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

C HAPTER IIB ENEFICIARY P ARTICIPATIONIN T ICKET TO W ORKParticipation rates for beneficiaries who are eligible for TTW have continued to riseeach month since early in the program rollout, although they remain low in absoluteterms. As of March 2004, the participation rate in Phase 1 states had risen to 1.1percent, up from the 0.7 percent we reported for August 2003 in the initial evaluation report.Participation rates vary somewhat among subgroups and states, with some small groupsparticipating at rates up to 5 percent.While these findings are mildly encouraging, they are counterbalanced by the early datafrom Phase 2 states, which suggest that participation rates were lower for those states thanfor the Phase 1 states at a similar point in the TTW rollout. These lower rates are entirelydue to lower participation at SVRAs; Phase 2 participation at ENs is essentially the same asin the Phase 1 states at a comparable number of months after the beginning of the rollout.SVRA closure statistics indicate that the lower SVRA participation in Phase 2 states is notdue to a decline in the number of beneficiaries served. Instead, we attribute the lower Phase2 rates to three other factors. First, SSA distributed Tickets more gradually in Phase 2 statesthan in Phase 1 states to ease the burden of the rollout on providers. Second, it appears thatthe Phase 2 SVRAs are being less aggressive than the Phase 1 SVRAs initially were inobtaining Ticket assignments. Third, the Phase 1 states may differ systematically from thosein Phase 2 because of the way SSA selected them. Specifically, SSA selected states for Phase1 on the basis of their readiness for rollout and then selected Phase 3 states to match thechosen Phase 1 states. Phase 2 states were those that remained after this process andtherefore are likely to differ from the matched Phase 1 and 3 states. The evaluation teamwill continue to track this issue as additional information becomes available, payingparticular attention to changes in SVRA services provided to disability beneficiaries beforeand after the TTW rollout.The overwhelming majority of Tickets continues to be assigned to SVRAs. As inAugust 2003, approximately 90 percent of assigned Tickets are with SVRAs. As noted in theinitial evaluation report, this pattern suggests that TTW does not yet represent a dramaticbreak from the past. Instead, its progress so far represents the introduction of new choicesand incentives whose ultimate effect will depend on the eventual level of participation andthe extent to which ENs and SVRAs offer newer and more effective services.