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  • What is Partnership Plus and How Does it Work?
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• Ticket and the VR Process
  • Cost Reimbursement, Ticket, and the VR Process
  • Changes in Administrative Procedures
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  • Facilitating Informed Choice for Beneficiaries
• Partnerships: The Key to it All
  • Interagency Agreements
  • Does Partnership Plus Require a Referral Agreement?
  • VR and an EN Partnering as a Single EN
  • Partnership Plus and Incentive Payments
  • Partnership Plus and Post-Employment Services
  • Partnership Plus and Supported Employment Services
  • VR’s Role in Developing Partnerships
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  • Learning More about the Ticket to Work Program
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Ticket to Work Program

The Ticket program is a voluntary employment program administered by SSA. It is designed to offer beneficiaries with disabilities increased choices in where they seek assistance to enter and maintain employment. To do this, SSA approves a variety of entities to function as ENs and provide or arrange for the provision of employment services, vocational rehabilitation services and other types of services and supports to beneficiaries eligible to participate in the program (referred to as Ticket Holders). Rather then reimbursement ENs for the cost of services provided, the Ticket program provides payments to ENs when the beneficiaries they are serving attain designated Milestones and Outcomes in moving towards self-support employment.

The ultimate goal of the Ticket program is to reduce reliance on disability benefits. Secondary goals are to increase the independent and self-sufficiency of beneficiaries with disabilities.

To learn more about the Ticket program, check out the fact sheet Ticket to Work: The Basics. (PDF)

For a list of basic terms associated with the Ticket to Work program and SSA Work Incentives, check out the Glossary of Ticket Terms.

Major Changes in the New Ticket Regulations

The new Ticket regulations that went in to effect July 21, 2008 significantly improve abd strengthen the program by making it more viable for ENs to participate and more accessible to beneficiaries, and by providing increased options for State VR agency participation.

Key regulatory improvements designed for beneficiaries include:

• Beneficiaries now have access to a broader array of services and supports.
• An expansion of the pool of Ticket-eligible beneficiaries to include those classified as Medical Improvement Expected (MIE).
• Changes to the “timely program” requirements include counting educational attainment as timely progress.

Key regulatory improvements designed for ENs include:

• Improvements in the EN payments systems create significant incentives for more entities to become ENs.
• Increased payments available to ENs through the Outcome payment system and payments earlier in the employment process, more often, and at higher rates  through the Outcome-Milestone payment system.

Key regulatory improvement designed for State VR agencie include:

• There are strong incentives for increased collaboration between State VR agencies and ENs
• VR is one key partner in the larger service delivery system.
• Separation of the traditional CR program from the Ticket program.

Key regulatory improvements for all involved:

• Strong incentives and new opportunities for State VR agencies and ENs to develop partnerships to meet beneficiary needs for ongoing support services to maintain and advance in employment. These new opportunities for VR-EN partnerships are referred to as Partnership Plus.
• There is great potential to bring increased revenue into the overall service delivery system under the Cost Reimbursement system for State VR agencies and under the Ticket program for ENs.  

For more information on the regulatory improvements to the Ticket program, check out the fact sheet Overview: The New Ticket to Work Program (PDF) which includes detailed information on the new EN payment systems and rates.