Ticket to Work Mental Health Summit:
Supporting Recovery Through Work

November 15–17, 2009
Astor Crowne Plaza • New Orleans, Louisiana

In November 2009, the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Office of Employment Support Programs (OESP), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) hosted the first-ever 2009 Ticket to Work Mental Health Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana. This Summit provided an excellent venue for 300 diverse mental and behavioral health decision makers to engage in enlightening presentations, networking experiences, and the unprecedented opportunity to learn how the Ticket to Work program can help people with a severe mental illness with recovery through work. We hope the resources contained within this archived Summit site will be beneficial for both attendees and those who were unable to join us in New Orleans.

We are confident that the Ticket can be a significant part of a braided funding strategy for return to work services at your agency. Evidence Based Supported Employment can be fully funded by combining the hundreds of millions of dollars available through the Ticket program with supporting services under Medicaid and VR funding. I believe we are at a tipping point, the time to act is now, and together we can make an extraordinary impact on the lives of people with a severe mental illness.

Thank you for your work.

Dan O’Brien
Acting Associate Commissioner
Social Security Administration, Office of Employment Support Programs