Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program Initial Evaluation Report

B.34
DRS’ TTW rollout plan was developed within a newly created Ticket Unit in the
Oklahoma City central office. DRS chose to administer the program centrally to help ensure
delivery of consistent, accurate information to Ticket holders. All follow-up necessary to
document SGA level employment for payment under TTW will also be conducted by Ticket
Unit staff.
DRS selected the milestone-outcome payment mechanism for clients it will serve as an
EN, as it has a long history with a similar payment system. The staff person who manages
the SSA reimbursement program will make determinations regarding which Tickets to use
milestone-outcome payments, based on the agency’s past experience with persons of similar
characteristics. DRS will utilize the cost reimbursement payment option for others.
DRS also developed a standard agreement for ENs that want to use DRS services for
their TTW clients. As discussed further in Section III.D, under this agreement, the EN can
purchase DVR services on behalf of TTW clients without having to pay for them up front,
and DVR accepts considerable risk that it will never be fully paid for the services.
Service Delivery. DRS has invested substantial resources in training staff, conducting
outreach, and redesigning internal screening processes to implement TTW. Even so, DRS
does not anticipate that TTW will have a substantial impact on its delivery of VR services to
SSA beneficiaries, with the exception of expanded delivery of benefits planning services
through specially-trained Ticket Unit staff and through the BPAO.
b. Early Experiences Implementing TTW
Beneficiary Outreach and Enrollment. In preparation for TTW, DRS set up an 800-
number at the Ticket Unit and sent letters to all beneficiaries on the VR caseload, alerting
them to TTW and describing its features. At the time of the initial interview, DRS was
preparing to send a mailing to all beneficiaries in the state, to stimulate interest. DRS had
anticipated between 30,000 and 50,000 calls subsequent to the Ticket mailings, but had only
received 1,500 calls by the time of our visit.
The Ticket Unit was meant to act as a funnel for all TTW-related inquiries, and was
responsible for screening TTW-related calls so that field counselors would not be burdened
with providing basic information about the program.
Ticket Unit technicians told potential clients about the benefits of TTW over the phone,
but DRS found that in-person presentations were more effective. All callers were invited to
attend a Ticket Orientation meeting. Meetings were conducted at local One-Stop career
centers. During visits to One-Stops, technicians presented detailed information on work
incentives, and advised clients individually using the WorkWORLD computer program.
DRS presented a slide show that described available work incentives and used a variety of
scenarios to illustrate the potential impact of work activity on benefits. These meetings were
also a chance to make consumers aware of the many services available to them at the One-
Stops.
Appendix B: Provider-Specific Case Study Summaries