Star Ticket to Work Logo Ticket to Work SSA Logo  
Curve
Ticket to Work Logo Ticket to Work SSA logo Curve

 You are here: Home > Panel Documents > Official Correspondence > Letter to the Honorable Jo Anne B. Barnhart - May 11, 2004


May 11, 2004

The Honorable Jo Anne B. Barnhart
The Commissioner
6401 Security Blvd. Room 100 Altmeyer
Baltimore, MD 21235

Dear Commissioner Barnhart:

I am writing on behalf of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel (the Panel) to urge you to immediately launch a national campaign for public education and training on the Ticket Program, SSDI and SSI work incentives and related employment support programs and services. This type of public education and training campaign should be targeted at all the partners implementing the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act legislation and work incentives, but it is especially needed for beneficiaries and SSA field office staff.

In its recent testimony before Congress ( March 18, 2004, testimony of Sarah Wiggins Mitchell and Thomas Golden before the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee ), the Panel stated that the lack of marketing and public education may be hindering the success of the Ticket Program: “The Panel has repeatedly recommended that SSA undertake a national coordinated marketing and public education campaign in order to increase awareness of and interest in the Ticket program.” Moreover, the Panel also emphasized the need for SSA to take immediate steps: “Extensive planning activities may delay implementation of a national marketing plan even further. It would be reasonable to assume that marketing would occur prior to, or during, the rollout of a new program, not after . . . The Panel urges SSA to move forward with other marketing activities immediately, such as sending a reminder letter to all people who have received but not used their ticket.”

A public education and training campaign should be distinguished from the national marketing effort that the Panel has recently recommended. Our understanding is that the marketing effort is specific to the Ticket Program and its goal is to make employers, providers, beneficiaries and other partners aware of the Ticket Program, primarily to maximize interest and encourage participation in the Ticket Program. To work, SSA's marketing effort must be complemented by a public education and training campaign that teaches the basics of a rather complex set of programs, work incentives and employment services currently available to beneficiaries to assist them in their work attempt.

For example, public education should emphasize that the Ticket Program represents a new and voluntary approach to return to work and it may be used separately or with, traditional VR services. It can be combined with other programs, such as Medicaid Waiver programs, Medicaid Buy-In programs, 1619(a) and (b) programs. This is a very different paradigm for SSA beneficiaries.

A strong public education and training campaign would address the use of an array of services and supports available to beneficiaries and it would explain the roles of major Federal, State and private partners in providing employment supports and services (for example, Employment Networks, Vocational Rehabilitation, Medicaid, Medicare, One-Stops, Navigator Program).

From its inception, the Panel has received reports from Maximus and public comment in the form of testimony and letters from beneficiaries, providers and others in the field, that most beneficiaries do not understand the older work incentives, much less the basics of the Ticket Program. They do not understand what the ticket is nor do they know what to do with their ticket when they receive it. They do not understand that ticket holders can choose among providers, nor do they understand that providers can choose whether to accept their ticket. Beneficiaries and providers have repeatedly told the Panel that ticket holders are confused about how the ticket affects current benefits such as health care and housing. We cannot expect to see an increase in Ticket Program participation or in any type of employment programs until beneficiaries understand the fundamentals of the work incentives and employment supports and services available to them, especially the Ticket Program since millions of beneficiaries have received their ticket in the mail and remain confused.

Unfortunately, the Panel has received numerous reports that beneficiaries cannot count on learning about these programs and services from SSA field office staff. In the Panel's most recent public meeting two beneficiaries spoke of being ill-served by SSA field staff who did not understand the work incentives or the Ticket Program. In one case SSA ceased the beneficiary's benefit entirely for one month to recover an overpayment, rendering the beneficiary ineligible for the Ticket Program. The beneficiary was not told that she would be eligible again the following month. Another beneficiary was distraught after receiving incorrect information about health insurance coverage from SSA staff—a problem that her BPAO counselor was able to correct.

In training SSA field staff, the Panel encourages SSA to learn from its successes. Despite the complexity of the Ticket Program and related work incentives the former Employment Support Representatives (ESRs) and BPAO staff have been widely acclaimed for their expertise and their effectiveness. We believe the key to this success was that the ESRs and BPAO staff received extensive training and TA support that was commensurate with the complexity of these programs; for example, ESRs received six weeks of training. The Panel certainly commends SSA for creating a credible post-entitlement workforce in its field offices, anchored by Area Work Incentives Coordinators (AWICS) and Work Incentives Liaisons (WILS). And, although tight personnel constraints may prevent increasing the number of AWICS and WILS, we urge you to establish a training objective that AWICS and WILS (and, for that matter, One-Stop navigators) receive the same course of training as was available to the ESRs and BPAOs. Based on the success of the ESRs and BPAO staff, the Panel believes that the backbone of SSA's ‘corps of trained, accessible, and responsive work incentive specialists' should be a small number of experts with in-depth training and continued access to professional technical assistance.

In closing, I am honored to have served with you and your staff over recent months in implementing a program to improve the lives of persons with disabilities. Our Panel looks forward to a continued partnership with you and your staff to successfully implement these important new programs. On behalf of the Panel, I would appreciate a written response to this letter. If you have any questions, please contact Marie Strahan, Executive Director for the Panel, or me.

Thank you for your continued cooperation and support. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

 

Sarah Wiggins Mitchell, Chair

cc:

The Honorable Charles E. Grassley
Chairman, Committee on Finance

The Honorable Max Baucus
Committee on Finance

The Honorable Rick Santorum
Chairman, Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy

The Honorable John B. Breaux
Subcommittee on Social Security
and Family Policy

The Honorable William M. Thomas
Chairman, House Ways and Means

The Honorable Charles B. Rangel
House Ways and Means

The Honorable E. Clay Shaw, Jr
Chairman, Social Security Subcommittee

The Honorable Robert T. Matsui
Social Security Subcommittee

Martin Gerry, Deputy Commissioner
Office of Disability and Income Security Programs

Marianne Daley,
Acting Associate Commissioner,
Office of Employment Support Programs

 

skip to main content
bottom left curve

Social Security Administration

bottom right curve