Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program, Implementation ...

106• Most of the agreements require the EN to reimburse the SVRA only for thecosts of services provided. However, five agreements entitle the SVRA to ashare of the EN’s payments even after the SVRA has been completelyreimbursed for its expenditures.SVRA Incentive Payments. For Tickets assigned to an SVRA, a small number ofagreements define situations in which the SVRA will make “incentive payments” to a partnerEN for support services provided to help a beneficiary successfully maintain earnings aboveSGA. Five of the 27 SVRA-EN agreements identify some type of incentive payment,generally in the form of a lump-sum payment to the EN for services such as ongoingsupport to employed beneficiaries.Payment Sharing. Just three agreements call for an SVRA and an EN to share SSApayments in cases where the Ticket has been assigned to the SVRA. The intent of theseagreements is to allow ENs to receive reimbursement beyond the direct cost of purchase ofservice agreements previously negotiated with the SVRA for specific services. Theseprovisions are intended to balance out the provisions in the SVRA-EN agreements underwhich the ENs pay the SVRA in situations where the EN holds the Ticket and reimbursesthe SVRA for services provided. The result is a reciprocal arrangement in which the SVRAshares its payments with ENs (instead of the one-way agreements typical of most states,whereby only the EN shares its payments with the SVRA). From the perspective of SVRAs,this procedure is designed to increase ENs’ willingness to serve SSA beneficiaries.2. RSA Guidance on Comparable BenefitsSeveral SVRAs have criticized RSA for not providing clear guidance related tocomparable benefits. To date, RSA has not issued definitive written guidance on howSVRAs should address comparable benefits in their agreements with ENs. In early January2005, RSA began circulating a draft information memorandum for comment. However, asof this writing, RSA has not finalized and transmitted the memorandum, entitled “Principlesand Promising Practices for Effective Cooperative Agreements between State VocationalRehabilitation Agencies and Employment Networks under the Ticket to Work Program.”Presentations by RSA staff (Stafford 2004) indicate that the question of whether servicesprovided under TTW constitute a comparable benefit is something that must be consideredfor each beneficiary rather than solely on the basis of the service-related informationspecified in an EN’s application to SSA.3. Extent to Which SVRAs and ENs Jointly Serve Beneficiaries Under the Terms ofSVRA AgreementsAlthough many SVRAs have drawn up agreements with ENs, many ENs in a state maynot have signed the documents. Moreover, the fact that SVRAs may have signedagreements with several ENs does not ensure that large numbers of beneficiaries are jointlyserved under the terms of the agreements. For example, among the eight SVRAs weinterviewed:VI: State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency Participation in Ticket to Work