


|
Our Companies RiCH VOCATIONAL SERVICES / The Ticket to Work Program
What is the Ticket to Work Program? The Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program is an employment program for people with disabilities who are interested in going to work. The Ticket Program is part of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 – legislation designed to remove many of the barriers that previously influenced people’s decisions about going to work because of the concerns over losing health care coverage. The goal of the Ticket Program is to increase opportunities and choices for Social Security disability beneficiaries to obtain employment, vocational rehabilitation (VR), and other support services from public and private providers, employers, and other organizations. Under the Ticket Program, the Social Security Administration provides disability beneficiaries with a Ticket they may use to obtain the services and jobs they need from a new universe of organizations called Employment Networks (ENs). How does the Program work? The Ticket Program is flexible and voluntary – Social Security Administration beneficiaries are not mandated to participate and in most cases, ENs can chose which services they want to provide, where, and to whom. Beneficiaries receiving Tickets can contact one or more ENs to discuss services and once an agreement between the beneficiary and EN is reached, the two work together to develop a work plan to assist the beneficiary in reaching his or her employment goal. What is an Employment Network? Any agency or instrumentality of a state (or political subdivision), or a private entity that takes responsibility for the actual delivery of services or the coordination/referral of services is eligible to apply to be an Employment Network (EN). Employment Networks can be a single entity, a partnership or alliance of entities (public and/or private), or a consortium of organizations collaborating to combine resources to serve Ticket-holders. RiCH Vocational Services has been an authorized Employment Network for over four years. |
||