Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program Initial Evaluation Report

B.11
client over a four-year period. The interviewee anticipated encountering similar difficulties
collecting payment under TTW and, consequently, wished to limit CCSA’s exposure.
CCSA selected the milestone-outcome payment system because it would become
eligible for milestone payments earlier than outcome payments. CCSA was also concerned
about the requirement that clients must remain employed and CCSA must document
employment for five years to collect the full outcome payment.
b. Early Experiences Implementing TTW
Beneficiary Outreach and Enrollment. CCSA did not conduct marketing or outreach
to initiate the program, but relied on calls from beneficiaries seeking to assign their Tickets.
Initially, CCSA operated an 800 number, but shut it down because costs were prohibitive. At
the time of the first interview, CCSA received an average of about four or five calls per day,
which increased to about 20 calls per day on or near Ticket distribution dates. CCSA
received calls from beneficiaries referred by the Program Manager, as well as from former
clients of other local ENs who were dissatisfied with the job placement services provided by
those ENs.
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. The interviewee said that CCSA began to screen out individuals
with vision and hearing impairments, severe mental illness (those with active psychotic
symptoms), and individuals over the age of 60 because of difficulty in finding employment
for such individuals. The interviewee also indicated that CCSA tended not to accept Tickets
from married individuals with working spouses because of a belief that such individuals are
likely to be less motivated to work than individuals with less generous or stable sources of
support. The interviewee said that CCSA also began to ask all callers about their trial work
period (TWP) and extended period of eligibility (EPE) status, and referred clients to
Goodwill Industries for BPAO services, if clients had additional questions about benefits.
When CCSA staff identified service needs that CCSA could not provide (e.g., assistive
devices or other equipment, vocational training), CCSA referred the caller to the state VR
agency.
Each applicant for services receives a letter describing the responsibilities of the EN and
of the individual, and includes the IWP and a release to obtain additional information about
the beneficiary. If the individual does not return those forms, another letter is sent. Only
after the completed forms are returned does CCSA begin providing services.
Ticket Assignments and Outcomes. At the time of initial interview in August 2002,
of the 40 Tickets assigned to CCSA, five Ticket holders were employed and had held their
jobs for at least 30 days.
Program Administration. The CCSA interviewee reported that he was generally
pleased with the performance of the PM. He noted that the PM had addressed a problem he
had encountered with the originally-assigned staff member by assigning another staff
Appendix B: Provider-Specific Case Study Summaries