Frequently Asked Questions:
Overview of the Ticket Program
Additional FAQs:For People Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits |
Question: What is the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency (Ticket) program?
Answer: The Ticket program is an employment program created in the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 and administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). It is a voluntary program that offers individuals, age 18 through 64, who are receiving cash benefits under the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and/or the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program based on disability or blindness, expanded choices for obtaining the services and supports to enter and maintain employment.
Question: What is the goal of the Ticket program?
Answer: The ultimate goal of the Ticket to Work program is to assist people receiving Social Security disability benefits in reducing their reliance on disability benefits. The Ticket program also seeks to promote increased self-sufficiency and greater independence for people receiving Social Security disability benefits through work.
Question: How does the Ticket program help people receiving disability benefits go to work?
Answer: People with disabilities receiving benefits from SSA can use the Ticket issued to them by SSA to obtain services and supports to assist them in preparing for work and entering and maintaining employment. SSA pays approved providers of services, referred to as “Employment Networks” or “ENs”, when the Ticket Holders they are serving go to work and achieve designated levels of work and earnings. Rather than being a fee for services, these payments are compensation for assisting beneficiaries to achieve employment-related Milestones and Outcomes as they move towards self-supporting employment.
Question: How does SSA let people receiving Social Security disability benefits know about the Ticket program?
Answer: When a person is determined eligible for SSDI and/or SSI benefits, she/he will receive a paper Ticket in the mail that is accompanied by a letter from SSA explaining the Ticket to Work program. However, a beneficiary does not need the paper Ticket to participate in the program. MAXIMUS, the Operations Support Manager for the Ticket program, has information on all the beneficiaries who have received Tickets and maintains a list of beneficiaries with Tickets eligible for assignment. To find out if you are Ticket-eligible, to request a replacement Ticket, or to find out if your Ticket is available for assignment, call MAXIMUS at 866-968-7842 (voice), 866-833-2967 (TTY).
More information about the Ticket program specifically for people receiving Social Security disability benefits can be found in the For People Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits section of Frequently Asked Questions.
Question: What kind of entity can be an Employment Network (EN) in the Ticket program?
Answer: Any qualified entity, including employers, can become an EN in the Ticket program. An EN may be any public or private entity, so long as the EN is qualified to assume responsibility for the coordination and/or delivery of employment, vocational rehabilitation or other support services to Ticket Holders to help them achieve their employment goals. An EN may be an agency, an organization, a consortium of organizations, or an individual. Certain entities, like State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies and Department of Labor One Stop Career Centers, are automatically qualified as ENs under the Ticket Program. Federal agencies are precluded from becoming ENs and beneficiaries, who may be qualified and approved as ENs, are precluded from acting as their own EN.
If your organization is interested in becoming an EN, CESSI, SSA’s Program Manager for Recruitment and Outreach, can assist you with the process. To become an EN call 877-743-8237 (voice/TTY), e-mail application@cessi.net, or visit www.cessi.net/ttw.
For more information, specifically about ENs, visit the EN Section of Frequently Asked Questions.
For more information about State VR agencies and the Ticket program, visit the VR section of Frequently Asked Questions.
Question: How does SSA determine what to pay an Employment Network (EN)?
Answer: There are two different payment systems in the Ticket program for ENs: the Outcome payment system and the Outcome/Milestone payment system. If an EN elects to be paid under the Outcome payment system, that EN will be paid only when a Ticket holder is no longer receiving any disability benefit payments from SSA. If an EN elects the Outcome/Milestone payment system, the EN will receive payments for achieving certain employment related milestones (e.g. earning a certain amount of money for a month) and also payments when the Ticket Holder is no longer receiving any disability benefit payments from SSA. The amount of payments to ENs is set by the Ticket program regulations and gets adjusted each year.
If an EN chooses the Outcome only payment system, the EN will receive a monthly payment for each month a Ticket Holder for whom the EN has the Ticket assignment does not receive disability benefits (i.e., for up to 36 months for SSDI beneficiaries and up to 60 months for a SSI beneficiaries). The following table lists the 2010 payment rates for the Outcome only and the Outcome/Milestone payment systems:
| Outcome Number | Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Rate |
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Rate | Total Payment Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-36 | $711 | NA | $25,596 |
| 1-60 | NA | $409 | $24,540 |
If the EN chooses the Outcome/Milestone payment system, two sets of Milestone payments are available based on gross earnings, as well as Outcome payments when the beneficiary moves into zero cash benefit status. Four Phase 1 Milestones are available when a beneficiary’s gross earnings exceed the amount designated for Trial Work level earnings. The Phase 2 Milestone payments are available when a beneficiary’s gross earnings exceed the amount SSA designates as Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) (i.e., up to 11 monthly payments for beneficiaries receiving SSDI benefits and up to 18 monthly payments for beneficiaries receiving SSI benefits).
New EN Milestone-Outcome Payment System (2010 figures)*
| Payment Type | Beneficiary Earnings | EN Payment per SSDI Ticket Holder |
EN Payment per SSI Ticket Holder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 Milestones | |||
| Milestone 1 | $360 for one calendar month** | $1, 275 | $1, 275 |
| Milestone 2 | $720/mo. x 3 mos. w/in 6 mos. (cumulative) | $1, 275 | $1, 275 |
| Milestone 3 | $720/mo. x 6 mos. w/in 12 mos. (cumulative) | $1, 275 | $1, 275 |
| Milestone 4 | $720/mo. x 9 mos. w/in 18 mos. (cumulative) | $1, 275 | $1, 275 |
| Total Potential Phase 1 Milestones |
$5,100 | $5,100 | |
 |
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| Phase 2 Milestones | Gross Earnings > SGA ($1,000/$1,640)*** | $382 a month for up to 11 months | $220 a month for up to 18 months |
| $382 x 11 = $4,202 | $220 x 18 = $3,960 | ||
| Total Potential Phase 1 + 2 Milestones |
$9,302 | $9,060 | |
|
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| Monthly Outcome Payments |
Earnings > SGA ($1,000/$1,640/month)*** and federal cash benefit = $0 |
$382 a month for up to 36 months | $220 a month for up to 60 months |
| $382 x 36 = $13,752 | $220 x 60 = $13,200 | ||
| Total Potential Milestone and Outcome Payments | $23,054 | $22,260 | |
* The payment rate in effect at the time the Milestone or Outcome is attained
is the rate that will be paid for that particular month, regardless of when the payment request is submitted.
** The earnings must represent 2 weeks of work in a trial work level job.
*** The 2010 monthly SGA amounts are $1,000 for non-blind and $1,640 for blind individuals.
Important Reminder
Total EN payments depend on many variables and differ among Ticket Holders. SSA determined that Phase 1 Milestone payments will be awarded based on an EN providing initial services, including job placement, that lead to employment. This means that one or more of the Phase 1 Milestones may not always be available to an EN. Two situations that can impact the availability of Phase 1 Milestones are:
- Partnership Plus: When a State VR agency serves a beneficiary under the new Partnership Plus option, the beneficiary may initially receive VR services to meet his/her intensive up-front service needs and, after the VR case is closed, the Ticket Holder may assign his/her Ticket to an EN and receive job retention services or ongoing support services. While the EN has the potential to earn Phase 2 Milestone and Outcome payments, the Phase 1 Milestone payments are not available to the EN if VR closed the case with the beneficiary in employment. To learn more about Partnership Plus, visit: www.socialsecurity.gov/work/documents/PartnerPlusD8x11108.pdf
- Recent Work Rule: If a Ticket Holder worked with earnings at or above the Trial Work level ($720 in 2010) during the 18 months prior to assigning his/her Ticket to an EN, the four Phase 1 Milestones may or may not be available to the EN depending on when the work occurred. MAXIMUS has created a tool to explore a Ticket Holder’s recent work history. Visit: www.yourtickettowork.com/training_2 and click on “18th Month Prior Earnings Tool.”