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

time in which outcome payments would be paid. 9 In effect, ENs are penalized for movingbeneficiaries off the rolls too quickly. ENs may believe that they are entitled to a second or thirdmilestone payment totaling several hundred dollars when, in fact, the beneficiary has worked atthe SGA level in earlier months, in which case ENs are therefore entitled only to a monthlyoutcome payment that is much smaller than the milestone payment they had been expecting.EN representatives we interviewed became frustrated when they received only the smallerpayment amount.123I. TIMELY PROGRESSThe Ticket Act requires a series of reviews, beginning two years after a Ticket isassigned, to determine whether TTW participants are making “timely progress” toward selfsupportingemployment, which is defined as working at levels that will reduce or eliminatedependence on DI or SSI benefits. So long as beneficiaries are determined to be making timelyprogress, their assigned Tickets are considered in use and they are exempt from disabilityCDRs. The purpose of the review process is threefold: (1) to determine whether thebeneficiary is “actively participating” in his/her IWP; (2) to examine whether a goal in the IWPis to work at least three months at the SGA level by the time of the second review; and (3) toassess whether the beneficiary can reasonably be expected to reach that goal. The ProgramManager sends a notice to each EN (including SVRAs) that has held beneficiaries’ Ticketsfor 24 months and requests answers to the following questions:• Has the beneficiary been participating in his/her IWP?• Has the beneficiary been working 3 out of the past 12 months?• Does the EN foresee the beneficiary fulfilling the requirements of the IWP?If there is no response from the EN, the Program Manager will assume that the answersto the above questions are “yes,” and no further action will be taken. If the response is “no”to any one of the three questions, the Program Manager unassigns the Ticket, and thebeneficiary becomes subject to a CDR.The Ticket Act requires the first review to take place 24 months after each Ticket isassigned and annually thereafter. Because the first Tickets were assigned in March 2002, thefirst review was scheduled to begin in March 2004, but it did not occur. At the time of ourinterview in September 2004, SSA and the Program Manager were in the final phases of theplanning process to initiate the first review. The Program Manager is currently awaiting9 While the EN gives up milestone payments if the beneficiary leaves the rolls before the milestones arepayable, the outcome payments under the milestone system fully offset (in nominal terms) the nonpayment ofthe milestones. The outcome payments are larger by 1/60 of the milestone amounts not paid. The differencein these larger amounts is spread over all 60 outcome months. What the EN loses is the immediate paymentof these amounts. The total amount received will be less only if the EN does not get all 60 outcomepayments. The total value of the payments will be less due to discounting and added risk.VII: Recent Program Implementation