a job. 

Advice, I've got great advice about working from home. Before you begin your day, you've got to set up your workspace. I made sure I have a dedicated office space. At one point when I first started, it was in the guest room, because nobody was in there during the workweek. Now I have a separate office. It's quiet. It's private. I have a great office chair. Cornell, my employer, provides that to me. Does it have the lighting that you need? You know, all of these things are things that the Vocational Rehabilitation Office can give or help you get.

And eliminate as many side noises as possible. I always introduce my dogs when I'm teaching, because what will happen is they'll bark. They're usually very good, but there could be an introduction. I keep my windows in my office closed to keep the noise down. Have a regular schedule. Just because you do work at home, doesn't mean you shouldn't be making this a regular event. I come to this office when I need to start working. I leave for a cup of coffee to go to the kitchen and I come back. When I finish working, I shut my computer off and I shut my office door. 

If you do have kids or pets, you know, here I am telling you, giving you this advice when I don't do it myself. But if you do have kids, you can't care for kids when you're working. Somebody else is going to have to be there. Can you care for your pets while you're working? I don't think so. I mean, I do. But if they want to go outside during a webinar, they don't get outside, because I can't leave the room. I make sure they're taken care of before that. Routine, routine, routine, and make sure those pets and those kids are not distracting you, because then you're going to be frustrated and spending a lot more time doing work. And, in fact, working from home stops the interruptions that you have the office, you know, that prevent you from getting things done. 

Set aside time to safely interact with other people. Do you have a neighbor who you want to have lunch with? That's okay. You're at home. You can make lunch or you can go out and get lunch. Exercise, take the dog for a walk. You know, that's my lunch routine, I take the dogs for a walk. And schedule time with your family and your friends. I know it sounds really weird, but, you know, you can get busy, and you have to schedule appointments with your family. Do that. Do that. And don't tell your family or your friends you can't go out to dinner because you're working. Set that schedule up so you can do it. 

Organize: You know, a daily planner, I have mine on my desk right now, and I depend on that. I know what I have to do. I have a list every day of what I need do. I know where things are more so than I do with the rest of the house. Make sure your desk is clean. Make sure things that shouldn't be seen by other members of your family are taken off that desk, and if you have files that are involving other people, your customers, your family doesn't need to see those. 

And understand what's required of you. I have an agreement with Cornell that I will work at home. I will work during regular business hours as much as possible, and that I have adequate computer systems, adequate internet connections, and all of that good stuff. So I know what's expected. I know when I'm supposed to work. Can I adjust that? Yeah. I adjust it because I'm in a different time zone, first of all. And I can adjust that at times. 

How about occasional trips to the office? If they're doing continuing education training or they're doing informational presentations at work, plan to be there. We can get your socialization going, you can be there so everybody knows you. Go to those presentations. Don't skip them. Don't skip them. Go to meetings every couple of months. 

You may have to complete a trial period in the office before home work is approved. Despite the fact that they're two very different entities, they're two different worlds. You know you may have to do that, and if you have to, just be prepared for that, and you should know that during the interview process. Okay, Sarah. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, we are going to stop here for a few moments to answer a couple questions before we move on. Thank you for all those great reasons to work from home. The first question I have for you from the audience is, can the Ticket to Work Program help me find affordable housing? 

RAY>> Can they find affordable housing? Not directly. But I would think that if you were talking with a benefits planner or talking with an EN, even with a VR counselor, and you needed a home, or you needed a home period, or you needed a more affordable house, they could get you resources to find one most certainly. Then it would be a matter of getting to those offices or contact, to file the application. 

SARAH>> All right, thank you, Ray. The next question I have for the audience is, are virtual trainings available for work-from-home positions? 

RAY>> You know, that's going to depend upon what you're doing. As I said on that last bullet we talked about, you may need to go to the office for a few months. You may need to come into the office. My agreement with Cornell says when we have staff meetings, I will go into the office, and that is a big deal when it's 2,500 miles away. So you could have to go into them. But are there virtual ways to do that? Yeah, during the pandemic, we had staff meetings over Zoom. Your employer may allow you to stay home and participate that way. So there are all kinds of ways of doing things. You just have to make those arrangements with your employer. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, I have one more question for you. Can I run my own business from home? 

RAY>> You sure can. Yeah, absolutely. And employment networks can help you set that up and figure out what type of business you want and how you want that business established. If I do consulting, I'm working from my own business, and it's all run out of my house. There are lots of things you can do. Here's a good example, if we go way back to the beginning, maybe that hobby is something you turn into a business. You set up an Etsy shop. Those Etsy workers all work out of their house. They produce really good stuff. So, yeah, you can do that, and you can do it very successfully. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, and we have one more pertinent question to that portion of the webinar, so I'm going to ask you one quick final question. Do I have to have a landline for working from home? 

RAY>> You know, again, that's going to be up to your employer and what they require. My employer does require me to have a landline and cell phone. But, you know, cell phones are the way people work nowadays. And I know lots of people don't have a landline. I don't think that should prevent you from getting a job at home. It would depend upon that employer. And it might be a simple explanation as I don't have a landline. I haven't had one for ten years, and my life has been going along quite nicely with my cell phone. It's just the way of the world now. But, again, that's specific issue to talk to your prospective employer about. 

SARAH>> All right, thank you, Ray. With that, we are going to stop and turn things back to you so you can tell us more about finding work-from-home jobs. Thank you. 

RAY>> All right, thank you. Okay, how do we find these jobs? You know, sometimes it might be as easy as asking your employer, your current employer, to let you work from home. Other times, you've got to punt a little bit. The employment networks are going to be able to help you do that. My guess is VR has more experience in this type of thing than they ever had before. But you have to take time, like everybody else does, to update your resume. You know, resume, the last resume I used was 21 years ago when I moved to Cornell. I don't know what they look like now, so I would have to get some help. The employment network can help you do that. 

And think back to all of your own work experiences, paid or volunteered, or training that you have, and list the skills. Before you start writing, what types of training have I had, what type of skills do I have? I'm very organized. I know how to type. I can use several Word processing programs. I'm great at Excel, that kind of thing. And do you have references? Find those references before you start interviewing. It could be a neighbor. It could be a former employer that you want before you became disabled, and let them know you're looking for work and somebody may be calling you. 

Get your interview practice. I don't care how many interviews you've had; every interview is your first interview. It's just the name of the game, so practice, practice, practice: Again, the employment networks are the people who are going to help you do that. 

How about this, Social Security has a Find a Job page. I keep getting notifications from this. If I want a job, I can get one by looking at Find a Job. You're going to want to go down into your Weblink Pod to find that Choose Work site, and there is a special Find a Job under that Weblink Pod. Just find out what's out there maybe before you even start looking, and then pick a few. But there's all kinds of information about different employment organizations that specifically target people with disabilities and their customers. Starting your job search and finding the providers, that's a great way to start. It's a great way for anybody to start, but particularly if you want to work from home. Those job opportunities are going to be readily apparent. 

Be cautious. You know, not all work-from-home opportunities are legit. People are scamming everybody. It's amazing how many calls I get every day from somebody that wants to sell me insurance, and always want to sell you a bridge. I don't want to buy a bridge. This person, do they promise you you're going to make a lot of money for very little work? You're going to run a pyramid-type business or you're going to recruit people. They're going to pay something. You're going to get part of their sales, and you're going to manage this, and if it sounds too good to be true, it is. 

Are they very unclear and vague job descriptions? It's tough for me to even imagine what you could get yourself involved with, because it could be anything, and you may not know it because of the vagaries behind things. You know, is there no interview process? Who gives you a job without talking to you? Or was it ten minutes. What's your name, your address, your phone number, how can we get in touch with you? Okay, we'll send you an e-mail tomorrow, and you can start. Something's wrong with that picture. Or are they charging you a fee to apply, where you need to pay them something after you've been hired? That's not the way jobs work. You get a job and you get paid after you work there. 

Or this company, I started this company three weeks ago, and I know you are the person to work for me. Well, how do I know that business is going to be there. You want me to pay you $500 to start working and you've been in business for three weeks? Yeah, that's what I want. It's not what they want necessarily. They may just want your $500, so be very careful, and trust me, if things don't sound right, you go away. If they're too good to be true, you go away. 

When you are working at home, and particularly if you are running your own business from home, understand your taxes. You need to know how this stuff works. If your employer is withholding properly, it's okay. Make sure you understand what's going to happen before you take the job. When I have started with Cornell, Cornell's in New York, I was in Massachusetts. I wanted to know which taxes are you going to withhold and why? Are they withholding your taxes or Massachusetts? Then I moved to New Mexico, how's that going to work? You've got to know things like that. If you're self-employed, you have to pay your own taxes on a quarterly basis. You can't get away from that. You just can't. There are opportunities out there.

If you're paid and you get a W-2 form every year, you know taxes are withheld. But what about jobs that pay you with a 1099 form? When I do consulting work, I'm paid with a 1099 form. That tells me that that person I was working for did not withhold any taxes. The first thing I had to do when I put that check in the bank was write a check to the IRS and the New Mexico Department of Revenue, and there's no way around it. You need to know how taxes work. When do you have to pay taxes? What are the due dates? How much are you paying, and what's the percentage rate for a person in New Mexico for the State government. I looked all of that up when I moved here, so when I do get a consulting gig, I'll be able to pay my taxes. What tax bracket are you in with the federal government? The IRS can help you with that. But you have to pay those taxes. 

Lori, Lori was somebody we had live a couple of times, and Lori is great. She had anxiety that made it difficult to build a career, and she was really career oriented. She used the Ticket to Work, and now she works from home in public relations and marketing. She's found more than a remote job. She found a career that she wanted to find, and she loves it. She's very passionate about it. What did Lori say about her experience? Making my own money again is free. I want to do whatever I can to help others and understand and learn about this great program. 

We have lots of success stories, and the success story link in the pod is going to get you to them, and they are wonderful. People have gotten this program and the support and the help that they needed to find a job to make everything work, and freeing is a great word, free from a major agency that needs to know everything that you earned and every month what you're earning to being financially independent. You know, that burden has been lifted from you. 

Pay attention to Lori, and pay attention to some of the other stories, because they are really uplifting, and they're very, very happy stories. And we're back to the questions again. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, we have a final few couple of questions for you, and the first one I have is, can I wait until I accept a job to tell my employer about my disability? 

RAY>> Absolutely. Your employer can't ask you questions about your disability, even if it something that they can see. They would not be able to say, oh, I see you're in a wheelchair, do I need to buy a new desk for you, and how much is that going to cost? That's a very inappropriate question. You know, even if you do need an accommodation like that, you wouldn't even have to do that until after the employer offered you the job. And if you don't need to divulge any of that information before you're offered the job. And if somebody does ask you though question, that's what PABSS teaches you. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, have another question for you from the audience. 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? 

RAY>> Absolutely it is. Training to do your order jobs in a different way, training to use durable medical equipment, all kinds of personal training. How do I react to stress? How do I deal with that? And you can get an Associate's degree, a Bachelor's degree if that's what you need. I want to be a teacher; I can go to school and do that. We're talking about playing with a lot of these agencies. We're talking about the state VR agency, who is going to support me in my goal to get a degree. We're talking about an EN who is going to help me get training or who may, after I get that degree, and get a teaching position, help me get some equipment that I need to make this job easier, to make sure I'm going to do the job and do it right. But, absolutely, education is out there waiting for you in many forms. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, I have one final question for you for today. Are there temporary positions available for working-from-home opportunities? 

RAY>> Absolutely. What they are in your area, I don't know. But that's where an EN can come in. And a temporary job is a really great thing. If you're not sure of your capacity to work, how many hours a week you can work, what hours a week you can better work in, a temporary position is a great thing, maybe an internship, maybe an apprenticeship. It's summertime; right? All of the parks are going to open soon, you know, maybe there there's a community center in your community that needs somebody to answer the phone and let people know what days you're open, and the swimming pool is open and when they can use the swimming pool. And it's just a job. That's a great way to test your ability to work, and then look for a job, a permanent position that matches your capacity. That's a great idea. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, unfortunately we are out of time for questions for today's webinar. I want to thank the audience for sending in all of your questions. I hope that we provided you with answers to your questions about the Ticket Program, and many thanks to you, Ray, for being with us today and sharing your knowledge of the Ticket to Work Program. Thanks, Ray. 

PARTICIPANT>> Ma'am? Ma'am? Excuse me? Yes. Hello, are you there? Hello? Hello? Hello? Yes, hello? 

SARAH>> Yes. 

PARTICIPANT>> Hello. 

SARAH>> Yes. I apologize. We're experiencing some technical difficulties. 

PARTICIPANT>> Ma'am, are you there? Are you there, ma'am?

Okay, I'm sorry, I wanted to ask the gentleman -- I'm sorry, I forget his name. I had a desperate question. 

SARAH>> 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 get answers to questions 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 from 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, or e-mail updates by visiting choosework.ssa.gov/contact/index.html. This link appears in the Web links pod under fixed work contact information. 

You can also get advice and encouragement while reading success stories from people who have had success with help from the Ticket to Work Program. To receive text messages from the Ticket Program, text Ticket, T-i-c-k-e-t, to 474747. Standard messaging rates may apply and you may opt out at any time. 

Please join us for the next WISE webinar, Ticket to Work and Mental Health, which will be held on Wednesday, June 23rd, 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 1866-968-7842, or for TTY, 1-866-833-2967. 

Your feedback is very important to us and it helps us plan for 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 Weblinks pod. 

We want to thank you again for attending today's webinar 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 step on your career path.

This concludes today’s webinar. Have a wonderful evening. Thank you.