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

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116To make EN recruiting efforts more cost-effective, the Program Manager initiated theCity Campaign in November 2004 in five metropolitan areas: Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit,Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City. To operate the City Campaign, the ProgramManager formed the National Alliance, an organization that is led by the NationalAssociation of Workforce Boards and includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center forWorkforce Preparation, the National Association of Counties, the U.S. Conference ofMayors, and the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation. The Program Manager and NationalAlliance will work to form collaborations at the community level—with city governments,state agencies, for-profit and nonprofit service providers, business leaders, and consumergroups—to promote TTW. The Program Manager intends to hold regional EN recruitmentevents by using a “peer-to-peer” approach and featuring “successful” ENs—defined asthose that actively participate in TTW, taking Tickets, and receiving payments—and otherTicket partners, including representatives of Benefits Planning Assistance and Outreach(BPAO) programs and Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security(PABSS) programs, as the primary spokespersons. Program Manager staff hope that, bycreating these larger consortia and support systems, TTW can be better sustained in largemetropolitan areas.2. Outreach to BeneficiariesIn addition to trying to interest more service providers in becoming active ENs, SSAofficials said in an interview in August 2004 that they plan to reach out directly tobeneficiaries to promote the program. One aspect of this effort involves revising existingTTW informational materials, such as the TTW brochure, by simplifying the language andusing a question-and-answer format. SSA also is developing a TTW poster, video, andnewsletter for distribution via e-mail and print. The video and newsletter will promote TTWby providing examples of beneficiaries who have successfully used their Tickets to becomemore self-sufficient. SSA staff continue to attend disability advocacy and other conferencesto make presentations and stage exhibits.In September 2003, SSA awarded a two-year contract to Fleishman-Hillard to develop astrategic marketing plan, part of which would involve creating marketing materials tosupport TTW and other employment support programs. Fleishman-Hillard reviewed allmarketing and public relations materials developed by SSA, such as brochures, flyers, andpress releases; audited SSA’s Web site; examined all news coverage of TTW; held severalfocus groups, including one with the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement ActAdvisory Panel; surveyed a random sample of SSA beneficiaries; and conducted an e-mailsurvey of other interested parties, including advocates, service providers, and employers. 3Fleishman-Hillard presented the strategic marketing plan, along with survey results and draftmarketing materials, to SSA in early November 2004. After SSA signed off on the materials,Fleischman-Hillard finalized them in February 2005 and market tested them at TTW3 Witeck-Combs conducted the stakeholders’ survey, and Harris Interactive conducted the beneficiaries’survey under contract to Fleishman-Hillard.VII: Recent Program Implementation
conferences and expositions in June through September 2005 at 10 sites across the country.Disability beneficiaries, service providers, employers, and other interested parties will beattending the expositions. In early FY2006, SSA will use the results from the market testingto choose a strategy for a nationwide marketing campaign.In 2005, SSA also recontacted some beneficiaries in two stages to test the effectivenessof outreach materials and information. In the first stage, SSA will mail a postcard, brochure,or other marketing materials to a random sample of 350,000 beneficiaries in five states(Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, and New York). Six focus groups were conducted tohelp decide the best messages. Different beneficiary samples will receive different types ofinformation on programs and services, such as state Medicaid buy-in programs, the localBPAO, or the Program Manager’s toll-free number. The Program Manager is trackingbeneficiary responses, providing another field test of marketing materials and messages. Inthe second stage, SSA will send follow-up mailers to about 500,000 beneficiaries in particulartarget groups, including those who requested a Ticket through the Ticket on Demandprogram and those who worked to some extent during the past year. SSA officials notedthat only 10 percent of individuals making a request through Ticket on Demand everassigned their Tickets.Finally, under contract to SSA, the ARC is matching SSA beneficiary and U.S. Censusdata to analyze characteristics of the SSA beneficiary population. The idea is to give SSAguidance on the characteristics of beneficiaries most likely to work so that these individualscan be targeted with additional marketing materials. (See Chapters II and III for discussionsof participant characteristics.)3. Outreach to EmployersSSA reaches out to employers primarily through Ticket to Hire (TTH), a nationwidedisability employment service. TTH was developed by SSA with support from theDepartment of Labor (DOL) as an enhancement to TTW when TTW was initiated. TTHmatches employers with ENs and SVRAs that are working with SSA beneficiaries seekingemployment. TTH enables employers to post job openings that are then e-mailed to ENsand SVRAs, which in turn convey the information to the beneficiaries they serve. About1,360 employers are now enrolled; all SVRAs and ENs are automatically enrolled.TTH is marketed to ENs and employers through a monthly newsletter. However, thecontractor that operates the program also sponsored 26 focus groups in 13 cities during2004. Participants included human resource personnel from companies ranging in size from15 to over 2,500 employees and representing a variety of industries. The focus groupsrevealed that employers are concerned about finding and hiring qualified personnel, findingpersonnel with the right work ethic, and managing costs and benefits. Messages reflectingthe business case for hiring people with disabilities were tested in order to identify themessages that resonate most among various employer groups.117VII: Recent Program Implementation
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A CKNOWLEDGMENTSThe Ticket To Work
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viiiChapterVI(CONTINUED)PageF. SUMM
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xChapterPageAPPENDIX A: TICKET TO W
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xiiTableVIII.3IX.1IX.2IX.3IX.4IX.5I
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xivFigureIII.5III.6III.7III.8III.9P
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xviIX.3EARNINGS OF BENEFICIARIES WI
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xviiiMIENBSNPRMOAGPABSSPSUSGASSASSI
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xxIn Phase 3, which began in Novemb
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xxiigroups of beneficiaries that Co
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xxivimprove TTW, therefore, is to f
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2of disability beneficiaries, and i
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4country. Phase 2 began in November
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Page Is Intentionally Left Blank to
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8Only a few beneficiary characteris
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10Figure II.2.Participation Rate, b
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12Figure II.4.First Assignments at
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14before Ticket, it is perhaps surp
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16was selected for Phase 3. This ma
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18All of the statistics in this sec
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Table II.2. Beneficiary Groups with
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22In all Phase 1 and Phase 2 states
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24Figure II.8. Ticket Participation
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26Adjustments for all other charact
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28In general, provider and payment
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30next report, we will conduct more
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32Figure III.2.Living Arrangements
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34• Less likely to have reported
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36Figure III.7.Prevalence of Diffic
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38are more likely than all benefici
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40Table III.1.Income and Program Pa
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42coverage through their own employ
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44sizable percentage of TTW partici
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46Overall, 9 percent of working-age
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48leave the rolls in the next year,
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50next year and in the next five ye
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52in their characteristics, levels
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54percentage points to 3.7 percent.
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56Figure IV.2. Phase 1 Ticket Recip
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58situation described in the preced
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60the end of the follow-up period w
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62Figure IV.6. Average Monthly Bene
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Page 90 and 91: 66ENs were reluctant to expand serv
Page 92 and 93: 68As of July 2004, there were about
Page 94 and 95: 70But most EN representatives saw T
Page 96 and 97: 72Figure V.2. Number of EN Terminat
Page 98 and 99: 74received a total of just about $2
Page 100 and 101: 76Relatively few ENs have received
Page 102 and 103: 78According to their representative
Page 104 and 105: 80Five EN officials recognized that
Page 106 and 107: 82This was particularly true for so
Page 108 and 109: 84• Another EN representative fou
Page 110 and 111: 86• A third EN received 50 calls
Page 112 and 113: 88resolve administrative issues suc
Page 114 and 115: 90• Raise payments for SSI benefi
Page 116 and 117: 92Finally, the real and perceived w
Page 118 and 119: 94efforts to obtain Ticket assignme
Page 120 and 121: 96SSA payments to SVRAs under the T
Page 122 and 123: 98Figure VI.3. Total SSA Payments t
Page 124 and 125: 100assigning their Tickets to ENs (
Page 126 and 127: 102Table VI.1. SVRA Ticket Assignme
Page 128 and 129: 104case, the counselor selects the
Page 130 and 131: 106• Most of the agreements requi
Page 132 and 133: 108needs of SSA beneficiaries and,
Page 134 and 135: 110to the SVRA under the traditiona
Page 136 and 137: 112Tickets each month from November
Page 138 and 139: 114about submitting virtually ident
Page 142 and 143: 118E. EN ENROLLMENTThe Program Mana
Page 144 and 145: 120beneficiaries who have achieved
Page 146 and 147: 122quarterly basis if they have rec
Page 148 and 149: 124SSA’s approval of systems spec
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Page 152 and 153: 128have accepted. But even at that
Page 154 and 155: 130For beneficiaries who express an
Page 156 and 157: 132rehabilitation counselors (Burea
Page 158 and 159: 134generated a payment to an EN gen
Page 160 and 161: 136the milestone-outcome payment ge
Page 162 and 163: 138system is used so infrequently t
Page 164 and 165: 140One option is for ENs to try to
Page 166 and 167: 142approximations. Our planned anal
Page 168 and 169: 144Figure IX.1. Ticket-Eligible Ben
Page 170 and 171: 146Table IX.2.TTW Participation Rat
Page 172 and 173: 148Figure IX.3. Earnings of Benefic
Page 174 and 175: 150Compared with other beneficiarie
Page 176 and 177: 152Like all other beneficiaries who
Page 178 and 179: This kind of mixed success in the e
Page 180 and 181: C. SVRA PARTICIPATION REMAINS STRON
Page 182 and 183: serving beneficiaries who are simil
Page 184 and 185: observe changes in their employment
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Page 188 and 189: Mashaw, Jerry L., and Virginia P. R
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A-2Table A.1 (continued)Time Period
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Table B.1. DefinitionsB-2Variable D
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Table B.1 (continued)B-4Variable De
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Table B.1 (continued)Variable Defin
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B-8Table B.3. Participation Rate by
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B-10C. PARTICIPATION RATES BY BENEF
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Table B.6. Participation Rates by C
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Table B.6 (continued)Group Definiti
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Table B.6 (continued)B-16Group Defi
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C-2survey. Whenever possible, the i
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C-4given the large number of benefi
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C-6• Young SSI recipients who are
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C-8beneficiary may have had with EN
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C-10Table C.2. Overview of the Nati
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C-12Sample completes (n=1,178) and
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C.14Table C.3 (continued)AllIntervi
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C.16Table C.5. Final Weighted and U
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C.18Table C.7. Sociodemographic Cha
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C.20Table C.9. Health Status (Figur
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C.22Table C.11. Program Participati
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C.24Table C.14. Awareness of TTW (F
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C.26Table C.16. Employment Expectat
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D-2Table D.1. Selected Characterist
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D-4information from two pretest int
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