Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program Initial Evaluation Report

session. Those who miss their appointed time twice are referred to other providers. During
the orientation, potential clients are told about TTW and SSA work incentive provisions.
ABIL staff members encourage attendees to shop around for other service providers before
making a decision about where to assign their Tickets. About 50 percent of those who attend
the orientation continue pursuing Ticket assignment with ABIL. The third step involves a
60- to 90-minute one-on-one meeting with the director, during which she talks with clients
about their goals and skills and identifies any possible barriers that may emerge as they
formulate a plan for employment. It is during this interview that the director decides
whether ABIL will accept the beneficiary’s Ticket. Most that get to this stage are accepted,
but sometimes before accepting their Tickets the director will require them first to address
specific barriers to employment.
At the time of the recent follow-up interview, the total number of informational queries
had risen to nearly 1,400, which had resulted in 220 IWPs being written. ABIL’s director
mentioned having pursued two active marketing strategies. First, the EN had contracted
with a public relations firm to produce an informational video about TTW and ABIL
services that is shown occasionally on television. Second, the EN tried making cold-calls to
Ticket-eligible beneficiaries, but this strategy was not deemed effective and thus abandoned.
Too many beneficiaries, they found, did not even remember having received a Ticket (let
alone what it was for), and others reacted negatively, figuring the EN staff to be
telemarketers who wanted to sell them something.
CCSA does not conduct marketing or outreach, but relies on referrals from the
Program Manager as well as calls from dissatisfied clients of local ENs. Initially, CCSA
operated an 800 number, but shut it down because costs were prohibitive. CCSA has
received as many as 20 calls per day on or near Ticket distribution dates. Initially, CCSA
screened only for interest in working full time, but found that individuals interested in
working full time were not necessarily good candidates for immediate return to work.
Because of difficulty in job placement, CCSA began to screen out individuals with vision and
hearing impairments, severe mental illness with active psychotic symptoms, and people over
age 60. CCSA tends not to accept Tickets from married individuals with working spouses
because of its belief that such individuals are likely to be less motivated to work than are
individuals with less-generous or less-stable sources of support. CCSA also asks all callers
about their trial work period and extended period of eligibility status.
Significant numbers of beneficiaries who have assigned Tickets to CCSA are not
actively participating in services or looking for work. However, CCSA does not initiate
unassignment of these Tickets. If the beneficiary requests unassignment, CCSA instructs the
Ticket holder to submit a written request to the Program Manager.
EES reported no need to actively promote its services as an EN because so few other
ENs were active in the Chicago area; indeed, they received more contacts from Ticket
holders than they could handle. Initially, EES accepted most Tickets that beneficiaries
wanted to assign, but later became more discerning, accepting only individuals deemed most
likely to succeed under TTW based on the services EES could provide. Less-suitable
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V: Case Studies of Eight Experienced TTW Providers