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Social Security Administration’s “Ticket to Work” Program to Host Free Self-Employment Webinar

From: VisionAware Blog
Categories: Employment , Online Tools , Planning for the Future
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The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Ticket to Work program will host a free webinar on self-employment through the Ticket program on Wednesday, August 28, 2013, from 3:00-4:30 PM EDT.

SSA’s team of disability benefits experts will present a Work Incentive Seminar Event (WISE) webinar titled Working for Yourself with Ticket to Work: Achieving Financial Independence, for people aged 18-64 who receive disability benefits and are interested in employment and self-employment.

The webinar will provide an overview of the Ticket to Work program and will discuss various tools for achieving financial independence through self-employment. Immediately following the webinar, SSA will host a Facebook question and answer session.

About the Ticket to Work Program

From the Social Security Administration website:

The Ticket to Work and Self Sufficiency (Ticket) program was created in 1999 to provide Social Security disability beneficiaries the choices, opportunities and support needed to become and stay employed, increase their earnings, and eventually leave and remain off benefits by being fully self-supportive.

The goals of the Ticket to Work Program are to:

  • Offer beneficiaries with disabilities expanded choices when seeking service and supports to enter, re-enter, and/or maintain employment;
  • Increase the financial independence and self-sufficiency of beneficiaries with disabilities;
  • Reduce and, whenever possible, eliminate reliance on disability benefits.

Organizations selected to participate in the Ticket program are required to provide employment support services that afford Ticket Holders the opportunity and support to prepare for, obtain and retain career ladder jobs that will realistically enable them to leave and remain off of cash benefits.

Eligible Social Security disability beneficiaries, called Ticket Holders, may assign their Tickets to an Employment Network (EN) of their choice to obtain employment services, vocational rehabilitation services, or other support services necessary to maximize their economic self-sufficiency through work opportunities.

The Social Security Administration enters into purchase agreements with organizations, which are qualified and willing to provide or arrange for the provision of employment services, vocational rehabilitation services, or other services and supports to disability beneficiaries with Tickets, known as Ticket Holders.

An approved organization is called an Employment Network (EN). An EN can be either an agency of a State (or political subdivision of the State) or a private entity that assumes responsibility for the coordination and delivery of employment, vocational rehabilitation, or other support services to those beneficiaries who have assigned their Tickets to the EN.

Participation in the Ticket program by disability beneficiaries is voluntary. A Ticket Holder can decide if and when to use his or her Ticket and can select with which participating EN to work. Once an EN and a Ticket Holder agree that they want to work together, the EN develops an Individual Work Plan, or IWP, outlining the services and supports the EN will provide.

You can read more about the Ticket to Work program at Your Ticket to Work and the Ticket to Work Program Overview at the Social Security Administration.

Registration for the Ticket to Work Online Webinar

There are several ways to register for the free Working for Yourself with Ticket to Work: Achieving Financial Independence webinar:

  • Register by phone at 1-866-968-7842 (V) or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY)
  • Register online at Registration for Work Incentive Seminar Events (WISE), where you can register for the current webinar and view all archived webinars. All WISE webinars are hosted on the fourth Wednesday of each month.

Additional Information and Resources