Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program Initial Evaluation Report

SVRA personnel have consistently expressed a concern that many beneficiaries
contacting them lack basic information about TTW. SVRA staff describe contacts from
beneficiaries who believed that the Ticket entitled them to an immediate job, who did not
know that participation was voluntary, who did not want to work, who believed they could
exchange their Tickets for cash, or who believed their benefits to be in jeopardy. Many
interviewees expressed frustration regarding the perceived lack of information provided to
beneficiaries by SSA and the Program Manager, despite extensive marketing of TTW by the
Program Manager and other events sponsored by SSA. SVRA staff generally believe that the
Program Manager is responsible for basic TTW education, but acknowledge the challenges
inherent in explaining a complicated program to SSA beneficiaries. Many believe that the
letter accompanying the Ticket mailing could contain additional information that would
inform beneficiaries about many of the key areas of TTW, such as CDR protection, the
Medicaid buy-in (where applicable), Benefit Planning Assistance and Outreach services, and
expedited reinstatement of benefits.
From the SVRA perspective, the need to explain basic aspects of TTW to numerous
beneficiaries creates an administrative burden and increases the costs of participating in the
program. After explaining the TTW program to beneficiaries who frequently were not
interested in participating in the program, several SVRAs began to develop more systematic
screening protocols and to refer individuals to local Benefits Planning Assistance and
Outreach programs for more information and counseling. However, most agencies have not
attempted to develop concise, effective screening tools.
In addition to the burden on staff associated with providing beneficiaries with basic
information about TTW, many SVRAs have expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of
information they are able to obtain about Ticket holders. The elimination of SSA referral of
beneficiaries to SVRAs and the lack of access to data on beneficiaries that was available to
SVRAs pre-TTW have affected SVRA methods for client outreach and recruitment. In
addition, SVRAs are no longer permitted to advertise or keep informational materials in SSA
field offices. SVRAs have also expressed some concern about the administrative resources
that must be devoted to the Ticket assignment, earnings tracking, and EN payment claim
submission process.
Aside from the new administrative procedures associated with TTW, early interviews
with staff at SVRAs suggested that the program has not caused a major change in the nature
of the services offered and provided by SVRAs. Some SVRA interviewees have noted,
however, that TTW has brought about a greater emphasis on Social Security benefits
planning and work incentive issues that have required SVRA staff to become more
knowledgeable about and sensitive to these issues. The evaluation will continue to track the
extent to which the targeting, nature, or intensity of SVRA services is affected by TTW.
d. VR/EN Agreements
A key issue in the initial rollout of TTW was the development and implementation of
agreements between SVRAs and ENs. Final Ticket regulations require that if a beneficiary
assigns a Ticket to an EN, and the EN wishes to refer the individual to the SVRA for
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III: TTW Early Implementation