New Money for Supported Employment
As you may know, this spring the Social Security Administration (SSA) revamped its Ticket to Work, which provides consumers with vouchers to purchase employment support services from the provider of their choice. The new regulations substantially improve the program by providing more money to providers up front and allowing providers to be reimbursed when consumers work part-time. These changes should make the program more economically viable for providers, thereby attracting more "employment networks" (what SSA calls their employment service providers) into the program and giving consumers greater choice. The great things about the Ticket program are that:
1. Virtually any organization can become an employment network (e.g., consumer-run programs, individual psychosocial rehabilitation providers, State Mental Health Authorities, businesses, etc.).
2. Funding for provider reimbursement for Ticket services is IN ADDITION TO funding provided through Medicaid, State Vocational Rehabilitation, and other sources. In other words, this is NEW MONEY for employment services!
Attached is the Federal Register notice from May that describes the changes to the Ticket program in detail. In addition, please see the following website, which SSA has designed to recruit providers as employment networks and reach out to beneficiaries regarding how to use the Ticket: http://www.cessi.
The changes to the Ticket program provide real opportunity for the mental health community to renew our commitment to helping consumers to pursue their employment and career goals. Please consider taking advantage of this opportunity by becoming an employment network and/or using and encouraging others to use their Tickets.
__,_._,___
