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The Ticket to Work Program:
An Exciting Funding Opportunity for Providers of
Employment-Related Services to People with Disabilities

Choose Work

If you are already providing employment services and supports to people with disabilities, it is likely that some of them are Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and/or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries eligible to participate in the Ticket to Work (Ticket) program. The Ticket program represents an excellent opportunity to access additional unrestricted funding both to help provide services to your existing clients and expand your client base.

If your organization decides to become an Employment Network (EN), you can start earning EN payments as soon as the first month you place a Ticket Holder who has assigned his/her Ticket to you in employment. And, if you help the Ticket Holder maintain that employment and increase his/her earnings for a number of months after disability benefits cease, your organization can potentially earn more than $20,000 for successfully serving that one person.

The Ticket program is a voluntary employment program administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The ultimate goal of the Ticket program is to reduce and, whenever possible, eliminate reliance on disability benefits.

To accomplish this goal, SSA is working with CESSI, the Program Manager for Recruitment and Outreach (PMRO) for the Ticket program, to recruit a variety of organizations and service providers to apply to be ENs. Approved ENs are under contract with SSA to provide or arrange for the provision of employment services, vocational rehabilitation services, and other services and supports to Ticket-eligible beneficiaries (referred to as Ticket Holders).

An EN can be any agency or organization that provides or is equipped to provide return-to-work services to individuals who have disabilities. These services may include job counseling, job placement, interview & resume-writing training, education, and/or other job support services. If your business or organization employs people with disabilities, you may also qualify to earn money as an EN.

More Information about Becoming an Employment Network

Quick Resources for Employment Networks
Frequently Asked Questions for Employment Networks
Complete Listing of Available Resources

Information tailored to specific types of service providers:

Support and Resources: From Start to Finish

SSA provides support to service providers and organizations that are interested in participating in the Ticket program by ensuring there are people and resources available to provide assistance from the start of the process to the finish.

If you are considering becoming an EN, the PMRO team at CESSI will help your organization explore the benefits of becoming an EN and assist you in completing the application process. CESSI Account Managers are assigned to ENs based on geographic regions or area of expertise. To sign up for an EN Application Walk-Through, e-mail: application@cessi.net. To get individualized technical assistance on completing the EN Request for Proposal (RFP), contact CESSI at tickettowork@cessi.net or 877-743-8237 (voice/TTY). To get information about how to apply to foundations for EN seed funding, visit the EN proposal writing website or e-mail jargoff@cessi.net.

MAXIMUS, SSA’s Operations Support Manager (OSM), handles all aspects of the Ticket program following approval of an EN’s application. After an EN is approved, the CESSI Account Manager will connect the EN with a corresponding Regional Account Representative at MAXIMUS. MAXIMUS offers a wide array of training (e.g., Ticket Training Tuesdays) and support services (e.g., sample IWP) to help get ENs started and operating as part of the Ticket program. MAXIMUS also maintains the list of Ticket-eligible beneficiaries, the list of beneficiaries with Tickets available for assignment, and the list of approved ENs; handles the process for assigning and un-assigning Tickets; processes EN payments; and tracks EN payment requests through to payment. Contact MAXIMUS: 866-949-ENVR (3687) (voice) or 866-833-2967 (TTY).