Derek >> Good afternoon and welcome to today's Ticket to Work webinar, Expanding Your Job Search with Ticket to Work. My name is Derek Shields and I'm a member of the Ticket to Work Program Manager and I will serve as the moderator for this webinar. We are so pleased to have you with us to learn about Social Security's Ticket to Work Program and how it can help you as you start or you expand your path to financial independence through work. Each of us has our own journey and we hope you will get some information today that will 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 webinar

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As I mentioned at the start, my name is Derek Shields and I'm a member of the Ticket to Work team and I'll be serving as your moderator today. We are also delighted to have Ray Cebula with us as our presenter. Ray received his law degree from the University of New Hampshire's Franklin Pierce School of Law. He spent 23 years providing legal services to individuals with disabilities in their interactions with Social Security. He then became part of Cornell University's Work Incentive Support Center and in 2005 Ray joined the staff of Cornell's Yang Tan Institute on Employment and Disability. Ray now serves as the Program Director of YTI Online, Cornell's Work Incentive Practitioner Credentialing Program.
During today's webinar Ray will cover these agenda items: First, Social Security's Ticket to Work Program. Next, focus on Your Employment Team and who those options and providers are followed by a section on Section 503 for Federal Contractors. Then to Federal Employment and Schedule A. And last a final segment on Apprenticeships. All of these designed to help you expand in your search for work. And now it is my pleasure to introduce Ray for him to review today's learning objectives and then start with an introduction to the Ticket to Work Program. Over to you, Ray.

Ray >> Thank you, Derek. I think I went one too far. All right. What we're going to talk about today is everything Derek said. A lot of Federal programs, uh, the notion of apprenticeships, you know to help you again further your job search, uh, expand it make it a little wider than you otherwise would. What we're hoping that you're going to learn throughout this session is first of all to better understand the Ticket to Work Program, know your employment team, there is a team that you're going to be building or you can choose to build, that will help you in many different aspects of job search and job preparedness. Understand how Section 503 will open up opportunities for you as a disabled individual. You know, 503 is a Federal section of the law. We call it 503. It does some wonderful things for some of you out there who are looking for work. And then Schedule A, how's that going to help in your job search. Another part of that law and how to help you get one foot ahead. How about an apprenticeship? You know, I did several of them through law school and through undergrad and they are really good learning and doing tools to give you some great experience. We'll talk about those and becoming familiar with additional job resources. There are lots of them out there. We're going to go over the names of them. They will all be listed in that Web Links pod that you can see on your screen.

So, let's start out with the Ticket to Work Program, support on your journey to work. In order to start we need to know what type of benefit you receive from the Social Security Administration and there are two types available. The Social Security Disability Insurance Program is just what it says. It's an insurance program. As you have worked in the past or you begin to work, and FICA taxes are being withheld from your salary you are buying insurance through Social Security and part of that insurance is disability insurance. If you do suffer a disability you may be able to draw from that insurance plan if you've worked long enough and paid enough into the system. Because of that notion everybody's benefits a little bit different. That program comes with Medicare. And then we need to move on to the SSI program. The SSI program, Supplemental Security Income, is not an insurance program. It's a needs-based Federal welfare program and this is also providing benefits to individuals with disabilities who haven't worked enough or who haven't worked at all and the notion is to bring you up to a minimum level of income in order to meet your basic needs. And this program has some really fantastic work incentives. The Insurance Program has some too, they're a little bit older, but both programs have Work Incentives. SSI is a fabulous Work Incentive Program. This program comes with Medicaid. You know it's a different program, it's not Insurance like Medicare was for the SSDI person. It is a needs-based health plan much more expansive than Medicaid, but, uh, yeah what we need to know is that in either case if you do decide to go to work you will likely have a benefits planner on your team and those planners are going to show you a journey to work that will guarantee that if we can you comply with the plan you'll have more money than you did and likely keep your health care for a good long while. So, starting that journey to work, you know, it's, this is your choice. These programs that we're going to talk about today are completely voluntary and you need to consider your situation and whether or not work is the right choice for you. We're going to talk to you today and hope that you will quickly determine after we're finished that it's worth a shot.

One of the first steps you should do because this is going to help you not only track your job experience in your salary experience, it's also going to give your benefits planners and some of the other people you're going to be working with a lot of good information, and that's to sign up for a my Social Security account. I’ve had one for years. I check it every now and then and Social Security sends me an email every year saying it's time to look at your account to make sure that your wages for last year have made it into the system. And I think that's a really good thing. It also gives me information that says if I retire today how much I'll receive. If I become disabled today how much will I receive. What will my spouse receive. What will my other dependents receive. Lots of wonderful information to help you plan for the end of your work experience or for that disability that may be incurred while you're working.
So you know, with these accounts I said you could access your earnings history. If you're not sure when the last time you worked was or how much you made this is a good starting point. You and your benefits planners are gonna want that information. How about requesting a replacement Social Security card? You know, I’m one of those nerds who still has the card that I received when I got my first job. Not everybody has one, they disappear after a few years. You can get another one by using my Social Security account. How about getting proof of income you can get that in letter format or simply print out the screenshot. You can estimate your benefits. As I said, if I become disabled today I will receive x number of dollars and my dependents will receive x number of dollars. And you can apply for benefits. You can report your earnings using this. Lots of good information, lots of good services, without having to wait in line at the local office or having to wait on hold. Great place to self-manage.

So why would you choose work? Earning living, a living, is not available to everybody. You may not be able to earn a living given your situation. Well, you know that doesn't mean you're not a candidate for work, you just have to determine what your capacity is. You know, what your desires are and understand some of the free services and supports that we can provide to you. Most people are going to find that the risk of loss of your cash benefits is not going to be much of an issue at all because with your team you will be set to determine or are set to reach a goal where you'll have more money now than your benefits provide to you. I didn't mention health care there because you got to work really, really hard to lose your health care. Health care is going to remain with you for a good long time, many years, and your planner can help you track that as well. So this Ticket to Work Program, you know, what is it. You know, it's fairly um, 2000, sounds like it was a long time ago, but you know, it's been a long, Social Security's been around for a long time. So this is one of the new kids on the block. It is free and it is voluntary. It offers career development for people ages 18 through 64 who receive a Social Security benefit based on disability and want to work. So there's not a whole lot of risk here. It's free. If you choose not to take advantage of it, no penalty. You choose to take advantage of it when you're ready, when you've considered this in your own home where you're comfortable. And if you need information everybody on your team or who will be a member of your team is happy to give you information to help you come to that decision.

It's going to this program, the Ticket to Work Program, connects you with free employment services to help you decide if work is right for you. It's a big decision and you maybe need to know things that you don't know right now. We're all available to talk to you. How about preparing for work? Do you need a new resume? Do you need some assistance with how you draft resume bullets to cover that period where you were not working? There are people out there who can take what you have done as a hobby or what you have done if you were babysitting for your grandchild while you were disabled and turn that into experience. How about finding that job, you know, the Employment Networks who are out there are all community-based. There's, some of them serve a lot of communities but they are based in your community. They know where the jobs are, they know who the employers are, and they sometimes and very often know when that particular employer is going to be hiring. And as you'll hear later on they can help you with 503 and Schedule A so that you can take advantage of the Federal programs that are going to assist you to get to work. How about succeeding? You know this is a very important part here because succeeding at work is what we all want for you. We don't want to get you a job and say “congratulations, take care” -- we want to help you succeed and we will be there with you until you determine you don't need our help anymore. You think, okay, Ray, can I call you if I have an issue and I’m going to happily say that sounds like a great plan because we don't want to cut you loose until you're ready.

So how does the Ticket to Work, I’m going to have trouble with that, all day. How does the Ticket Program work if you decide to participate? You can choose to receive services from authorized Ticket to Work service providers like Employment Networks. We call those ENs. Your State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. We're going to call those VRs. And then there are Workforce ENs. Those of the little pink triangle with the WF, um, they are American Job Centers, used to be called One-Stop Centers. Many of those one-stop shops are available to you while you're trying to go back to work.

So, let's talk about Employment Networks. A big part of the Ticket to Work are the employment networks that were created by this program it's a private or public organization that has an agreement with social security to provide free services and supports to people who are eligible for that program remember if you're receiving a disability benefit from social security and you're aged 18 through 64 you're eligible it's as simple as that many state public workforce systems as we said the American Job Centers are workforce ENs. These agencies are really really good. You know they have really great people who want to help you and can plan each step along your journey to work and we want you to work with these people. You can interview as many of them as you want now; you are making a choice as to who feels the most comfortable and who you believe will help you meet your goals.

So what can they do? Specifically they can identify, help you, help you identify your goals. What do you want to do? You know many people don't have an answer to that right away and that's okay. Maybe you're not sure about your capacity. Maybe you're not sure if you have the appropriate work skills. Well by sitting down with an Employment Network you will find that out. Your information, all of your information, is going to help that EN narrow in on what it sounds like your goals are. You know, do you have an interest in fashion? Okay you do. Have you worked in the past? Not yet. How about we get you into a department store, you're in a clothing department, and that's a great job to start. You know we don't get the jobs we want right away but the jobs we start with are those that we use to build our experience and maybe you move on to buying clothing for a department store. How about reading or writing and reviewing your resume? And the last time I had to give anybody a resume was a long time ago now and if I needed to do it again I wouldn't know where to begin. They look completely different than my 20 year old resume looks. I would like some help from a professional to put that resume in shape. you take what I have now what do I need to do to update it with my current job skills my current duties.

And then we'll review it all again and make sure it looks right and most of all is correct.
Once you have your resume prepared it's time to send them out and prepare for interviews. Interviewing for a job is a tough thing and having someone to practice interviewing with you and to help you develop questions that you can ask that potential employer is a wonderful service, it really is. Because you shouldn't be surprised, you know, when a question comes at you during an interview. You should be prepared for it and you most certainly don't want to say oh, I have no questions, when that employer says do you have any questions for us? That's your chance to show them how interested you are in their company, in what they do. Your Employment Network can help you develop those questions as well. How about reasonable accommodations? A lot of us have and need reasonable accommodations. How do you ask an employer or a prospective employer about reasonable accommodations? How do you explain to them what you need, you know. Very important discussion and they are there to help you. You know there are a couple of other people on your team that will be discussing who can also help you with that issue and receiving benefits counseling. Many, many ENs have benefits planners on their staff. If they don't, they can refer you to your area benefits planners who can help you put a plan together. You know we're not just going to send you off to work. We're going to get you a plan to ease your way into work, ease your way up the wage scale and ease your way hopefully to a promotion.
Now the State VR Agencies, they're another big player here because you, basically State VR Agencies have to help anybody in the state with rehabilitation issues. But you can also use the State VR Agency as an Employment Network. The State VR Agency will talk to you and decide whether they want to just put your Ticket in use or want to assign the Ticket. Again they're telling you what they want, you're making the decisions. But the State VR Agency is going to help you with that, vocational rehabilitation, that you may need. How about training and education? If you decide you want to be a teaching assistant and you finished high school, well you may need an associate's degree to become a teaching assistant in your state. So the State VR Agency can help set that up. They can also help with the accommodations you may need while you're in school. It's a great resource if you want a training program, you know, you want to become a plumber, become an electrician, those are all available through your State VR Agency. Now it's important to remember that some state agencies have a separate agency that serves individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Not all states do but a lot do. If you call the wrong one they will refer you to the right one. There's no wrong door involved with the Ticket to Work Program.

Now we've talked a lot about Work Incentives you know and these are special rules that apply to people who work. Yeah, you can't have them if you don't… it's a Work Incentive.
You need training for new skills? How about to improve the skills you already have? Pursuing your education. Get this next one. Try different jobs. Don't know what you want to do well, we can try different jobs. We just need to know what your interests are, what you like to do. And it's amazing where we'll find those little tips when you start talking to us. You know, I once had a kid who came into my office with the skateboard and his mother but he came in first with the skateboard and I quickly jumped on that and I asked him all about his skateboard and he told me that he built that skateboard and he knew how to fix skateboards. You know, I knew where I wanted to have him placed for his first paid work experience. Seems to me that being a repair guy at a skateboard shop for that paid work experience might be a good thing and not because I wanted him to work in the back room yeah and just fix skateboards because maybe he just wanted, maybe he'd want to own his own skateboard shop and wouldn't that be great if we could send them to work, use the work incentives, protect his health care, and he ends up in probably several years owning his own skateboard shop. We turn that job into a career. Now he's a business owner, you know. So the, again nothing is beyond the Ticket to Work Program if you put your all into it and just gaining confidence, you know, as you begin working, as you begin to develop yourself through training, you know. As you begin to work up that ladder at your first job you are going to gain confidence and just the access that you have to other things can help you do that.

So, let's talk about Section 503 for Federal contractors. Again, this is a particular section of the law that helps folks with disabilities in the employment process. You know it's part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, it's been around for a long while and its purpose is to create job opportunities for people with disabilities. It prohibits Federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating against people with disabilities and requires affirmative action in recruiting, hiring, training, promoting and retaining people with disabilities. This is a lot of good stuff that's sitting there with you should you choose to take advantage of it.

The 503 provisions are going to allow you to voluntarily self-identify as a person with a disability before being offered a job. Notice it says voluntarily. You don't have to do this if you don't want to. If you do, you get the benefits that come along with Section 503. It requires the contract, as the Federal contractors, to invite employees to self-identify as an individual with a disability every five years. I remember that, I think it was two years ago the last time Cornell offered me that opportunity. Again you don't have to self-identify. You may choose to and it establishes a seven percent utilization goal for contractors. So what we're looking at, it's a fancy way of saying seven percent of a federal contractor's employees should be individuals with disabilities who were hired. And look at that other word -- and retained by those federal employers. Your contractors must develop a plan to address any issues preventing their success in meeting the goal. So if there are issues with, let's just say most people with a physical disability might not be able to do a certain job being done by this contractor, well let's put a plan together. Now if you're not meeting your seven percent goal, how can you rearrange that job so that those people with a physical disability can do it? The jobs can be done in many ways. So the employers who are not at that seven percent goal need to put a plan to get themselves up to snuff. And we always have success stories and we've got two pretty good ones today for you, uh, and Angel’s is the first. He suffered from head and back injuries, uh, after two tours of duty with the U.S. Air Force. His willingness to identify as an individual with disability was an asset during the hiring process. With help from his Ticket Program service provider he received free benefits counseling information about work incentives and reasonable accommodations to help him succeed. And there is a link to this entire story in the Web Links pod under Angel's Success Story. So we always ask Angel what he thought about his experience and what he told us was that being back at work has had a positive impact in so many areas of my life, I’ve been able to show my children that working goes with perseverance and resilience. The job has helped me build confidence, maintain good mental health and regain a sense of accomplishment, all vital for the next chapter in our lives. That's a great story, the, Angel's still successful you know but he's showing his kids how he could come back from disabilities to work, provide for his kids better than he was able to before his impacts, maintaining good mental health, regain a sense of accomplishment and how does he end this? All vital for the next chapter in our lives. He's talking about his family, this is a really nice success story and we thank Angel for letting us share it.

Now, Federal employment and Schedule A.

Come on, there it is. Okay, if you are a person with a disability you can apply and complete -- and compete -- for any Federal job for which you're eligible and meet the qualifications. But you also may be eligible for a special hiring authority. So let's get this straight right now. Schedule A is kind of going to give you a ticket to the front of the line, but you have to meet the minimum qualifications of that job.

Section A - or Schedule A - refers to a special hiring authority that allows federal agencies, Social Security, the who else is the Federal agency, the IRS, you know all of those Federal agencies that we know. It gives them authority to use an optional way to hire people with disabilities applying under Schedule A, offers an exception to the traditional competitive hiring process and you can apply for jobs using Schedule A if you're a person with an intellectual disability, a severe physical disability or a psychiatric disability. So it's going to run across the broad areas of disability and it's a great program. What are the requirements? To be eligible you must provide proof of a disability. It's a letter from your doctor indicating that you have an intellectual disability, that severe physical disability or a psychiatric disability. That letter can come from your doctor, and notice doctors at the top of the list. So that's what we prefer but again from a licensed medical professional, a licensed Vocational Rehabilitation specialist or any Federal, state or local agency that issues or provides a disability benefit.

Everybody here that's going to be using the Ticket to Work has to be receiving a Social Security benefit so the fact that you're receiving that benefit means you're in there, are sample Schedule A letters in the web pod under that title Sample Schedule A Letters

How do I know a job is open to individuals with a disability? Here's one of those resources we promised. Visit USAJobs. It's a great resource when you look at particular job announcements, look for language that says this job is open to and you'll see who this job is looking for when a job is open to individuals, to some with disabilities, you're going to see that icon of a person in a wheelchair moving forward. There may be other groups of people, veterans is the most obvious one, who are also listed who could apply for this. Now, you can also select individuals with disabilities in the USAJobs filter and using their search function the result will be every job that you look at will be open to people with disabilities.
Now here's another person to add to your team if that's necessary. What is a Selective Placement Program Coordinator? This is a person who's going to help these Federal agencies recruit, hire and accommodate people with disabilities. So that's going to likely be your first point of contact. You may send a resume in. Under

Schedule A you may get a call from this coordinator, who we're going to call for short SPPC.

And that might be the person who's interviewing you, a part of that interview team, and it's going to be a very friendly source to talk about reasonable accommodations if they're necessary. So remember that person, the SPPC.

What do you have to do if you're interested in Schedule A? Remember, you need to get that letter or document to prove you're disabled. You know, as we said, that last one was, you are receiving a benefit from Social Security. If you can get a letter from your doctor all the better but you should be issuing because you're receiving benefits from Social Security based on disability. Update your resume with your skills your abilities and your references, all things that have to be, you know, shared with your prospective employer. An Employment Network is a great place to get that help, get that resume looking like it should reading, like it should, and letting your prospective employer know that you have the skills to do the job that they want done. And make contact with the SPPC, that person who is going to usher you through that agency's system. If you'd like additional assistance, contact the Ticket to Work Helpline, and I’m going to give you that number it's 1-866- 968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 for TTY users, and you can get a list of service providers that can help you. If you're not sure who the ENs are in your area that's a good place to do it. Or you can visit the Find Help Tool on the Social Security website. That link is also in your Web Links pod, um, and that it's fairly easy to use. You know, I’m pretty much on it many times a week rather than several times. A lot because people will call me and ask who in Peoria, Illinois can help me and I will ask for their zip code and I will open up the website and search for them and give them the first couple of names that come up. Yeah, and the help tool's really good if you know if you have an intellectual disability you don't want to go to somebody who helps people with physical disabilities; not a good fit. Find Help Tool will let you know what types of disabilities this Employment Network has experience with, what languages do they provide services in, if you need somebody who speaks Spanish or Vietnamese, it will be there. So that you will know, you know, that's, a that's a big help if you feel more comfortable doing this, yeah, and receiving services in your native language, then by all means there's likely an Employment Network out there that can do that so the Help, the Find Help Tool is good if you have Internet access just to see what's available. So take a look.

And now we're going to move to another great story. Jesus, uh, it's a Ticket to Work success story. Jesus was born with Spina Bifida and spent most of his childhood using a wheelchair or crutches. With help from his Ticket to Work Employment Network, he received benefits counseling, work incentive information and developed an Individual Work Plan. And, he received resume writing, job lead support, all to help him transition in his career. Jesus qualified for the Schedule A, allowing his employer to avoid the usual long and competitive hiring process. You can find his story on the Jesus's success story in the Web Links pod. What did he say about his experience? “Work has helped me expand my social, my social circles, and my support network as well. I’m very happy knowing that I can be independent, achieve the goals I set for myself, and I’m more confident every day. The Ticket to Work Program, the help I received through it, helped me find my way to work at my own pace and I’m grateful for that.” And he looks like a pretty happy guy. He looks happy and content, relaxed and confident. So Jesus has a great story, um, a great success story and is happily working, transitioning into a career.

And now we need to move into Apprenticeships.

What is an apprenticeship? It's a training program, combining both work and learning, yeah, and training on and off the job. So, it's a lot of stuff there that you may be learning something new. But, you know, if you're like me, hearing someone tell you what to do and doing it are two very different things and I learn best when I’m doing it. So, the fact that I’m, I’ve got my hands in the mix and I’m taking steps as someone's teaching me how to do this helps me learn. And that's what an apprenticeship basically does. It can, but it combines the development of the theoretical knowledge regarding a particular occupation or range of occupations with the practical experience gained from doing it. Yeah even in law school I was listening to people talk about theoretical knowledge and it was nice to think about it. But the first thing I wanted to do was get out of the classroom and into an apprenticeship so that I could actually do what they were teaching me. And I learned much better that way. And, if you're like me, an apprenticeship might be right for you. What's the value? Get your foot in the door, right. It's a way into this industry as you can see from that little cartoon, there's somebody learning how to cook with the chef's hat on. So you can be a cook or you can be a chef and that person is going to be told how to do something. I’m trying to think of what, I don't, I don't cook very much, but what they're doing they're whipping the egg whites, they're going to learn how to do that by someone telling. Well in an apprenticeship you're going to learn how to do that because someone's going to give you a bowlful of eggs and you're going to start working. That's a good way to learn. They're real jobs. You're doing a job for an employer and they are salaried and so you will get paid. This is a great thing. You are working at the job that you think you might want to have and you are being paid while you're learning. And there's always somebody with more experience you know who will mentor you. You know, if you're learning how to be a chef you're not going to get that white hat, you know, you get that when you're a chef. You got to beat a lot of eggs, you know, with the chef watching you and making sure they're nice and firm. Yeah and then you will get your chef's hat.

May be opportunities that will exist to show you how to advance in your field or help you. Right, then advance. You know another thing about apprenticeships sometimes the employers really take a liking to you and they may say, you know, I know you have to go through two more semesters. When you're ready to graduate, give me a call. And that's worth its weight in gold. So don't underestimate just the exposure you have to different jobs and different employers. It's all going to help. One of the educational benefits of apprenticeships, you're going to gain a variety of job specific and transferable skills. You know, that's really important. You know, I told you about my last law school experience, get into a clinic, get a job where I can learn how to do this and when I graduated, you know, I remember getting into my first legal office and I was told you have a divorce hearing at 2:30. Have you ever done one? I said yep and they handed me the file and I went off to court that afternoon. All of those apprenticeships, all of the clinical experience, allowed me to do that because I knew exactly what needed to be done. How about using the apprenticeships as a pathway to college?

Depending on the school you want to, you may have a very hands-on school. Lots of engineering schools do that, you know. They want people who are going to sit in class and going to be able to learn but they also want people who can work in a lab and part of your learning and education is working in that laboratory. And you need to know how to do things. If you've had apprenticeships through high school, maybe after high school, that helped you get into college you're a step ahead of people who have only had a high school education. How about earning college credit or even a bachelor's degree? In many, many schools out there are, giving you credit for life experience. Well all of these apprenticeships are life experiences and if you successfully had a placement, well, you may very well get three credits for it. Yeah, or how about those credentialing courses? You know, Derek mentioned that I’m directing one right now. People sit through classes people then have to take an exam. And then you have to do benefits planning, you have to sit down with a recipient who wants to go to work and help them plan and we're going to look at that plan to make sure that you both know your stuff and you can apply it. And if you do that successfully, you get a credential. Not bad, those credentials can become very important and even now, yeah, I’m able to reach out and say well you know this credential would help me improve my knowledge and I sit through the classes, take the exam, and earn another credential because it's going to improve my ability to help you get back to work.

All right, Derek. I think we're at question time.

Derek >> Excellent, Ray. Thank you very much for taking us through the Ticket to Work Program and then, then, expanding the search options to include the Section 503, Schedule A and apprenticeships content. Really went through a lot of important content we've had a lot of questions come in. So now we're going to take about 10 minutes to bring some of those up and have you respond to those. I'd like to start first, I’ve had a lot of questions around the Trial Work Period. So if you could start by just going back and describing, you know, what the Trial Work Period is and how that can help a beneficiary that would be great and then I got a follow-on question for you. Ray >> Okay, we have to first point out that Trial Work Periods are an SSDI Work Incentive. So, it's not going to apply to the SSI folks out there. And what it is, is your ability to test your ability to work it's a great period of time where you can test your capacity. How many hours you can work, what types of jobs you want to do. It's a period of nine months. The months do not need to be consecutive, but anytime you work and your gross wages are above the current Trial Work Period level, you use a month, and that's 940 dollars this year. So if you gross 940 dollars in May, that's your first Trial Work month. Now, the other part of this process is that in order to use nine of them they all must fall within a period of five years. Now nine months spread out over five years is not really a good way to test your ability to work. Nine months in a row is a great way to do that. You've been working consistently over a period of time and that's going to teach you what your capacity to work is. Yeah, but again, if you work sporadically three months in the summer three months in the next summer, three months in the next summer, you've used nine months in three years, Social Security is then going to look and see have you shown the ability to do Substantial Gainful Activity and, SGA, Substantial Gainful Activity is 1350 countable income each month. So we're going to apply a lot of the work incentives and if you have shown that capacity, Social Security will likely suspend your benefits. Suspension's not a bad thing. You can get these benefits back real quick, you know, so don't worry about suspension, yeah, if you have not right, this show, right. (Lost connection)

Derek >> Sorry to interrupt, this is Derek. We lost you for about 10 seconds. If you could just go back to Substantial Gainful Activity, SGA, and then repeat what you said, that would be very helpful. You're coming, your comments are fine right now. Ray >> Thank you. Okay, excuse me. Okay, after the end of that Trial Work Period, when you've accumulated those nine months in five years, Social Security will look back and say what did you do, yeah, and you'll give them information and they're going to ask you what you earned and if you earned more than the SGA level, yeah, which this year is 1350 countable income in a month, Social Security will likely suspend your benefits. Suspension is not a bad thing because you can turn those benefits back on the moment your income drops below SGA.

If you have not shown the ability to do Substantial Gainful Activity, Social Security will continue your benefits through the next period of work incentives.

Derek >> Excellent. So a little bit of a follow-up question, you were getting to this but specifically, questions come in about really when does the Trial Work Period start? Does it start when you start working with a service provider, an EN let's say? Or does it start when you actually begin job? Can you just clarify that for us, please/ Ray >> Absolutely. It starts when you begin to earn money. So when you get that job if you're working with an Employment Network to put your resume together and get some job leads and interview practice and all of that stuff, you're not using Trial Work Period. When you start that job you might use a Trial Work month, remember I said 940 dollars in gross wages. So if you earn 945 dollars in May you've used Trial Work month if you earn under 940 you will not have used a Trial Work period month. So that you're going to be looking at what you are grossing each month in order to determine whether you've used a month or not. But it will not start until the first time your wages, your gross wages, exceed 940 dollars in a month.

Derek >> Excellent, thank you, that's very helpful. And of course, you know, if you're tracking this and this is confusing then we encourage you to use the contacts that will provide throughout the session to reinforce what Ray is saying. You can contact the Helpline or read about this on our website or work, you know, with an Employment Network of your choice. So we have some options there to follow up on those details of the Trial Work Period. Right, we have a couple other questions that have come in um really focused around the Schedule A content, the Schedule A hiring authority that you went through. And, so, just like you to clarify regarding qualification for Schedule A. Specifically who's eligible for it? Would, would you mind going into that a little bit deeper? 

Ray >> Yeah the first thing about Schedule A is you have to be willing to self-identify as somebody with a disability. That disability can be intellectual disability, it can be a severe physical disability or a psychiatric disability. Those are really broad categories so just about every disability that has qualified people for a Social Security benefit will make you eligible. The big decision right up front is do you choose to tell your prospective Federal employer that you have a disability, you know. So it's your choice to do that. You are protected by Schedule A. When you do reveal your disability you can't be discriminated against. Remember, you also have to have the qualifications that are attached to that job. If it says you need a master's degree and you only have a bachelor's degree, you're not qualified for the job. Yes, you want to be realistic about which jobs you're qualified to do. You have to meet all of those qualifications. You have to have a disability that gave rise to Social Security benefits because I think that's the category where most people are fitting into today and then you again, just have to make the decision to file that Schedule A request along with the proof of disability. And remember what we said, a letter from your doctor and a different medical provider a licensed Vocational Rehabilitation specialist. How about a letter from any Federal state or local agency that provides disability benefits, that's Social Security, and if you can get that information, if you decide to divulge you are then qualified. And remember that Social Security account we talked about, my Social Security? You can print out a letter from that that indicates that you're a recipient and what type of benefits you receive. So this is all very doable. What that gives you is then an optional avenue. Most of us throw our hats in the ring and we wait for somebody to call and it can take months and then you interview and they tell you six weeks before we even make a decision.

Schedule A allows you to go to the head of the class. You are going to be interviewed and if you meet the qualifications and everything else is a good fit you're going to get the job.
I hope that helps a little bit more. Derek >> Yes, it sure does, Ray. So let me just reemphasize a few things that I heard. One is that the agency or perhaps that SPCC, the Selective Placement Program Coordinator, that they may require the proof of disability documentation you provided the different places. You could go to a doctor, licensed medical professional or you know one of these disability benefits providers to get the proof of disability documentation. Just to clarify, if somebody is attending the webinar that is not on SSI or SSDI, right, that you don't have to be receiving those benefits to be a qualified person with an intellectual, severe physical, or psychiatric disability. So you can still participate through Schedule A, um, I just wanted to make sure that we had that information out. Ray >> Absolutely, thanks for, absolutely. 

Derek >> Yeah it's often, I’ve heard too, it often referred to as one of the, the great employment secrets in the Federal sector and as we look to think about expanding the job search you know the Federal Government remains one of the largest employers in the nation, so think about those opportunities and use the tools that Ray talked about. Our team also added to the Web Links pod the 503 and Schedule A fact sheet, so that's in there if you want to explore this further we encourage you to go to the Web Links pod in the bottom right corner and access that Schedule A fact sheet. Um, Ray, next question that we have is, uh, someone has asked if I am still seeking employment can I be discharged from the Ticket to Work Program?

Ray >> Not likely. You know, I mean the Ticket to Work Program has its limits, you know, but if you are actively seeking the job your team is going to continue to help, yeah, and this can take a long time. It can take a very long time just to determine how much can I work, what do I want to do, you know, something that meshes with your interests, yeah and, yeah if you are active in your search you know, you have to develop that plan. We talked about the Individual Work Plan, and you have to comply with it. So if you're working towards those goals and you're at your seventh step no one's going to pull the rug out from under you because you haven't found a job yet. You've been actively looking, you know. Where the issues come up, is that, you know, it's been two years now, and you really haven't done much of anything, you know, we've pointed out some job placements for you, we told you about a volunteer opportunity, we told you about a paid work experience, and you just haven't followed through. That could mean that that Employment Network doesn't want to provide you with services anymore. You know, I think the one important thing to remember is the Employment Network is providing you with free services.

When you succeed in meeting the milestones along the way, Social Security pays the Employment Network for the services that were provided. And so if you're just not doing anything the Employment Network's not being paid. So this is kind of like a three-way contract between you, the Employment Network and Social Security.

Derek >> Excellent, thanks Ray. Um, so just one point of emphasis here on the Trial Work Level for 2022. I know you brought it up I had a couple things that I was focused on, I just wanted to clarify that it's 970 for that Trial. Ray >> Oh, seventy, level amount, nine hundred and seventy for that. Derek >> Uh, yep, and before we finish we're gonna have a Trial Work Period Fact Sheet added to the Web Links pod, too. Um, but with that, Ray, I'd love for you to go into the next section so we could continue with your presentation. 

Ray >> All right. So what do we do, taking that next step on the path to employment? What comes up after we've done everything that we talked about, um, you know, job postings and apprenticeship resources, lots of them out there. Again, you know, we talked about USAJobs, but now we have the American Job Centers or AJCs, all of these things are listed in your link pod under the titles that I’m using right now. Now, the American Job Centers they used to be called one-stop shops are great places that you can go in there and you know what if you know during the pandemic you were laid off from a job and you're looking for another job well the American Job Centers can help you file the application for unemployment, they can help you build a resume, they can give you access to a computer so that you can do job searches. They're a great place to start. USAjobs, we talked about. You know another great source of jobs what about the federal agency websites? You know when I go into Social Security there's always a career with, careers with Social Security listed right there and it will give me jobs that are available with the Administration. All the federal agencies have things like that.

At the Department of Labor I would assume the Department of Labor would have a real good resource for jobs that are out there, you know, that's their job knowing what jobs are available and where they are anywhere in the country. And the Apprenticeship Job Finder, if you're interested in learning while you're doing to get you some skills before you start interviewing, check that website out. Yeah you can as you as you can see you know there are different websites here for everybody. If you're not sure yet, the Job Center is a great place to start. If you're ready to look for a job, USAJobs, USDOL or the federal agency websites are all going to be where you want to go. But, what if I read about this job on the Social Security website and I'd really like it. I just, you know, need some additional skills you know to get my resume and myself ready for that job. Get an apprenticeship, you know, get an apprenticeship and develop those skills and of course your Employment Network can help you make choices, you know, and I’m emphasizing again that you are making the choice. We are giving you information to do that. What's the best place to go now, which one of these three apprenticeships is most likely to get you what you want or need. So, fabulous resources are out there. What about finding a job? You know I mean you can go on there and it can list a bunch of jobs that are available but you then have to get together to get all of your stuff in line. How about that Find the Job page? That's always a good one that's on your Web pod, pod. As well you can start your job search there you can connect with the Ticket to Work Program service providers, benefits planners, Employment networks, um Social. Social Security Administration offices and State VR Agencies. Many, many resources that can help you on your journey to work.

And here's, Find Help Tool, you know, how do you find a service provider? If you're on the Social Security website, visit Find Help page or use that link and you'll go directly to, directly to it. Lots of ways to search, you know, as you can see here are our little icons for each member of your team. Employment Networks, the WIPA program, which look its planners, VR agency, the Workforce ENs, those one-stop shops and the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security, they're all there. Do you know what service you want? If you want to start with contacting an EN click on that and your search will only give you ENs. You can search by zip code, you can search by the services that are offered. As I said, if you have an intellectual disability you don't want to go to an EN that specializes in physical disabilities, it's not a good match that EN may not have the skills or the experience to help you. What about disability type? Search by that the Employment Networks that have experience will pop up for you. Language spoken, yeah, and then the provider type. We had already narrowed this one to EN. Well what if we have all that information in there and we want to go look for the PABSS office. Click the PABSS office and your search will give you only what you're looking for at the moment. If you're interested in all of it, to explore what's there, click them all off and it will all come out for you. The other option is to call the Ticket to Work Helpline. They can give you a list of service providers in your area. You can call them at 1-866-968-7842, 1-866-833-2967 for TTY users. That's available Monday through Friday 8 a.m to 8 p.m. Eastern time.
All right, Derek, we're back to the questions again.

Derek >> Nice, thanks, Ray, for taking us through, you know, where can we start looking and how can we find a service provider to support us in that choice-making process about what types of jobs might be right for each individual. So we did have some other questions come in. Thanks everybody for submitting those. Just as an update, um, before we get to the next question. I want to let you know that in the web links pod we did add the Trial Work Period Fact Sheet and the Trial Work Level Document for 2022. So, if you wanted to explore those we encourage that. Ray, the next question comes in, it says my son recently started to receive SSI income but would like to work. Does he retain his SSI income while working or will he lose it when he starts working?

Ray >> Well, he won't lose it immediately, you know. When you're an SSI recipient there's a formula yeah and that formula allows for some smaller deductions. But if we're talking about work a 65 a month deduction right off the top and then you divide by two and then we have all kinds of other work incentives. Does your son pay for any type of service or any type of equipment or medical device that he needs in order to work that's related to his disability? We're going to take the cost of that and deduct that from the countable income. So there are lots of things like that I can assure your son that it's going to be a while before he's going to lose his SSI altogether. He needs to earn sixteen hundred and seventy five dollars in countable income in a month so it's more than twice what his maximum SSI check could be. You know, there's, you know, I am not a math whiz by any stretch of the imagination but I can promise you that if an SSI recipient turn, returns to work, there will always be more money and if your son does work and cash is out so there he's eligible for zero dollars in SSI he's going to have 1675 a month, he's also going to keep his Medicaid because there's another special provision that's going to allow him to keep that Medicaid and in some states that is going to cap out at 35 38,000 and in other states it's well into the 60s. So there's a lot of great protection for an SSI recipient and I think your son is the perfect candidate, uh, to try this. So you get your son hooked up with the benefits planner, get your son hooked up with an EN and you call us back and hopefully your son is our next success story.

Derek >> Thank you, Ray. Let's move to the next question. Is work from home considered a reasonable accommodation?

Ray >> Very good question. Sometimes it can be, it depends on the job and it depends upon the employer. Yeah, the pandemic helped in this regard because everybody had to work from home for a while. You know, I remember hearing, oh it's going to be six weeks and we'll all be back. Well, you know, it's been a lot longer than six weeks and some of us are still at home. Yeah, so it depends on the nature of the job that's going to be the big deciding if a reasonable accommodation to work at home is going to be accepted. So I’m immediately thinking of making a return at Macy's. If I have to go to Macy's to exchange a shirt that's the wrong size I need to go to a particular desk and talk to a particular person. If that's the job you have working at home is not likely to work for your employer because if you're at home I have nobody to talk to. They just want a bigger shirt so you have to look at each job individually to see if working from home will work. Again, I think employers have realized that lots of jobs can be done at home but it's really going to be particular to each job.

Derek >> Nice, thanks for that description, Ray. Sounds like that's another question that could also be asked of an Employment Network. So when you select an EN and you can get some more details about specific jobs that might support work from home as a reasonable accommodation. Well, Ray, as always um, our time goes quickly and it looks like we're out of time for more questions. I'd like to take a moment to thank you very much for again being with us today and really exploring some you know deeper and broader ways of expanding the job search through the Ticket and with the Ticket to Work Program. So, thanks, Ray. We appreciate having you with us. Ray >> It's always a pleasure, Derek.
Derek> Okay, we've learned a lot today and now I’m going to turn to close up our today's webinar, um, so, how should you get started on the path and, and, or continue your, your search? As you learned today with Ray, the Ticket Program has a variety of service providers and other resources that are ready to help you get started. First, you can contact the Ticket to Work Help Line as Ray talked about and you reach the helpline at 1-866-968-7842 or if you prefer TTY at 1-866-833-2967 available Monday through Friday 8 a.m to 8 p.m Eastern time. Second, you can visit us at the Ticket to Work website at any time at choosework.ssa.gov

You'll find more details there regarding all the topics that were covered during the webinar and you can discover the Find EN tool that Ray described earlier as well and you can also find us on social media or subscribe, subscribe to the blog or email updates by visiting choosework.ssa.gov forward slash contact forward slash index.html. This link is also in the Web Links pod under the Ticket to Work contact information. And you can choose how to connect with us the important part is to make the connection in one or more ways so you can continue exploring the options to expand your job search. Next, to get advice and encouragement and read stories about people who achieve financial independence with help from the Ticket to Work Program you can opt in to receive text messages and if you're interested in receiving the text messages from the Ticket Program please text ticket t i c k e t to four seven, four seven, four seven. Standard messaging rates may apply. Again, please text TICKET to 474747 and remember, standard messaging rates may apply. It's also important to note that if you need to contact Social Security's Ticket to Work Program managed by the Social Security Administration's Office of Employment Support. We ask you that you do so electronically instead of by postal mail our email address is support choosework.ssa.gov. Please remember do not include Personally Identifiable Information in your email. You may also of course contact the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 or via TTY at 1-866-833-2967. And again that's an, an option for you Monday through Friday 8 a.m to 8 p.m Eastern time.

Please join us for our next WISE webinar that will be held on Wednesday June 22nd 2022 from 3 to 4:30 pm Eastern time. Our topic for the next WISE webinar will be Ticket to Work for People with Mental Illness. Registration will be available soon at choosework.ssa.gov forward slash wise or you can register via the help line at 1-866-968-7842 or for TTY at 1-866-833-2900.
And a note on the Affordable Connectivity Program. We're pleased to share this information on the Affordable Connectivity Program, an effort to help more households get access to broadband. The Affordable Connectivity Program is a Federal Communications Commission benefit program that helps ensure that households can afford the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare and more. The program provides eligible households with a discount on broadband service and connected devices and also provides a discount of up to thirty dollars per month toward the internet for eligible households and up to 75 dollars per month for homes on qualifying tribal lands. To find out if you are eligible for the program and discover how to apply please go to fcc.gov forward slash acp. 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 our survey. To take the survey you can follow the link that will pop up after the webinar or you can find the survey link in the Web Links pod or by visiting the website at choosework.ssa.gov forward slash surveys forward slash wise. Thank you for attending today to learn about the Ticket to Work Program and expanding your job search. Please know there are supports and people ready to help and we encourage you to reach out to begin your journey. 

This concludes today's webinar.