Ticket to Work is a federal program that helps adults with disabilities prepare for and find employment. To qualify for Ticket to Work, you must:

• Be 18 to 64 years old
• Get disability benefits from Social Security, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

Ticket to Work, sometimes simply called the “Ticket program,” offers you many choices of where you can get employment services and it lets you try working without worrying about losing your health care coverage or other disability benefits.

Employment services you can get through the Ticket program include:

• Vocational Assessments
• Training
• Job placement
• Job coaching
• Other help you need to prepare for, get, or keep a job

Ticket to Work can help you make more earned income and become more self-sufficient. If things go well, you can become more independent and less reliant on SSI and SSDI.

How Does the Program Work?

Employment Networks

If you get SSI or SSDI and are 18 to 64 years old, you automatically qualify for the Ticket to Work program. You may get a paper “ticket” with an explanation about it in the mail or you may not get a paper ticket. Either way, the fact that you are on either SSI or SSDI means that you are listed in the Ticket to Work computers as being eligible and that you “have a ticket.”

So, when you feel prepared to think about employment and want to figure out how best to move forward , you can choose to participate in the Ticket program by contacting an “Employment Network” (EN).” ENs are organizations that can give you the various employment services that Ticket to Work offers.

Many different types of organizations can serve as ENs, including:

• The California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR)
• Independent Living Centers
  
• Community rehabilitation programs
• Nonprofit organizations
• For-profit employment agencies
• Schools and other educational institutions
• Developmental disability agencies
• Mental health agencies
• America's Job Centers of California (also called One-Stops)
• Staffing and placement agencies
• Employers
• Chambers of Commerce
• Universities

You can only get help from one EN at a time which means you have to choose which EN you want to serve you. The process of choosing an EN is called “assigning your ticket” to an EN. Once you assign the ticket, a plan will be developed between you and the agency you choose to work with. The plan will include details about the services they will get and a timeline showing when things will get done.

Choosing an Employment Network

You can find an EN in your area by searching the Employment Network Directory. If you need additional help choosing an EN, you can:

• Call the Ticket to Work help line at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY)
• Email the Ticket to Work customer service office at support@choosework.ssa.gov

Once you’ve looked at the Employment Network Directory and found some ENs near you, contact them to see if the services and supports they offer are right for you. Each EN offers different services based on their experience and specialty. Make sure to talk to a few, because it’s important to find one that will be a good match for you.

Here are some things to think about and ask any ENs to help you select the EN that will best serve your needs:

• Ask what types of disability issues their clients have had in the past.
• If they’ve had clients with your disability, ask how they helped those clients.
• Tell the EN about your concerns related to working and ask for their advice.
• Ask if they have any specialties, such as job referrals, job placement, skills training, or anything else.

You are free to talk with as many Employment Networks as you like, and you don’t have to work with an EN simply because you have talked with them. If you find one you like, you can ask them to be your Ticket to Work Employment Network. They have the right to say no if they want to, in which case you’ll have to find a different EN.

If you choose an Employment Network, begin to work with them, and later are unhappy with their services, you can always change to a different EN. To learn how to change ENs, click here.

Creating Your Work Plan

When you and an Employment Network have agreed to work together, you both will develop an Individual Work Plan (IWP) that clearly states what the EN is going to do for you to help you reach your employment goals, including a timeline that says when they will do these things. The IWP also needs to list what you are going to do.

Your IWP should contain the following:

• Your employment goals (the type of work you want to do)
• All services your EN will give you and how they will be delivered to you
• What you can do if you are not satisfied with your EN or your IWP
• How you can change your IWP if you need to
• When your IWP begins and ends

Once you and your EN agree to the plan, it will be sent for approval to Ticket to Work administrators. When your IWP is approved, you and your EN will begin to do the things stated in the plan.

Changing Employment Networks

If at any point you are not happy with the services your EN is offering, you can find a different EN. To change ENs, ask your EN to have your ticket “unassigned.”

For more detailed information about unassigning your ticket:

• Call the Ticket to Work help line at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY)
• Email the Ticket to Work customer service office at support@choosework.ssa.gov

After you unassign your Ticket, you have 3 months to find another EN and create a new Individual Work Plan that better meets your needs. If you don’t find an EN within 3 months, you’ll have to conduct a Continuing Disability Review (CDR) with Social Security, which could cause you to lose your SSI or SSDI benefits. To read more about CDRs, click here.

If You Have to Stop Working

If you stop working and want to get back on SSI or SSDI, there is a rule called “Expedited Reinstatement” (EXR) that can help you. EXR can help anybody who lost their eligibility for SSI or SSDI due to job income within the last 5 years.

If you’re on SSDI, you might not even have to use Expedited Reinstatement to get your SSDI benefits started again. SSDI has a couple of other rules called the “Trial Work Period” and the “Extended Period of Eligibility” that may mean that you get back on SSDI even more easily.

You can read about these rules in more detail on the How Ticket to Work Impacts Benefits page.

People with disabilities who get benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medi-Cal, and Medicare often worry that if they try to get a job, they’ll lose their benefits.

However, the Ticket to Work program was designed so that you don’t have to worry. While you are doing the Ticket program:

• If you begin working, you will not automatically lose your disability benefits
• You will not get a medical Continuing Disability Review CDR)
• You can continue to get public health care benefits
• You can easily return to benefits if you stop working

The Ticket program is one of several rules called "work incentives" that can help you keep your SSI, SSDI, Medicare, or Medi-Cal coverage while you transition to work. Here we are going to describe some of these work incentives.

SSDI Work Incentives

SSDI’s work incentives function like a 3-stage process that begins when you get a job:

1. The Trial Work Period lets you work and get benefits at the same time no matter how much money you make. This period continues until you’ve made more than the Trial Work Month limit in 9 different months during a 5-year period. The exact limit changes each year; in 2023, the limit is $1,050.
2. When the Trial Work Period ends, the 3-year Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE) lets you work and get benefits for every month that you earn less than Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) ($1,470 in 2023, $2,460 if you’re blind).
3. For the first 5 years after your EPE ends, Expedited Reinstatement means that if your income drops below SGA, you can quickly get back on SSDI without having to completely re-apply.

These 3 incentives mean that you can get a job and see how it goes. If it goes well, you’ll be in a better financial situation than before. If it doesn’t go well, you will be able to get SSDI and be in the same situation as you were before you tried out working.

These 3 rules, combined with the fact that you will not have to do a Continuing Disability Review (CDR) while you’re in the Ticket program , mean that you can safely try out working without risking losing your SSDI benefits.

To learn more about SSDI, read DB101’s SSDI article.

SSI Work Incentives

Most people on SSI who go to work end up better off financially. Even though their SSI benefits may be less, their total income from SSI and wages will almost always be higher.

When you earn income, only part of the money you earn will be counted when SSI adjusts your monthly cash benefits. The SSI program does not count the first $65 you earn each month, and they only count about 50% of the rest. This means that a little less than half of your earnings will be counted when Social Security figures out your SSI payment.

Even if you earn enough money for your SSI benefits amount to drop down to zero, you’re not “out” of the SSI program. People who no longer get SSI cash benefits often can keep their health coverage through Medi-Cal thanks to rules like SSI 1619(b) and programs like the Working Disabled Program (WDP).

If you lose your job or your income drops for another reason, you can have your SSI benefits restarted easily thanks to the Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) rule, as long as it is within 5 years of the last time you got an SSI check.

There are also various other rules that can help you if you’re on SSI and get a job:

• Social Security will recognize money you spend on some things you need for your job as “Impairment Related Work Expenses” (IRWEs) or “Blind Work Expenses” (BWEs). That means your SSI benefits will be less when you get a job.
• Plans to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) let you save up money you make at your job. With a PASS, you can save more than the usual SSI asset limit ($2,000 if you’re single, $3,000 for couples). Any money you save in a PASS also won’t be counted by Social Security as income, so your SSI benefits won’t be lowered.
• The Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE) lets students under the age of 22 make more money without having their SSI benefits lowered.

These rules, combined with the fact that you will not have to do a Continuing Disability Review (CDR) while you’re in the Ticket program, mean that you can safely try out working without risking losing your benefits if you need them.

To learn more about SSI, read DB101’s SSI article.

Health Care

Medicare

If you’re on SSDI and Medicare, you will keep getting Medicare while you complete the full 9 months of your Trial Work Period (TWP). Assuming you still have a medical disability after your Trial Work Period ends, you then get at least 93 additional months (almost 8 years) of free Medicare Part A coverage. Since the Ticket program means you won’t have to do a Continuing Disability Review, you won’t lose your medical disability status and will be able to keep Medicare coverage that entire time.

When you can no longer get free Medicare Part A, you can choose to pay to keep getting it until you reach age 65, as long as you continue to meet the Social Security medical rules for disability.

To learn more about Medicare, read DB101’s Medicare article.

Medi-Cal

If you’ve been on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medi-Cal and you work your way off SSI, you may become eligible for SSI's 1619(b) provision.

1619(b) means that if your monthly SSI cash benefits ends because your wages are too high, you can still get your Medi-Cal health coverage as long as you don’t earn more than $57,251 ($59,105 if you’re blind).

In order to get Medi-Cal coverage through 1619(b), your assets must also remain below SSI’s asset limit, which is $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple.

To learn more about Medi-Cal, read DB101’s Medi-Cal article.

Working Disabled Program (WDP)

If you don’t qualify for 1619(b), you may be able to qualify for the Working Disabled Program (WDP).

To qualify, you must be:

• A California resident
• Age 16 to 64
• Certified disabled by Social Security
  
• Employed and making less than 250% of the Federal Poverty Level ($3,038 per month for individuals, $4,108 for couples)

Note: Medi-Cal's Working Disabled Program used to have a monthly premium. Starting on July 1, 2022, there is no more premium. Learn more about this change.

To see if you might qualify for the WDP program, use the DB101 Medi-Cal for the Working Disabled Estimator. For more details on the program, read DB101’s comparison of different Medi-Cal programs.

The California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) can supply you with a wide variety of counseling, training, job skills, and job placement services. DOR can help you get the training or other services that you need to return to work, to enter a new line of work, or to enter the workforce for the first time. Together, these services are called “Vocational Rehabilitation” (VR).

The services they offer are carefully selected to match your personal needs. You and your counselor will work together closely to set goals and then develop a plan to help you reach them.

Eligibility

Eligibility for DOR services is based on disability. If you get Social Security disability benefits, either Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), you are automatically eligible DOR services.

If you are disabled but do not get Social Security disability benefits, then you may or may not qualify for DOR services. This will depend on the funds that are available to the DOR and on how severe your disability is. People who have the most severe disabilities will get services first. If you need the services, make sure you apply for them, regardless of what type of disability you have.

All services from DOR are free if you qualify.

Application

There are a few ways to apply for DOR services:

• You can download an application form, complete the form, and then hand it in or mail it to your local DOR office
• You can also complete an application at your local DOR office
• You can apply at your local America's Job Center of California (AJCC) (One-Stop)

You can also be referred by a program that has an existing relationship with the Department of Rehabilitation, such as a high school counselor or an America's Job Center of California (formerly called One-Stops).

If you have questions about how to apply, talk to a benefits planner.

Long-Term Job Supports

The California Department of Rehabilitation offers various long-term job supports – also called “ongoing supports” or “extended services.” These typically offer help with training or retraining on:

• Job tasks
• Dealing with schedule changes
• Adjusting to new supervisors
• Promotion to new job tasks or positions
• Managing changes in nonwork environments or life activities that affect work performance

DOR can also contract with a local rehabilitation provider to supply you with other long-term support services that can help you keep your job and move ahead in your career. These services are supplied at no cost and can include things like supported employment, community employment, and center-based employment.

Supported Employment

A person who gets Supported Employment (SE) services has an independent job in a competitive setting and gets the same wages and benefits as coworkers who don’t have disabilities.

Because they are highly individualized, the services that are offered to a person who gets SE vary but they may include:

• Communication technology
• Help communicating with coworkers and supervisors
• Education of coworkers and supervisors
• Transportation help

SE may be a step in the process to working without ongoing support.

Community Employment

Community employment refers to jobs done by a work crew that includes a high percentage of people with disabilities and where workers often are paid less than the usual wage for similar work done by people without disabilities. Community employment offers intensive job supports and often is a step towards reaching SE.

Center-Based Employment

Center-based employment is typically a job in an industrial production, food service, or janitorial operation in a community rehabilitation program. You will perform standard work assignments while earning wages based on your rate of production and developing work skills. The focus of the service is on disability-related issues that present real or perceived obstacles to competitive employment.

Services for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

The Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) has some offices that have counselors that specialize in employment services for the blind and visually impaired. To find out more about these services, click here.

In addition to these counselors, DOR operates the Orientation Center for the Blind (OCB) in Albany (in the San Francisco Bay area) where people who have recently lost their vision can participate in a residential environment where they can learn about adapting to life with vision loss or blindness.

Services for People Who Are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or Late Deafened

DOR also has some offices with counselors that specialize in employment services for people who are Deaf, hard of hearing, or late deafened. These Rehabilitation Counselors for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (RCDs) are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). To learn more about these services, click here.

AJCCs, sometimes called One-Stop Job Centers, offer many free tools, resources, and services that can help you find employment or training and get help with other work-related needs.

There are more than 200 AJCC offices statewide. Each has a knowledgeable staff to guide and give you important tools to make your job search a success. They also have assistive technology to help you use their services and resources.

Learn more about AJCCs or find a local America's Job Center of California (AJCC) (One-Stop).

Services

AJCCs can help you with various things, including:

• Giving you advice about local employers who are hiring
• Teaching you the basics of how to do a job search
• Helping you with your resume
• Practicing job interviews
• Showing you how to use online jobs websites like CalJOBS

AJCCs have office equipment that can help you with your job search, including telephones, copy machines, computers with Internet access, printers, and fax machines.

Assistive Technology

AJCCs also have assistive technology to help people with disabilities use the centers’ services and resources. You can also just stop by if you want to try out these technologies.

The types of assistive technologies that AJCCs have can include:

• Computer software and equipment to help people who are blind, visually impaired, or who have other physical impairments to use computer programs, websites, and read printed materials
• TTYs (teletypewriters) for people who are Deaf, hard of hearing, or late deafened
• Speech-to-speech services for people with speech impairments

Courses, Workshops, and Trainings

Each AJCC also offers a variety of workshops to help you with your job search and career planning. Examples of workshops include:

• Interviewing skills
• Networking
• Internet job searches
• Completing job applications
• Writing effective resumes and cover letters

Career Fairs and Events

AJCCs also sponsor career fairs and events to help job seekers find employment. Career fairs are great places to apply for jobs and to learn about what industries are hiring and what types of positions are available. To find jobs or career events near you, click here.