Derek >> Thank you, Jayme, and welcome to this Ticket to Work webinar, Setting Goals with Ticket to Work. My name is Derek Shields, as Jayme said, and I'm a member of the Ticket to Work Program Manager and I will serve as your moderator today. Thank you for joining us to learn about Social Security disability benefits, the Ticket to Work Program, how to use our find help tool, and our key theme of setting SMART goals. -- Financial independence through work. Each of us have our own journey and we hope you'll get some information today to help you on your path to employment. Let's get started by reviewing some of the functions of the webinar platform so you can interact and get the most out of today's session.

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My name is Derek Shields and I'm a member of the Ticket to Work team and I will be serving as the moderator. We are also delighted to have with us, again, Ray Cebula has spent 23 years providing legal services to individuals with disabilities and their interactions with Social Security. He then became part of Cornell University's Work Incentives Support Center and in 2005, joined the staff of Cornell's Institute on Disability and Employment. He now serves as the program director of YTI Online, Cornell s work incentives credentialing program. During today's webinar, Ray will cover Social Security disability benefits, Social Security Ticket to Work Program, how to use the find help tool to find a service provider, and then, setting SMART goals. We have a part we want to highlight today about goalsetting as we wrap up the year and look to the year ahead. Ray will finish his presentation with a portion covering work plans. It is now my pleasure to welcome Ray and for him to begin with an overview of the disability benefits programs and the Ticket to Work. Over to you, Ray.

Ray >> Thank you, Derek. Well, welcome. Today we will be talking about an awful lot. Some of which is a little technical. We are going to be talking about Social Security disability benefits. There are two different types of benefits that you could be receiving. Social Security Ticket to Work Program and service providers have a lot of information about those folks and how they can help you on your journey to work. And then we are going to use the Find Help tool. We will look at that and I will show you some slides directly from the website so that you can use this tool on SSA.gov to find a place to start this journey. To get some help. We can find all kinds of folks to do that using all kinds of different combinations. I am setting SMART goals and we want to do that. Not a bad idea for you to start writing down goals now. So that when you do make contact with the provider, you have a starting. And you are not thinking about it for the first time when you are meeting Jordan and the various work plans that you might be enthralled with on this journey to work.

So, the Social Security Ticket to Work Program. The Ticket to Work Program is about 22 years old now. Getting older every minute and it is working better every year. So to start your journey to work, we need to understand that only you can decide if the choice to work is right for you. This is truly something that we are not going to force upon you. We can help you and give you some information. But the bottom line is, you are going to have to make that decision for yourself. And this is a no harm, no foul situation. If you decide that work is not great for you now, we're just going to ask you to take that information with you and think about it in the future and come on back when you decide that work is the right choice. Why you want to choose work. Clearly, being more money. Clearly, that is the job of the planners. The Employment Networks, everybody else who would be part of your employment team. To make sure there is more money than just simply replacing your benefits. Meeting new people. You will always be in a position to meet new people. And that sounds a little bit light, doesn't it? But it is really not. You will meet new people that you will form friendships with. There will be people coming and going. It's the holiday season. There always holiday parties. And those white elephant gifts that you chase around.  

Learning new skills. You know, you learn things almost every day while you are working, whether it be something formal as getting a protocol together or learning how to use a computer program that is going to help you do your job. Or just learning the ropes. Sometimes that little learning that happens every day is going to provide you with more help. And to gain financial independence. There will be benefits, sure, but those can be limited. We are going to help you use those return to work programs to gain financial independence. Remember, while having more money than you have now. The Ticket to Work Program, notice it is free and voluntary. You may get information from Social Security concerning the Ticket to Work Program. That is the one thing that you need to consider, but you don't have to do that right now. We are not in the business of forcing you to do it. If it is right for you, that is when we want to talk to you. This program offers career development, not trying to place you in a job. We want to put everybody on a path to a career. Career development is offered for people ages 18 through 64 who receive a disability benefit from Social Security and want to work. That's all. It is that easy. The Ticket to Work Helpline is a great place. All of these entryways into this program that we are going to discuss are good places to start. They are safe places and the Ticket to Work is one that you may not even have to, you know, even provide information. But if you want to verify your eligibility for the Ticket to Work or of questions about the program, you can call that Helpline Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. The number is 1-866-968-7842. Or for TTY users, 1-866-833-2967. Once again, they will get you started and give you some basic information and connect you with somebody in your area that you can sit down and talk with. 

Okay, so signing up for Social Security. I'm glad we have this slide every time we do these things. It is an important slide. If you don't have a Social Security account, please, set one up. You can start that process as soon as we finish. This is available, the links are available on Social Security.gov. It is going to give you a lot of information. I am on it a lot. It is getting to be that time were the year is ending and in a month or so, I'm going to want to check to see if my annual wages were reported to Social Security correctly. We just had an announcement about the cost of living increases. They go into effect. I'm going to see what happens if I retire. Hopefully, my benefits have gone up a little bit because of that cost-of-living increase. Lots of good information. What types of benefits you are receiving, how much they are, how much will be available to your dependence. All kinds of things. I can trace my work history back to the year I started working when I was 16. With those accounts, you can access your earnings history, benefits information. Request for replacement Social Security card, proof of income letter, an estimate when your application for benefits is available. I told you I could look if I decide to retire today, my Social Security account will tell me how much I will receive now, what my dependents will receive. I can begin an application right on my Social Security account. You can also use it to report your wages, which is a very important thing. That's important when you start this journey to work. So do that. If you're going to come back next month, I'm going to tell Jayme not to let you in the room if you don't have a Social Security account. Left her mark getting a card is really helpful. 
The Ticket Program service providers. These people are going to be members of your employment team. And I do mean your team. You can pick people that you want to work with. You don't have to have one from every category. You just need what you think you need to get started. And we are going to try to get through that Find Help section because that is really important. So who are these providers? The state VR agency is a provider for Social Security. They serve as --they can also simply serve you as a location of rehabilitation agencies. You can find them on this website and get in contact with them directly if you are not already involved. If you are already involved with VR, they are going to be a player on your team. 
Employment Networks. These are private organizations that are working with Social Security to provide you with services that you need to get in the workplace and begin on that career path. It will do everything. It will talk to you about whether work is right for you, what kind of job you're looking for, what jobs might be available in your area, how much they pay. Some of them have benefit planners on staff. That is a great thing. You're going to need that help too. What is going to happen to your benefits as you walk along this journey to work? Their services are all free and they can also provide you with on-the-job services. And those supports that you might need after you have begun working. So what is looking to say, oh, good, you have a good job. Goodbye. We want you to succeed on that job and move along that career path as is appropriate for your situation. 
Now though workforce ENs do the same thing. They are usually in, oh, one-stop centers in job centers. They have a lot of great things, even if they are not providing the services as an employment network. They can provide you with access to computers if you don't have one at home. So then you can begin to complete a resume and begin to do a job search. They have lots of great services for people to get back into the workforce or into the workforce for the first time. 
And then we have the WIPA programs. The Work Incentives Planning and Assistance projects are these folks are benefits planners and their job is to provide you with information so that you can make a choice. Should I go to work now or should I wait a bit? They are going to let you know how earned income, how your wages will impact your benefits. How about your Social Security benefits? Your health benefits, your SNAP benefits, your housing benefits. Everything could be affected by your ability to work. And that planner can put together a plan that is going to let you know how many hours a week you made to work at a certain salary in order to make up for some of the benefits that are slowly going to go away. Remember, I told you that one of the benefits of going to work is having more money. And a financial planner is key to that process to make sure that you do have more money. 
And then at the last player here in your employment team is the protection and advocacy agencies. They have a program called PABSS. Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security. This is only the services. They will be able to provide you with people with price, with support, intentionally, with representation. So there is a reasonable accommodation. Your employer has said, yeah, but let's do it this way instead of what you suggested. If you really need it the way you suggested, PABSS can help you with that. And certainly, somebody refuses to provide reasonable accommodation, PABSS is the organization that can provide you with that kind of assistance. 
Again, all of those players can be part of your employment team. But again, you also don't need all of them. You can proceed with the team that is selected by you to meet your needs. You can add people, add players, as you move along or as you encounter an issue. 
So, State Vocational Rehabilitation. There are a lot of services to people with disabilities. And their goal is to help people be successful. They can help you enter a new type of job if that is what you are choosing to do. They can help you get into the job world for the first time. And they might be able to, and they are probably pretty good, they're probably really good, they are really good and focused on this. How about getting a back to the same job you had, but learning to do it differently. Either through rehabilitation or it could be through reasonable accommodations. But the VR is going to be able to help you with any educational pursuits you might need, any certificates you might need to do a job, or just updating your skills. If you have been receiving benefits for the past five or six years, and you are working a computer type setting, my guess is, you're going to need an update if you haven't been keeping up to date with computers. They change so often and so quickly. They can assist you in getting your skills updated so you will be more attractive, more attractive to an employer. 
Okay, so some states have separate VR agencies for people with disabilities and for people who are blind and visually impaired. That doesn't mean call the line and you're out of luck. --That is going to happen a lot because there are a lot of players as we mentioned. You can call anyone of them for their great place to start. You should have a phone number to the right door. 
Employment Networks. This applies to both the Employment Networks and the workforce networks at job centers. Private or public organizations that have that agreement that I talked about, to provide free employment services to you. That's through the Ticket to Work Program. The VR agencies can all serve as Employment Networks. You have those private agencies. You have the American Job Centers. They all can provide services to you as an EN. You will be able to talk with lots of them. You'll talk to one from each arena. Talk to a couple in your home area to see who you like better, you think is going to give you a better deal, who seems to be more sincere about wanting to help you. This is a great place for you to use your shopping skills to get the best program for you. 
Okay, these other services, these are some of the supports you're going to receive. You are not likely to need all of them. But we can put a plan together so you will get everything that you need. Career planning or counseling. You may be concerned about getting back into the workforce. We are going to talk to you about turning a job into a career. Maybe you were a cashier and you are thinking you can go to Target and get a job as a cashier. Well, maybe you have got that cash register skill down. You got the customer service skills down. There could be another position entirely. A promotion that we might be interested in. We are going to make sure you hear about that. Job search and job placement, particularly the ENs, they are going to know where the jobs are in your community. They will know who is hiring, who are good employers to work with. If you have a disability. They're going to steer you to which business may give you the best opportunity for promotion in advance. --Agencies can provide training. That includes school. It includes a certificate to get a license. Anything you can possibly imagine, we might be able to provide you with. And that includes updating those skills as well. 
How about special programs for veterans and youth? Very specific groups of people. Youth in transition. 16 to 24-year-old group. I've seen lots of things happening. They have graduated from school or they may be looking for a job then. They may be looking to go to a community college or a four year college. Lots of things are going to happen to their benefits as well. So having that all planned out is a very, very good thing. And veterans, we really owe them something. They come back here and we have to provide assistance to veterans returning from wherever they have been deployed. So for them to transition back into transit civilian society. That is enough --but we also want that, regardless of the disability they have, to be able to be as independent as possible. Let's get a job to help that. We are going to try to do that. Ongoing employment support for that is a wonderful thing about the ENs. Your team is not wanting to find you a job. That is not the way it works. Your team is going to stay together after you have been employed. So on the job supports can be provided. When the VR closes your case, a successful case closure, maybe you need or would feel better having that job coach for a few more months. Employer Network can make that happen. Maybe you just need somebody to talk to when you have a question. Something is not going well. You know? I don't think I am being treated like every other employee is being treated. Coworkers. Not paying attention to me. You just need someone to talk to. It's that easy and that simple. Again, make sure you have all of those supports that you need to be able to continue with this job and are successful at the job before saying goodbye. Frankly, you're going to say good by to us before they say goodbye to you. 
Assistance with accommodations. That can be up pretty tricky subject when you are asking an employer to give you an alternative way of doing your job or more time to do your job. You have to be pretty much ready to disclose your disability. That is how you get the accommodations. So how do you do that? How do you have that first discussion? You know, the Employment Network, the agency or that Workforce EN can all help you. You might have a benefits planner who can help you. And certainly, the PABSS agency, that legal support, will be able to help you. And they could be teaching you how to have that discussion. It could be they could participate in that discussion with you , depending on what you want and need. 
And benefits counseling, you know. I think everybody that you have returning to work should have benefits counseling. It is going to let you be proactive. You will know when something should be happening to your benefits and we just won't have to react to something that Social Security tells you and you get a notice, saying something is going to change. Planners are located in every state. And again, you can find using that help tool we are going to talk about in a few minutes. We'll talk to you about what will happen to all of your benefits when you start earning money. I think you will kinda be surprised. You will be very surprised at what will happen. That is going to help you in your journey to work, and also help you see how much money you could actually earn before things start
 [ Indiscernible ] so the Ticket to Work , this is the planning program. The people who work there are called Work Incentive Planning Coordinator's or CWICs. They talk about working and earning money and how it will affect your benefits. They can draw up a plan for you. They can draw up action steps for you to take. Who is responsible and when this should be done. So that you can very easily monitor progress. We'll talk about that later on too. The first three items checked off of that list. It is time to celebrate your success. We know that earning money is going to affect your benefits. How is the serious part of the question. Again, depends on the benefits you have. There are different rules for write as there are for SSI. The CWICs will be able to sit down and talk to you about those rules and give you a written summary in a plan for you to use in your journey to work. That is not a static plan. Because life happens. This is what is going to happen to you if you earn $1500 a month. And here comes Mr. Walmart at Christmas time and says, I would like you to work five more hours a week through the end of January. That changes everything. So you can call your benefits planner again and find out what is that extra five hours a week, 20 hours a month, in salary, do? If you have concerns. I'm not sure I can, I'm not sure I physically or mentally can work that many hours a week. Can I say no to this? All of those questions that you first think about are the ones we can provide you with answers to. Can't make a decision for you, but we can help answer the questions with enough information to make that informed choice about what you should do. 
So to qualify for the Work Incentive Planning and Assistance services, you have to meet at least one of the following. Have to be actively working. So if you just started work, let's get a benefits plan done. Have a job offer pending. That is the time that we need to do this. Or even while you are interviewing, actively interviewing for jobs, that is the time to know. You want to know what will happen if you interview for a job that is going to be a full-time job and pay you $4000 a month. What's that going to do to my benefits? It is time to know now while you are interviewing. So if you have an interview in the past 30 days, or you have an interview scheduled in the next two weeks, you qualify for these services.
If you are a veteran, there is a special niche for you. We want to provide services to our veterans. And if you're transitioning youth, 14 to 25, you don't have to be pursuing work. But maybe you are hearing about a paid work experience you could have next summer. Okay. You want to know what is going to happen. The potential worker transitioning too wants to know what is going to happen. What is going to happen with benefits? How is this going to help me in future work endeavors?
Now PABSS. That was my last job before I joined it --free legal assistance to people who receive Social Security disability benefits and who have a disability related employment issue. The issue I give you before was repressing that accommodation or having that reasonable accommodation. That's clearly putting up a -- so if anything, a barrier in front of you when you are trying to become a successful worker. It is something that PABSS can help you with. Again, it might be something that we offer advice with. Maybe for that reasonable accommodation, you want to know, I can take care of myself. Just tell me how to approach my employer about this. My employer doesn't know I am disabled and doesn't know I'm receiving benefits. How do I approach the employer about getting a reasonable accommodation? I want to try it myself first. Okay. Then come back if you try it yourself and it doesn't work. So legal support. If that reasonable accommodation request results in a veiled hearing, you will get advocacy support. Information to help you resolve employment related concerns. That's with your employer, with Social Security, with the employment network, with that state VR agency. If there are problems getting into a WIPA program what you need from them, or anybody else. Remember, employment success helps out and that is something that PABSS should be able to help you with. 
Choosing a service provider. We are going to start looking at pages or slides that look like this. The work website offers a lot of tools for this journey to work. But what if you're looking for a particular service and in this case, finding an EN. And choosing the right employment network, there are, there is more information than two public sites in that web links pod that you may want to look at. That is really, really helpful. So the Find Help tool is going to help you find which providers will be able to provide you with services. The VR agency is limited to a state your agency. Employment Networks. It could be one in your town. It could be one in your state. It could be one in another state that provides national services. It all depends on what you want. Where the WIPA projects are and how you can contact them, and if need be, you have the PABSS agency. 
So what do we do? We have two options with a Guided Search and we have Direct Search. And you can do either one. The Guided Search is a little more evolved. It is going to ask you a series of questions that is going to allow the website to determine readiness for the Program . It will provide you with a list of service providers that would be a good fit for you. That's exactly what this option one is, the Guided Search. It has that. The note I just told you, you click on the button to get this thing going. As you move deeper into it, you are going to have an instruction sheet to guide you through. The tool will ask you up to 20 questions. It takes no more than 10 minutes to complete. When I actually did it, it takes about 10 minutes. They are not difficult questions. It is hard to get questions wrong when they are all about you. Everybody has the correct answers. You make your selection and hit next. You will move deeper into this tool. Use the back button if you need to change an answer. You can go backwards and forwards, which is a great feature. But do not use your web browser back button. I've got to confess, guilty on that one. Sometimes, I will hit the wrong arrow and the website goes away or goes to a different page. Make sure you are using the one on the Find Help tool but if you have any questions, you can get those answered by emailing support at choosework.ssa.gov good or you can call 1-866-968-7842. Or TTY users, call 866-833-2967. When you are reading this tool, you, the word you applies to you. 
If I am looking for a job looking to get into this Ticket to Work Program, when I review [ Indiscernible ] the Direct Search. You know, this is the one I use a lot. I do research an awful lot of people get in touch with me about this program. It is going to allow you to pull up all of those providers. That's by zip code. It is really easy. Who is going to provide services to me? That's in the area covered by my zip code. How simple can it be? And it does that. It can pull up a lot of information. So this allows you to also narrow that search. One of my looking for right now? If I am looking for EN, I'm going to click the EN box. If I want to include job schedules, I'm going to click WF for the workforce ENs. And that is going to get me exactly who I'm looking for. Maybe that turns up a whole lot of things. I don't want to be, you know, I don't want 25 choices. I really don't. I would rather have five. So I can further limit my search by the services offered. 
So what are these ENs providing? And what types of things might interest you? What about the disability services? That is really important. If I have blindness, I do not want to match up with an EN who only provides services to people who are physically disabled. That makes sense. I want somebody who focuses on blindness or any other specialty. If you have a mental health disability, you don't want to go to somebody who only deals with physical impairments. You want someone who focuses on your type of disability. Those things help very much in narrowing your search so you come up with four. You come up with 40. What you know that everyone you call is potentially a person or you want to work. This is your sample page and this is what you have got.
Let's say I was looking through the EN so I'm going to click Employment Networks. If I was looking for benefits plan, I'm going to go to benefits counselors. Maybe I'm going to take a shot here, employment networking and benefits plan. That is getting a lot of information. Do it at your own pace, please get how about providing services? Everything needs to be in person now and we know virtual services work. So you want somebody you can talk to? Or is that not important to you? You can function on Zoom or you can, I don't even know what that is called. FaceTime on your cell phone. I was asking my cell phone to tell me this. If you're happy with virtual services, I think we have all got to the point where we can do a lot virtually. Do that. What's your zip code? How far are you willing to travel? If public transportation is not an issue or driving is not an issue, you could very well be able to seek services 50 miles away. How about 25? How about 10? Okay. You happen to know a provider that you are looking to contact? Do you have that business need? You can do that as well. And here, the services that people have. What services do you need? I know I need a job --I don't have a resident. My resident is 25 years old. I better get a new one. And what am I looking for? I certainly want job placement assistance. On-the-job services, I am not really sure yet. But I am looking for job retention. Getting a job and keeping me there, that sounds good to me. There are others as you would scroll down. And population search. We already spoke about that. But which group do you fall into? Hearing impairments, mental impairments, other impairments? Specializations and the physician. Yeah, I need to sit down with mom, dad, somebody to talk about this option for a paid work experience. In what language? Okay. What language do you use most comfortably? Is it sign language? Is there some other way you communicate with people? We can make that happen. All right. Time for questions Derek.
Derek >> This is Derek. Thank you so much, Ray. Thank you for covering the benefits information and Ticket to Work and diving in, really, about this employment team. The idea of getting to know your employment team is what you just went through. When we get into the goalsetting, perhaps, that is just it for a lot of folks. Get to know these people that are out there to help for those that are seeking employment or careers. So Ray, let's start off. We have some of a group of general questions, but I'll just remind folks, keeps submitting your questions and we appreciate them and will get to as many as possible. We need to answer more generic questions. If you have a personal question, we will want you to take that to the Find Help line and we’ll give that to you before we finish today. Ray, this is a common question. Is there any fee for participating in the Ticket to Work Program?
Ray >> No, there is no fee at all. These services are provided to you at no cost. Absolutely no out-of-pocket expense.

Derek >> This is Derek. Excellent. So tap into these employment team members at no expense. That could cover a lot of different areas, as you just went through. Our next question. A couple people have asked this. I don't have any work experience, but I want to get started. What do I do?

Ray >> Well, that's a great question. It is as simple as calling that Helpline number that I gave you. You will start talking to people. And any member of that team, that employment team, you could reach out to. They will definitely help. I mentioned that benefit planners have some requirements that you must meet for their services. But they will talk to you for a few minutes about what your options are. I think every team member will do that. Again, there is no wrong door at this. If you watch out to the VRA, if you call that 1 800 number and just talk to them about it. You can make that simple. You are not under any obligation for calling that number. And just getting the name of somebody, somebody you can talk to tomorrow. Have got that contact that is local now, and you want to ink about it overnight. Just open the first door and that's where you start.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thank you for that. There is no wrong door. I think that is a great mantra here. Just get started. Getting employment team member that is right for you. Don't worry if you don't have the work experience. They can help. On the other side, there are a couple of questions, Ray. They ask about, I want to, you know, get back into work, but I want to try new field. So does Ticket to Work help in exploring, you know, a new career pathway?

Ray >> It sure can. Again, there is, the possibilities are truly endless. I know you keep hearing that everywhere. But the possibilities are endless. Even if we take that example I gave as working as a cashier at Target. If you were doing that and now you want to do something else? You can use that for me experience you have had to work your way into a different job. And even if it is not related, you say I've had enough at target. I can't even walk in there anymore. I have had it. If you are not sure what to do, we can give you a lot of information about what, what those skills that you have developed at target might be used for. And we can explore and if you decide you are looking to try something, then we put a plan together. As I said, that could include going through a certificate program to get the credentials you need to do a job. It could include two or four year schooling. Different players are going to be able to give you different services in that way. But yeah, we can do that.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thank you, Ray. Another question here about eligibility. Just remind us again, you mentioned, remind us again about who is eligible for the Ticket to Work Program?
Ray >> You have to have a disability benefit, probably Social Security. That is the first thing. You have to be between ages, or you have to be aged 18 through 64. And you have to want to explore going to work. That's it.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thank you for that, Ray. Ages 18 through 64. Receiving a benefit and want to explore work makes you eligible. We have had a couple questions at times, what happens if I am 65 or older? So the Ticket to Work Program is not applying to those folks? But they can remain on their benefits?

Ray >> Yes, that is exactly it. It is not applying to people, yeah, they should watch the retirement age is slowly getting up to 67. So I think we do need to look to see if that Ticket Program will be expanding. But right now, 20 years ago when it was asked, it said 18 through 64 so that is where we are at right now. But that the sixty- five-year-old, that could also work and keep their benefits.
>> This is Derek. Thank you, Ray. Next question. I've heard that I lose my benefits right away if I go back to work. I'm afraid that I can't work full-time, so can Ticket to Work help me?

Ray >> You know, that is just one of those --we have a session that talks about urban myths of returning to work. That is one of the questions. The myth says I lose my benefits if I returned to work. And I am here to tell you that is the furthest thing from the truth. You know, again, depends on what you receive in Social Security disability or SSI. You are not going to lose your benefits if you start working tomorrow. Your benefits on the SSI side will go down, depending on how much you earn. I can assure you, when you reach the point where you have zero dollars in SSI that are payable to you, they will [ Indiscernible ] you will have a lot more money . With SSDI, you have a nine-month trial work period. The trial work period will let you explore how much you can work, what you want to do. You may say, I am good to go at 25 hours a week. You try that and your disability is interfering with that. You are having exacerbations, you not feeling good. The weekends are only there to recover to get better. Maybe that is not what you want to do, so you need to reduce your hours to 20 hours. And at 20 hours, it works. It all works great. And everything is going along well. That nine-month trial work period is a time where you can figure out what your capacity to work is. And what you might want to do. The relative ideas about what we are wanting to do, when we finish school , and maybe , you got a job doing what we wanted to do. We just changed our minds. It is also really good, but it is not for me. I need to change jobs. change career paths. That nine-month period is the time to do that.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thank you, Ray. Really helpful information. I know we have more questions coming in, but what I want to do right now, Ray, is we really want to get into the next section here. You're going to talk to us about SMART goals and setting up some work plans for that is really the heart of what this webinar is all about. Back to you. Looking forward to hearing your next part.

Ray >> All right, thank you, Derek. So setting some SMART goals. You know, I do that every morning. I get up and I turn my computer on. And I can look at my calendar and know I have to be on the WISE so that gets on my list but I have this time where I just do whatever I want. I might figure out what it is. In making a list of goals for the day, in this case, making a list of SMART goals for a job pursuit is really, really important. You might think you don't have to write it down, I will keep it in my head but you have to write it down. When we start celebrating those successes, you've got to know what you have done to deserve that celebration. So write things down. That is the most important thing I can say. Check off things when you finish them. 
So SMART goals. What is this? SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time bound. Go looking for things to put down you know you are going to get done. That you can measure. When I get that done, hey, I got it done in 45 minutes and I gave myself an hour. That is pretty good. Was the goal attainable? Could I really do that? We have to be very realistic about what is going to happen. And what we should expect. And then, of course, time bound. In order to make progress, we have to finish a couple of steps. So we need to predict. We need to put a timeframe down. I will have a job using my new resume in three months. What do I have to do to do that? We will talk about that. And so I want all of these things to be real. Notice they are specific so you know what it is time. It is measurable so you can have those celebrations. The power of SMART goals is it keeps you focused and accountable. The worst person that you have to be accountable to is yourself. It is real easy to say I don't want to do that now. I am tired of doing this. I just need a break. Send your list and check it off for today or this month. That list is holding you accountable. You need that list as something that was doable. It reminds you of the steps that you need to take to achieve success. Some of them could be real simple. I need to go to the American Job Center and sit down with somebody and begin to go over my resume. When I finish with that, I might want to begin contacting Employment Network or some other person on your team who can actually look at that. We have got this six-year gap where having benefits and being able to work. How do I fill that in? Those are all steps, those are very specific steps. As I go through them, I'm going to check off that I am done. It helps you recognize and celebrate accomplishments. Yet, when you get that resume done, you can have a celebration. I don't care what it is. Get a pizza. If that's what you want to celebrate, get up eat. If you need to be celebrating as you accomplish these things. When I get to the next couple of things on my checklist today, I'm just celebrate by turning off my computer. And that is a daily accomplishment. It creates an opportunity to review and revise , you know. I looked at that and said, if you revise, I like renew rather than revise. Because of something is not working out, we need to get rid of it or find a different way to do it. So we might be changing our goals a little bit. This review will or renewing and revising your efforts is where we massage the things out. Okay, there was a kink here. We need to figure out how I can either do this better, or go around this key. It has got to be away to get rid of the kink. And it is very important to review. It is not that our plan is not good. It may be that your one specific step isn't the right thing to accomplish once you --to accomplish. And then your SMART goal. 
Here is a sample. To find work, I will contact at least five employers each week. Apply for at least two new positions, and follow up with talent. That is real specific. That is a great SMART goal. It improves action steps to help you make progress. Every time you contact any employer, I year ago check mark. You have got five of them. You are done for the week. You applied for two positions, you know what tomorrow is Thursday, that will better the odds. It is that simple. And it's the holiday season, so I better contact my counselor now. Hopefully, they are still working. I'm going to call them on Friday and report in. And see what everybody else is doing. That's very doable. You know? Is measurable. I've got my five employees contacted. I told you I was going to get that second application in tomorrow. I will check those off when I finish. They're achievable? Yeah, they are achievable. [ Indiscernible ] or the VR counselor. So if you have any questions about whether or not this is a good employer to contact, maybe we've had the discussion. On my own to report back. But I can contact an EN and see if it is a good match. Are the steps relevant? Are they going to help me find a job? How do I know? Well, if we put in there what we are going to do, is apply for two positions, you know? On Thursdays you take the day off. That's okay. But is Thursday going to help you? And it's not. So we get rid of that. It has to be relevant to the goal. And the goal here is to get that job. And time bound, keep the schedule. We have got a schedule for five employer contacts. Every single week. We have got a goal. Two applications will be filed. That is what we are talking about here. You may have a goal of, okay, I need to get in contact with the community college to get my certificate to get started in January. That's all pretty relevant. It is achievable, it is measurable. It is time bound. A couple of weeks before the process starts. Is like that. Reviewing and revising. 
As you pursue those goals, how effective is the plan? If you're contacting employers, when you're contacting, Target, are you hiring? A commercial, did you see that on TV? I someone last night, we are hiring. I think it was a blinds company. You could have your window treatments done. So they were hiring designers right now. ABI saw that and that is something you might like to give a shot. You can reach out to that one. But what if I am just calling employers and it doesn't seem to be working? Well, maybe you need to change employment. Maybe you need to change your approach. Review your progress. If I have to contact five employers every week, and file two applications every week, at the end of the month, I have got nothing? We need to look at that plan again. We don't want to have that plan going wrong. Month after month after month. Because that is not going to help you want to continue to make progress. Consider any additional steps you might need to take. You would have to go to that community college with a leader certificate. I'm good now. How about volunteer work? That could be something you could build in while you are looking for a job. Volunteer some place that does that type of work. Maybe you want to work in food service. All right. If you're looking for a job, let's go to the shelter down the road and volunteer. To those who are cleaning up and doing that stuff. You are building up your resume too. We are finding how much you can tolerate, there was over, and whether or not that is really the choice you want. Networking, volunteer opportunities, that is a great network too. You can network a lot of places. You can go into a diner --with your server. And you never know who is going to have a connection you might need to get to an employer. Or working with a mentor. Maybe you would like to see how this job is done. Is there a job where you can shadow? Or, if you are actually doing that type of job, is a mentor that can help you in your progress. A little quicker when you have somebody modeling. Short and long-term goals. That's another thing, right? We had some short-term goals. We have already talked about not meeting that short-term goal. Five contacts every week for potential. You can also look at things as long-term and short-term goals. I still think you need to be specific about this as well. That's what is my short-term goal? My short-term goal is to find a job from the employment situation that I have chosen and that I think suits me. What is my long-term goal? If I'm going back to Target, I don't want to work that cash register forever. But maybe, I could become the supervisor and the customer service person that deals with all of those cashiers and customers.
The thing you all do a lot, and at some time or another, you know, in the work life, I want to do this, and I want to do it now. Although, there are lots of other things you need to do it. Before you can get to your call. Yeah, I reflect on my own life. Some of the jobs I did while I was in school, were during the summers. I never want to go back to doing that. Yeah. I did not like them at all, and I think they were just hitting spurs to push me along. [ Laughter ] Remember some of those short-term things are necessary to get where you're going. And celebrate! You know, what is my goal? You have got to get that job. I am going to get it within three months. And do it. Well, it is time to solve that. You are a team, the employment team put together will likely celebrate that with you. For now, they are allowed to do that. But we're all going to give you an “at’-a-boy”, Nice job! Congratulations! You need to be congratulated, patted on the back, all along the way. You feel 's are going to get those angry vibes. There is critically, with that person who wasn't sure how much they could work every week. Or what their work capacity was. Have you found that out? If you find that out, you need --we need to celebrate. 
Small goals are going to help you on your way and keep you motivated to reach that long-term goal. That large school. I want to be a department supervisor. Let me tell you, there is a bigger palatable impact. Everybody is going to be, that employment team is going to be cheering you on to get to that goal. So remember to have the celebrations. I don't care if that is just sitting down, turning on music, and listening quietly. That can be a celebration. As small or as large as you want it to be. Let's celebrate and do it often. So here we have an example of long-term and short-term goals. Long-term goal. Become a general or assistant general manager of a grocery store. I can see somebody stocking shelves before you get that job. So what are you going to do? Find work in a grocery store. Stocking the shelves. Not something you want, that is not your goal, but it is going to get you there. You are now in the business you want to be in. Customer service skills. How do you do that when you are stocking shelves? Well, someone walks down the aisle, and they are looking lost, you ask them if they need assistance finding something. Or if somebody says where can I find this? And you respond appropriately. You get the help you need. That is building skills. Not that that was supposed to be part of your job, but you are doing it, and gaining experience with cashier experience. Why would you want to do that? Because if you're going to be a manager, you better know how those cash registers work. [ Laughter ] How do you do that? You're going to start by talking, you know, I'm going to talk to the cashier when I am in the break room. Figure out what that is all about. And at least get some notion of what skill sets are needed and how you are paying attention to all of this. And maybe, I can go from a stock boy to being a cashier position. We are working our way up that ladder. It takes some time. But we are getting the skills we need to be in that position. How about earning a position to a shift manager? You know, I am stocking shelves, but somebody is running the show. They're making sure I get what I need to put on the shelves. That is got to be a shift manager. So if I work for a while and I do a good job, and I have the ability to talk to people when they need help finding something, we are improving building on the skills that I have picked it up by doing this job. By talking to the cashiers. I am getting closer to having the skills I am going to need to be the general manager. 
How about learning leadership and decision-making skills? There are ways to do it, and there are ways not to do it. I'm going to tell you the way I did and the way not to do it. You don't learn to do it by yourself on the job. You watch. You think about decisions that other people have made. Right? Your supervisor. And you take time to sit down and talk and you talk about this. They're not challenging your supervisor, but how did you get to this conclusion. So you can learn what steps need to complete. Considering everything else that is going on around you, not just what you are doing. And learn the system with money management. How about scheduling? That is going to be a skill you will need to be a shift lead. Inventory. How many cans? If we don't have them, I can't stock them. It is your job. If you want to be that person to make sure I have cans, you're going to have to learn the inventory system. All of that can be done just by paying attention to what is going on around you. And discussing it with your coworkers. So, planning employment goals and working with the Ticket Program, now working with your Ticket Program service providers, particularly those ENs in the state VR agencies. Talk about it. What do you want to do? Talk about it by asking questions. What can I do? If I start here , what can I do? Not to have to do that for the next 20 years. So discuss short and long-term work goals in earnings. How about recent work experience? For Social Security, that is 15 years. So what have you done? How much did you make there? Did you like those jobs? Did you like parts of them? How about benefits counseling? Talk to a benefits planner, so that you will have an idea of your program that says --$15 an hour and you will be working half-time, 20 hours a week. What is that going to do to my benefits? Here is a benefits counselor to talk to you. You will need education training. Wanted to do those as well and how about those accommodations? And getting to know within your team, what you need before you actually have to pursue those things. And in the plans, we have not --we have lots of plans. [ Laughter ] I love that every agency has to call their plans something different. But when you are working, you are going to have a plan. You are potentially, they sat down. You are negotiating and sign. We have an individualized work plan, an individualized plan for employment, edit individualized employment plan. Now it is just a matter of who you are talking to. If you are a VR, you're going to have one. If you are EN, you're going to have another. They're all the same thing and they're all a plan to help you get to work to meet your goals. So you will be discussing short and long-term goals then. Hopefully, what you expect to earn, and what you want , and what you will be earning to match up. If you expect to earn more, then you will have to build a few more hours in in order to do that. But any additional supports will serve as you will need that to succeed. You need to get that all in place, so you have a good experience. 
Now the specific things or the short-term goals could be career counselor. Job search, and job placement. Resume writing and interview prep. Very important to have those practices. Training opportunities. Moving on to long-term. Becoming stable and keeping a new job. Very important long-term services so that you can be successful. Advice to help you be getting promoted and advancing your career. Never, never too early to start that. Before you get the job that you are wanting right now. You talk to somebody about how does this affect our lives for promotions within that company or how does it allow me to move into another company? To advance my career at the same time? It is never too early to talk about it. Now, your work plan, any one of those keys that we talked about, that you have developed within agent plan and are going to use as your guide to work, it is like a contract between you and them that I am going to say, if I am your EN, this is what I will do for you. If you are the consumer, this is what you have to do. So I'm going to help you get your resume ready. I'm going to give you some job leads and then I will give you --you know, what you are going to do, you are going to you're going to work to put that resume together. When I give you a job link, we're going to follow it up and hopefully, fill out an application. You know, this has to be written in and signed show that you and your provider, what he or your VR agency. Both agree on what is going to happen. Very important part. What are your responsibilities? Do you have to agree you need to meet people. You are meeting with people constantly. You are going to be in meetings and responsibilities that were outlined. Derek calls me and says I have 800 -- job leads for you what you need to do it by Friday. I have got to be ready to do something quickly. Unless there is some really significant barrier to my doing that. Not everybody's plan is going to be the same but it will be different. The benefits you receive, yeah, but they are generally, going to be taking time and progress. If I'm going to community college in January, and I can and is that certificate program, that's my goal. Finish it by May. That is making time. That deals with everything. Educational pursuits, training pursuits, and learning and working. 
Report your earnings to Social Security. That has to be done. You have to do that. You can do that several ways but remember? December is coming to an end quickly. I have until January 10th to get my information to Social Security. No ifs, ands or buts. I'm going to report any changes to Social Security. If it is a new job, I'm going to give them a lot of information about that manager. If it is just a change in salary and is just telling you how much I am making now or how much more I am working. How am I getting married? How about moving? You know, there are lots of leaves I need to show Social Security information and information and you will do it and report into me on these agencies. And reaching your goals, what are your goals? What is your career goal in 2023. Right around the corner. So we need to give that some thought. I will make my goal SMART goals. What were the next steps I need to take to achieve my goal? Who is available to help me? The energy plan is by --on board. Connecting with the service provider. Use that help tool. The Guided Search, the Direct Search, they both work. We will get you the dimensions. And look in that web pod and find planning your employment works with a Ticket to Work. System integration. Check in with your EN. Check in with your VR agency. Again, celebrate those the reason the progress that you are making. 
Do we have Rebecca's story this morning? Rebecca was formerly a teacher and and she decided it was time to find a remission a cancer diagnosis. She was wondering if she could sustain work and where to begin it. Not knowing if or when the cancer would come back and contributing to feelings of insecurity. That could jeopardize her SSDI and Medicare benefits. With the help of the Ticket to Work, she achieved financial independence and found a fulfilling new job. From information, go to the pod with Rebecca's story. The stories are great. If you want to get motivated, read a few. All right, we're back to questions, Derek.

Derek >> This is Derek. Thank you, Ray. Going to the SMART goals and work plans, a lot of helpful information in there. I will come into a question mentioned kind of starting in 2023 and setting that goal. Only have time really for one question right now. I have heard someone says, well, goal setting , sometimes these resolutions fail. And how do I keep from my goals or my plan from failing? So any words of encouragement around, you know, how to start and why to use PABSS?

Ray >> You know why resolutions fail? Because they --I'm going to start exercising and lose 25 pounds. That is a big thing. It takes a long time and it is not SMART. It is not specific. You need to start with small goals. Those that are readily attainable. I could lose 25 pounds before. Let me tell you, by looking at something that is going to happen in June or July, there is no gratification and there is no celebration. So what I'm going to do is maybe find a gym. That is what I am going to do. The first part of that goal. And then I am going to go to the gym twice a week. Starting out new is enough. I'm going to move up. So break that whole down into a piece. And have those celebrations. Acknowledge yourself that you are doing -- you may have a celebration every time you walk into that gym. [ Laughter ] Because you really don't want to go. It is cold outside. Do small things. Goals can be tiny and very achievable.

Derek >> This is Derek. I would like to thank you, Ray, for your time and thoughts today on the Ticket Program in SMART goals and setting work lands. We really thank you for all you do for us throughout the year as well. At this, we need to proceed to wrap up the webinar.

Ray >> Okay, thank you, Derek.

Derek >> So we have heard a lot of questions come in and in the Q&A box. We appreciate that. A lot are very personal. We're going to give you some information about where to take some of these questions we couldn't answer publicly today. First, if you want to get updates and learn more about our monthly WISE webinars, we encourage you to subscribe to our email and text message updates for you to find out our topics for each month and be able to register. Registered in learning more about the Ticket Program, employment service providers, and other topics, you can also subscribe to our Choose Work blog and get the updates sent directly to your inbox. I will mention how to do both of those things in just one moment. 
I know we have learned a lot today and we have questions indicating a lot of you would like to learn more. And really what we want to do is to encourage you to get started on that path. Remember what Ray said. There is no wrong door. Choose the door that you feel is right and reach out. If you have learned something today and you want to reach out, first, you consider contacting the Ticket to Work Helpline we mentioned. Call 1-866-968-7842. Or by TTY to 1-866-833-2967. You can also visit at any time choosework.ssa.gov. Visit us online and find that Find Help tool that Ray was talking about earlier. To get that Choose Work, you can choose the Choose Work contact page. As a mentioned, the web links pod has a lot of great tools in the bottom right corner there but if you haven't accessed any yet, take the next couple minutes to access nobody can choose how to connect with us in that Ticket to Work contact information that is right in that Choose Work pod itself and we encourage you to check that out. That is item number 16. Okay. 
We also offer advice and encouragement and you can read stories about people who have achieved financial independence with help from the Ticket to Work Program. You can opt in to receive text messages but if you're interested in receiving those text messages from the Ticket Program, please text ticket, TICKET to 474747. Standard messaging rates may apply. 
It is important to note that if you need a contact to Social Security Ticket to Work Program managed by Social Security ministration office of employment support, we ask that you do so electronically instead of by postal mail. Our email address is support@choosework.sa.gov. Do not include personally identifiable information in your email. That could potentially be used to identify a particular person. Examples include the person's full name, the Social Security number, or an email address. Again, you may also contact Ticket to Work at our Helpline at 1-866-968-7842 or via TTY at 1-866-833-2967. That's Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern. 
Please join us for our next WISE webinar which is going to be held on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. The topic will be on think outside the office. We will look at jobs from outside the office and provide some resources on how to explore those. Registration is now open and available at choosework.ssa.gov/wise/. You can also contact the find Helpline to register as well. 
And finally, your feedback is very important to us in planning for future webinars . Please provide your feedback and tell us what you think by taking the survey. To take the survey, you can follow the work that will pop up after the webinar where you can find the survey link in the web links pod or visit the website at choosework.ssa.gov/surveys/wise. Thank you for attending today to learn about the Ticket Program and setting work goals. Please know there are supports and people ready to help and we encourage you to reach out to begin your journey.

This concludes this webinar.