Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program Initial Evaluation Report

Clients who assign their Tickets to Bridges usually begin with a 10-week employment
preparation course that focuses on career exploration, job seeking and interviewing skills,
and job retention strategies. But Bridges will place clients in jobs immediately if they must
enter the workforce more quickly for financial or other reasons. After the preparation
course, Bridges offers job placement assistance, job coaching, assistance with obtaining job
accommodation, and counseling about SSA and other benefits. Bridges also provides limited
funds for transportation and purchasing interview clothing or uniforms, and they refer
individuals to other agencies that fund childcare or other services.
After job placement, Bridges provides an extensive level of employment-support
services, because of the severity of clients’ disabilities. A staff member checks in with
supervisors to monitor clients’ performance and conducts ongoing case management, asking
beneficiaries to check in on a weekly, then monthly, basis. Beneficiaries also can call her cell
phone any time. Bridges counsels beneficiaries about their concerns, including problems
with coworkers, accepting direction from more than one supervisor, scheduling work and
outside activities, marital and parenting issues, and housing problems. The program holds a
celebration whenever a beneficiary reaches an important milestone, such as a year of
employment.
Initially, Bridges planned to serve TTW clients ages 17 to 25 and even enrolled a few
individuals over age 25 as space was available. However, WIA funding only permits the
program to serve people age 21 and under, and TTW funding did not cover the up-front
costs of serving older participants. Therefore, after the first six months, Bridges altered its
strategy to serve TTW participants ages 18 to 21. Most Bridges clients have learning
disabilities; a few have psychiatric or cognitive disabilities. In deciding which Tickets to
accept, Bridges also considers whether a potential client appears willing to perform work
above SGA and has experience and marketable skills such as food service, janitorial, and file
clerking. Skills are important because Bridges is not a job-training program.
8. Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services (DRS)
DRS is the Oklahoma SVRA and given that background it uses a service model that is
distinctly different from the other ENs described above. DRS has no particular target group;
it will serve all interested beneficiaries who meet state and RSA eligibility requirements for
services. DRS operates like most SVRAs. Counselors provide client assessments and develop
the Individualized Plan for Employment, and clients are often referred to one of the 58
community rehabilitation providers with whom DRS contracts for appropriate rehabilitation
services. Such services can include anything from providing vehicle modifications and
assistive technology to financing extensive training and education.
A few features of DRS may, however, make it unique in some respects from other
SVRAs. DRS has participated in SSA’s State Partnership Initiative (SPI) since 1998. Its SPI
model of delivering services has focused on providing benefits planning to Social Security
disability beneficiaries. Under the SPI project, it has also used a performance-based
milestone payment method with providers that was in place for many years prior to the
implementation of TTW. While the SPI project was directed at SSI beneficiaries with mental
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V: Case Studies of Eight Experienced TTW Providers