WISE Ticket to Work Webinar
Ticket to Work and Mental Health
December 16, 2020

Speakers: Sarah Hyland (Moderator), Ray Cebula (Presenter)

SARAH>> Good afternoon and welcome to today's Ticket to Work Webinar, Ticket to Work and Mental Health. My name is Sarah Hyland, and I am a member of the Ticket to Work team. I will be your moderator for today's webinar. We are so glad that you are able to take time to spend with us today to learn about Social Security's Ticket to Work program and how it can help you as you start on the path to financial independence through work. 

Each of us has our own path to follow, and we hope you find some information today that will assist you in moving forward on your path to employment and financial independence. Let's go ahead and get started by going over some of the functions of the webinar platform so that you can interact and get the most out of today's webinar. 

First, you can manage your audio by using the audio option at the top of your screen. The audio option is an icon that looks like a microphone or telephone. All attendees will be muted throughout today's webinar; thus, presented with the options to joining the audio conference, choose "Listen Only", which appears at the bottom right in the audio console. Clicking "Listen Only" will allows it to be broadcast through your computer speakers or your headphones. Please make sure your speakers are turned on and/or your headphones are plugged in. If you are unable to connect to the audio with your computer or to virtual listen to the webinar by phone, dial 1 (800) 832-0736 and enter the access code 4189148#. 

Next, we will share some information about webinar accessibility. On the Adobe Connect platform, you will notice that on your screen there are four different boxes. These boxes are called pods. We have the presentation pod, where the slides appear. Below that is the closed captioning pod. In the top hand-hand corner, you will see the Q&A pod, and below the Q&A pod is the Web Links pod. We will talk to you about these pods in a little bit more detail in a few moments. 

If you need assistance navigating Adobe Connect, an Accessibility User Guide with a list of controls is available at http://bit.ly/adobe-accessibility. This link is also available in the Web Links pod at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen and is titled "Adobe Accessibility User Guide." Real-time captioning is available and is displayed in the captioning pod, which is the pod that appears below the slide that is on your screen right now. The captioning link can be found in the Web Links pod under the title "Closed Captioning." 

If you are fluent in ASL and would like support for today's webinar, please follow the link below that provides instructions to connect with an interpreter through the Federal Communications Commission, FCC, Video Relay Service, VRS. The ASL user guide can also been found in the Web Links pod under the title "ASL User Guide." 

We are here today to answer any of the questions that you may have on the Ticket to Work program. Please send in your questions to us at any time throughout the webinar by simply typing them into the Q&A pod. We will direct the questions to our speaker during the Q&A portions of our webinar. We will be addressing questions at two different points throughout today's presentation. So, go ahead and send in those questions, and we will do our absolute best to answer as many of these as possible. If you are listening by phone and are not logged into the webinar, you may ask questions by sending an e-mail to Ticket to Work. The e-mail address is webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. 

Another resource available that we think you will find extremely helpful in connecting to different resources mentioned today is the Web Links pod, which you will find at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. This pod lists all of the links to the resources presented during today's webinar. To access any of these resources, highlight the topic you are interested in and would like to connect to, and then select the "Browse To" button at the bottom of the pod, you will then be taken to the website reflected. If you are listening by phone and not logged in to the webinar or have access to the Web Links pod, you can all e-mail the Ticket to Work e-mail address, webinars@choosework.ssa.gov, or reference the confirmation e-mail that you received for today's webinar for a list of available resources. Also, please note that SSA cannot guarantee and is not responsible for the accessibility of external websites. 

Today's webinar is being recorded, and a copy of it will be available within two weeks on the Choose Work website, which can be accessed at http://bit.ly/WISE_OnDemand. This link, as well as others, can be found in the Web Links pod and is titled "WISE Webinar Archives." We hope everyone has a great experience on the webinar today. However, if you run into any technical difficulties, please use the Q&A pod to send us a message, or you can always send us an e-mail to the Ticket to Work e-mail address, webinars@choosework.ssa.gov for further assistance. 

As I mentioned earlier, my name is Sarah Hyland, and I am a member of the Ticket to Work team. I am excited to be here with you today as your moderator. We are also delighted to have Ray Cebula with us today to share his knowledge of the Ticket to Work program. 

Ray received his law degree from the University of New Hampshire's Franklin Pierce School of Law. He spent 23 years providing legal services to individuals with disabilities in interactions with Social Security. He became part of Cornell University's Work Incentive Support Center in 2000, and in 2005, he joined the staff of Cornell's Yang Tan Institute on Employment and Disability, where he now serves as the program director of YPI Online, which is Cornell's Work Incentive Practitioner Credentialing Program. 

Again, we want to thank you for joining us today. We are going to discuss how social security Ticket program can help you and answer your questions relating to social security ticket program, ticket program service providers, and managing a job search in dealing with the winter blues. And with that, it is my pleasure to introduce Ray Cebula to start us off with the Ticket to Work program and support on your journey to work and service providers. Thanks so much, Ray. 

RAY>> Thank you, Sarah, and welcome everybody. I want to start off, before we get into today's topic, to let you know that we are not going to be taking any questions concerning COVID-19, and I'm going to give you a website on Social Security's website, www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/, and that site is regularly updated by Social Security, so you can get the newest and the freshest information by checking that website out. 

So, today, we're going to talk about your journey to work and how the Ticket to Work program can help you and provide you with support during that journey. You know, we have two programs that involve people with disabilities, that provide benefits and health care, and it's very important that you're aware of which of these benefits that you are receiving so that you can solicit the right advice. 

The Social Security Disability Insurance program, or SSDI, is an insurance program, just like it says. You pay into that system while you're working and FICA taxes are being withheld from your paycheck to pay for retirement and disability insurance should that be necessary in your lifetime. The other program, SSI, is Supplemental Security Income, and that is a needs-based federal welfare program, and it comes with Medicaid. You have to be low income. You have to be disabled. You have to also have low resources for that program. Both programs have very, very different work incentives, so it's really critical that you're aware of which benefits you're getting. And if you have any questions, going onto SSA.gov and setting up a "My Social Security" account will get you all of that information. 

Starting your journey to work, you know, we are not here to force you back to work. We are here to convince you that returning to work is a good thing. But only you can decide if that is the choice that you want to make. I hope you get enough information today to at least make you interested and curious to seek out some more information. 

Earning a living through employment is not something that everybody can do, but it might be right for you. You know, once people do understand all of the services that come along with the Ticket to Work program and with the work incentives for both of the disability programs, they often realize that the rewards of returning to work far outweigh the risk of losing benefits. You know, we're not going to talk about the myths today, but that old myth that's on the street that says you're going to lose everything if you're go to work just is not true, and you'll learn about that. You may not hear it on today's webinar, but you will learn about that when you reach out for some assistance to decide whether or not work is the right thing for you. 

What is the Ticket to Work program? It was signed by President Clinton in December of 1999, so it's been around for a while, and it's free and voluntary. When you get that Ticket to Work in the mail, no one's requiring you to do anything. Again, this is voluntary. It is your choice. Your choice not to participate will not impact your benefits. What we're offering you is career development for people who are ages 18 through 64 and receive a benefit from Social Security based on disability and want to consider work. And if you want to do that, we're here to help. We can help you build an employment team, and each team member will be picked by you and will be working on your behalf to make sure work is the right thing and that when you do go to work, you can maintain that job. 

Ticket to Work connects you with lots of free employment services to help you decide is work right for you. Are you ready to begin that process now? How do you prepare for work? You know, a lot of people, when I'm talking to them, ask, well, how do I explain the last four years where I've been on benefits and haven't done anything? Well, in fact, you have done something, and we can explain what has been going on by talking to you. Have you been babysitting your grandchildren? If you have, you've got some expertise in child care. So, we can turn your experience into work-like duties and tasks that will help fill that gap. 

We get you prepared for work. Do you need any training? Do you need a degree? Do you need how to learn do your old job in a different way? Finding a job, a lot of the employment networks that we're going to talk about may be able to help you do that, but we're going to help you at least know how to look for a job. And then once you do find that job, we're not ready to cut you loose yet, because we want to make sure that you're able to succeed, so either on the job support or any other type of support that you may need to keep that job and succeed can be provided to you as well. 

Now, who are some of these people who are going to be your employment team? They are the Ticket to Work service providers. Through this Ticket to Work, you're going to have access to a wide variety of people and services. Employment networks we mentioned, and we'll talk in a little bit. I've got to stop erasing these things by moving that and. Work force ENs that are located at the American Job Placement Center. We used to call them One-Stop Centers. State vocational rehabilitation agencies, work incentives planning and assistances projects that can help you with making the transitions from being a benefits recipient to being a wage earner, and the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security. That's a group of agencies that provide free legal services to people with disabilities who have run into barriers to work, so if you're asked an inappropriate question, you get discriminated on the job place, you can receive free legal services. You don't have to use all of these. You use what you need, and it's up to you to build that team. 

Now, an employment network is kind of like a private VR agency. It may be a large organization. It may just be Ray's job shop and I'm the only person who works there. But they have an agreement with Social Security to provide free services to you, the ticketholder. And how I get paid, I'm providing you with free services, but when you make progress towards your work goal, Social Security then pays me. So, it's kind of a three-way deal. A lot of these ENs are in workforce -- actually, let me say that over again. All of the workforce agencies are ENs at this point, so the American Job Centers can also do this for you. 

We'll show you some self-help guides to try to find services in your locale in a bit, and there are many, many, many types of ENs, and you're going to want to talk to them, and you're going to want to make sure that they're the right person to work with you. You know, today, we're talking about mental health issues. You're going to want an EN that has experience in working with people with mental health issues. If somebody tells you, my experience is placing people in jobs who have physical impairments, that might not be the right place for you, but you can shop, look around, and pick your own team. 

What can these ENs do for you? What if you don't quite know what you want to do? We can help identify your work goals, and that can start anyway, anyway at all. It can start with what you've done in the past, what you liked about certain jobs, what you didn't like about certain jobs. What about what you have been doing while you were receiving benefits? Have you picked up any hobbies that you're incredibly interested in? Maybe you're knitting, maybe you're crocheting, and working in a yarn shop is something that would interest you. We can take hobbies and turn them into jobs. 

We're going to need to prepare a resume. Everybody has to have a resume that is done in the style that is preferred in 2020, so we have to develop a resume and, again, fill in that gap to show that, yes, you may have been collecting disability benefits, but you were actually picking up transferable skills that would allow you to work. 

Preparing for interviews is, I think, one of the most valuable things, because if you don't give a good show during your half an hour, you're not likely to get the job. So, you need to know what to expect from an interviewer, and you need to know how to develop questions so that you can show that you know something about this company, that you know something about this job, and you want to know how they do it. 

Reasonable accommodations, this is something that you may need because of your disability, and it could be something as simple as an extra-long break in the afternoon so you can sit back and just catch your breath. Or you may need to have a different workspace. You know, most reasonable accommodations are not that expensive. You don't need to talk about reasonable accommodations during the interview. Matter of fact, it's probably inappropriate to do that. But once you do get the job, if you feel you need a reasonable accommodation, talking to your EN, your employment network, about how to ask for it. How do I make a presentation to my employer that's not going to scare her aware? You know, letting her know that this something that I need so that I can fulfill my work requirements, and it's really not going to be as expensive as it sounds. 

Benefits counseling, many ENs have benefits counselors on staff, and they're there to help you determine what happens to your benefits package, to your cash, to your health care, to your SNAP benefits, to your housing benefits if you begin to earn money? The benefits planner's goal is to make sure that you are better off working, otherwise, we don't have much to sell you. So, we can make sure that you have a plan to return to work in conjunction with your employment network all of the rest of your team that is going to make financial sense for you. 

The state rehabilitation agencies, they are ENs as well, but they are also enormous agencies that are required and have to give priority to folks receiving social security-based disability benefits, and they can do things like some really heavy-duty vocational rehabilitation, the purchase of durable medical conditions, prosthetic devices, training courses, certification courses, education if you need to get a two-year degree or, potentially, a four-year degree. They are major players here. Some states have a separate agency for people who are blind or visually impaired so you have to make that you're calling the right agency depending on your disability. But lots of people have worked with VR in the past. It's your choice. You can work with VR if you want to. You can work with an EN if you want to. But remember that this state VR agency crew is the deep pockets that's going to be able to get you some of the more expensive services, like education and that durable medical equipment or something that you may need. 

Now we have this new system. It began in 2008, and I think it is a wonderful thing, Partnership Plus. In the old days, back in the 2000s, the early 2000s, if you signed a plan with your state VR agency, you assigned your ticket to that state VR agency, and then when you got rehabilitated and began working, the VR agency closed your case, and you were left on your own. That's not the case anymore, because when you sign a plan with the state VR agency, your ticket is now put in use, which brings you some protections that we're going to talk about. But you are using the ticket as you make progress and you begin working at that ninth day period of work afterward, so social security -- I'm sorry -- state VR will close your case. Because your ticket was never assigned, what you can do is then take that ticket, assign it to an employment network who can then continue to provide on-the-job supports to you so that you can become a worker rather than a disabled person who had a VR case closed who is working. We can drag out this assistance for you to make sure that you have on-the-job support for a good long time. And I believe that's one of the best parts of the system now, that we don't take a person with a disability and put them to work. We make workers with disabilities. 

The Work Incentive Planning and Assistance Project, these are benefits planners that are supported by social security and can provide free benefits counseling to anybody who received a cash benefit or is in their extended period of Medicare or Medicaid and potentially receives other public benefits. I had mentioned SNAP, which is what we called food stamps, or subsidized housing. What their job is, is to take a snapshot and let you know where you stand today, how much is your social security benefits? What kind of health care does that bring? Are there any particular special waivers that you may be participating in? How much do you receive in SNAP benefits? You know, how much, if you are in public housing, do you pay for rent? 

Once that snapshot is taken, we add in the fact that you are going to be earning $200 a week working part time. What does that $800 a month do to your social security benefits, do to your health care, do to your SNAP benefits, and do to your share of the rent in public housing? We're going to make sure that you know when things change and how they change. And the goal of the planner is to make sure that after that, after those changes take place, you are better off financially than you were receiving benefits. 

This is also not just a one-shot deal, you know. And this is the perfect time of the year to use this example. This time of the year, extra people are being hired. Extra hours are being offered to employees because of the holidays, so you might have Mr. Wal-Mart asking you to work another five hours a week from now until the end of January when inventory is ready. Well, what is that going to do? How does that extra income change the picture that the benefits planner has given you? You're able to contact that planner again and get back in touch with them to have the math done again and work through what's going on? And very often, once you get to the end of January, if Mr. Wal-Mart's happy with your performance, you get to keep those extra hours, and, again, it's our job to make sure that's right for you, to help you make those decisions, and to let you know what's going to happen to your benefits package. You're not going to lose your health care. Yes, some benefits may go away, but the bottom line is, you have more money and you can make your way through to independence. 

Now, who do these people serve? They currently have a priority. You have to be currently working or self-employed, or be looking, actively looking for work, and that means you have a job offer pending or you interviewed for a job in the last 30 days, or have an interview scheduled in the next two weeks. There is a special priority for transition age. Those are the folks 18 to 25 years of age and are in the very, very early stages of considering work. There are other benefits planners out there who don't have these priorities, so if you don't fit into those priorities, if you do contact the WIPA agency, they should get you in touch with somebody who is able to provide with immediate planning assistance. But, you know, if you're just curious and want to talk to a benefits planner, there are folks out there that can help you. 

The last member of your team, and, ideally, you won't need these people, but they're here for you, are the PABSS organization, Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security. This was my last job before I joined Cornell's staff. I was the past attorney for Massachusetts. And I used to provide free legal services to people who had a social security disability benefit, either SSDI or SSI, and had a disability-related employment issue. That is pretty broadly defined. It could be an overpayment due to work. It could be that you were denied a reasonable accommodation or treated improperly on the jobsite so that it raises the level of job discrimination. And we can provide you with legal support. We can provide you with advocacy services. We can talk to your employer on your behalf, or we can go into court if that is necessary. But our job is to resolve employment-related concerns with employers, with social security, with an employment network, if you're having a dispute with your employment network, with the state VR agency, which has its own internal appeals process, or with WIPA projects. You know, we were kind of the people who try to make amends with everybody. Yet, they are there in case you need them, and they are located in every state, in every territory, and generally, they're called Disability Rights New York, Disability Rights New Mexico. So, if you Google "Disability Rights" or use the "Find Help" tool, which is in your Web Links pod, you're going to find all of these folks. 

And here's some more things the PABSS do: We're protecting your rights, basically, as a worker, you know, who has a disability and is entitled to be treated appropriately. I told you that the employment networks could help you talk about how do I get a reasonable accommodation from my employer. You know, I have no idea how much it's going to cost. I'm not even sure if it's the right thing. Well, the PABSS' agency can also talk with you about that. You know, when I was practicing, I would rather that you made the request. So, I would sit down and chat with you, this is how we can find out if your boss is willing to provide ABC service to you. This is how much the service costs. This why you need it. Let's sit down, do a role play, and you ask me, pretend I am your employer. And then after you gave it a shot, generally that's all it took. If it didn't work, I was willing to get involved. But I want involvement from you to do your job plan. 

Requesting reasonable accommodations can be a scary thing. But what about college classes? What kind of accommodations might you need there? Training courses, licensing programs, or, again, on the workplace. And any other disability-based issue that presents you with a barrier to employment, that could be an eviction threat from the housing authority. You know, if you aren't properly housed, that is an impairment to work. So, there are very many services that can be provided here, and I hope you're getting the notion that we're trying to look at you as an entire person and treat you holistically to get you through the journey to work and create a new worker. 

How do you find these services? Choosework.ssa.gov/findhelp. It's in the Choose Work website, the "Find Help" tool in your pod, and you can search. I like to say if I can do this, anybody can do this. You can search by Zip Code. You can search by the type of services you want. If you only want to find employment networks who provide services to people with mental health issues you can search that way. If you only want to find benefits planners, you can search that way. So, we can look by disability type. If your primary language is Spanish or Vietnamese, we can search that way, if you're more comfortable dealing in your native language, to see who in your area is going to be able to provide that type of service. 

You know, and what type of provider do are you looking for? If you are already working and you believe you've been treated improperly on the worksite, you know now you're looking for PABSS, so eliminate everything else, search by put PABSS in, and your Zip Code, and your state PABSS agency will come up. The other thing you can do is call the Ticket to Work help line for a list of providers, and I'm going to read that number to you. It's 1-866-968-7842, or for TTY users 1-866-833-2967. And they're open from Monday at 8:00 a.m. to Friday 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. 

Okay, Sarah, do we have anything in the pod? 

SARAH>> We sure do, Ray. Thanks for kicking us off with Ticket to Work program and service providers. As I said, we're going to pause here and take a few moments to address some of the questions that we've been receiving from all of you in the audience. And the first question I have for you, Ray, is, I am currently working with my VR agency to be retrained for a position to be able to go back to work. Can I still use the Ticket to Work when I am able to return to work? 

RAY>> Yes, you can. As I said, that Ticket to Work is in use now that you are working with VR, and that status is very important, because what it does is protects you from any kind of medical review that social security would be scheduled to do on your case. Once you are finished with the VR and they close your case, an employment network can pick up that ticket. You can assign it to an employment network for continuing services. And that's the part of this program that I really like, because, you know, three months after you've successfully returned to work, VR is going to say, okay, you're on your own. 

I'm not sure that's enough time to turn somebody into a worker. But if you can take your ticket and work with an employment network for several more months, you're likely to become a worker and get the rhythm down and have all of the support services that you need, or may no longer need at the end of that journey. So, yes, you can do that, and I think it's a great plan. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, thanks so much. I have another question for you. I would like to work, but I am not sure I can even work a part-time position. Is there assistance to help me find a job for a few hours a week and then increase my time as appropriate? 

RAY>> You know, I think there is. I think we got a little bit out there for everybody. Lots of people feel the same way, that they're not sure how much work they can do. And part of the Ticket to Work program allows you to try different jobs and to begin working just a bit to see, to learn what your capacity for work is. You know, my guess is, you're probably thinking that you can work less than you really can, because that's what most people tend to do. But most certainly an employment network, if you goal is to work up until you find that perfect spot for you, we'd be able to help you do that. A benefits planner would be helpful to start showing you how much this is going to change your benefits and how much earnings you will have, and, you know, the good thing about benefits planning is that if you decide you want to try ten hours a week, a benefits planner like me is going to tell you what's going to happen, but I'm also going to slip in a scenario that says, but looks what happens if you work 15. It's better. So that you'll know that there are more good thing coming. So, you know, you cannot only try to work a little bit at first and see what your capacity really is, but you can try that at different jobs, and there will be people within the world that we're talking about who can help you do that. 

SARAH>> Perfect, Ray. It sounds like there's a lot of options for everyone. 

RAY>> There sure are. 

SARAH>> Awesome. I have another question for you. When interviewing, do I have to disclose that I have a disability? 

RAY>> Absolutely not. That's nobody's business until you've been offered a job and need a reasonable accommodation. I can tell you that there are lots of people out there who get a job and do the job with their employer never knowing that they have a disability or never knowing that they were on social security benefits. That is up to you. That's a private issue. It is your decision. I would make that decision in counsel with the PABSS, you know, the Protection and Advocacy, or your employment network. But that decision is up to you. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. I have another question for you. Can the Ticket to Work program help me with obtaining certification required for a job I want? 

RAY>> Yep, it sure can. You know, that's a broad question so I'm going to give you two options, the employment networks, you know, could get you set up in a program that will get you that certification. If it's something that's a little bit longer term and you need a certification that requires an expensive tuition or expensive registration fee, it might be best to look to the state agency, the state VR agency for things like that. But absolutely, training and getting those licenses. You know, I'm thinking about plumbers because I just had one in the house here for several days. He had to go through plumbing school. He had to get his plumbing license. He had to go through an apprenticeship. He actually had a young man who was his apprentice getting his experience. All of that can happen for you, and the question is, is the employment network large number to provide that to you or should you look to the state agency? So that will require a little investigation on your part, but it is most definitely doable. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. The next question I have for you is, is there a place I can find a list of reasonable accommodations that you recommend? 

RAY>> You know, yeah, I can. JAN, the Job Accommodation Network, if you just Google JAN, do we have anything in the box? I'm looking quickly. But if you do want to talk with somebody or just visit their website, again, capital JAN, the Job Accommodation Network, there's going to be all kind of ideas there, and the people there are great resources. A lot of benefits planners are in a position to talk to you about that, as well as the PABSS, the ENs, and the state agencies. But you really can't go wrong. And JAN is the agency that everybody is relying on. So, you're going to be hard not to find somebody that you could talk to about that. But JAN will have all of those -- come and ask JAN, we just got that put into the Web Links pod for you, so you can hit that to get the link to JAN, and it will have lists of common reasonable accommodations and who they might be suitable for. It's a great agency. 

SARAH>> All right, thank you Ray. And if you were not able to access the Web Links pod, you can go to askjan.org, and, of course, as Ray said, you can go to the Web Links pod and Ask JAN to access that helpful website. 

Ray, we have another question for you. The trial work period for 2020 is $910 or more is made, is that the gross monthly pay? 

RAY>> That is gross monthly wage, yes. So, it's everything that you have been paid in that month. If you're on Title II, the only thing that can change that is a presumption that you have earned the money that you were paid in a month. And we all know that if you get paid every week or every other week, there are those months where you have an extra paycheck, so that if you have more than $910 in gross pay but didn't actually earn it all in one month, you can rebut the presumption that you did use that trial work month. But that is gross pay before taxes. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. And for updated 2020 information, you can go to http://www.ssa.gov/oapt/cola/twp.html, just as an update. Perfect, thanks, Ray. And I have another question for you. 

RAY>> Okay. 

SARAH>> What are my options if the nearest VR provider is 200 miles away from me? 

RAY>> That's a good question, and, you know, that's actually a problem for everybody right now, whether they're next door or 200 miles away. You know, there are many ENs who are national and are willing to serve people anywhere in the country. And today's situation, where we're all socially distanced and providing services by distance, you can effectively meet with employment networks with benefits planners, with anybody we talked about via telephone, via Zoom if you have a computer. I mean, almost any way, you know, you can do this. Most of these agencies are not -- depending on your state regulations, or your state emergency regulations, I should say, are not going to be open for business. They are going to be doing this virtually. I would not be afraid of doing that at all. This can be done. 

Services have been provided this way for years, particularly because there are people -- you know, I am in New Mexico now, and it could very easily be that the near EN is 200 miles from here. That's not to stop you. It may feel uncomfortable for a while, but you can be assured that the person on the end of the phone or on the other side of the computer or talking to you via Zoom knows how to do this, because this happened long before last March's shut down. I'm thinking of a program I worked with in Maine, where that was the case. It's a big state. And in Minnesota, where people up in the Duluth area who were eight hours from their benefits planners. It took a little bit longer, but not enough to stop anybody, because they would drive that eight hours to come to you to sit down to explain what your benefits plan looked like. So, people are making accommodations. We're doing things a little bit differently now, but that will end, and it may not eliminate the two-hour difference, but know that we will all be professionals at providing services via distance by that time, so don't let that worry you. 

SARAH>> Thanks, Ray. I have one more question for you before we keep moving on with information. Can my ticket be used more than once? 

RAY>> That's a good one. You have one ticket. It can be reassigned. You know, we talked a little bit about Partnership Plus, which allows you to take it from the state agency and assign it to an employment network. If you decide to take your ticket to an employment network first, and you thought it was going to be a great place for you and it was a good fit, and it turns out not to be, you can take your ticket back and assign it to somebody else, but you're only going to have one ticket for a period of disability. So, once it's been used, it's been used. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, thank you. And with that, we are going to go ahead and move on to more information, and we're going to have you talk about searching for a job and the winter blues. Thanks, Ray. 

RAY>> Oh, searching for a job and the winter blues, it's coming up isn't it? It's coming up this weekend. Winter will be here. You know, winter is a tough time for everybody. It just is. And we are going to talk about mental health. But we're looking at this very, very broadly, because we think mental health includes emotional health, psychological health, and social wellbeing. And it's going to affect how we think. It's going to affect how we feel. It's going to affect how we act, and what decisions we make. And this is affecting everybody. You know, I can assure you with that storm moving up the East Coast, you know, when my dad finds out there's two feet of snow in front of his house and he can't get out, he's going to have the winter blues, you know. And we all have this trouble. 

I don't particularly like the fact that I work in the dark and I work until it's dark. But I know what to do about that. You know, we have to make adjustments for winter, because it's cold and because it's dark, you know. And, also, when we're talking about mental health, which is going to exacerbate this, we have to determine how best we can handle stress, how does our stress affect those around us, whether it be a family member or whether it be a member of your team at work? And are we sure that we're making a good choice, knowing that we are feeling very stressful about something. So, I think wintertime is a time to take a nice deep breath before you do anything. 

So, if you're looking for a job, that's a stressful situation. That adds stress to your life. You may feel other symptoms. You know, when I get stressed out, I don't sleep really well, which doesn't bode well for people who talk to me first thing in the morning. The winter can affect mental health. It can begin with sadness. It can turn into depression or seasonal effective disorder. You know, some of us use those lights, a special lamp that mimics sunshine so that we are feeling that sunshine. 

If you are experiencing symptoms and you have any concerns, please don't hesitate to call your doctor. You may not want to go to a hospital right now. You may not want to go to a doctor's office right now, but they do things virtually now too. If you don't have a doctor, call the National Mental Health Help Line at 800-662-4357, or TTY service at 800-487-4889. 

Now, what are we going to do about this? You know, I told you that I'm up in the dark, and before I finish working it's dark. When I was working in downtown Boston, I was on the train to get to Boston in the dark. I left my office, and it was dark. How did I deal with that? I went outside. I don't care how cold it was, every day at lunch I went for a walk, and I walked around Boston College. I do that now. You know, I am fortunate enough to have three dogs, and they like to do that too. Go outside. Yeah, it's a little bit cold. Put on a hat, wear your earmuffs, and go for a walk. Or just go outside your apartment building and stand in the sunshine. You know, it helps. Fresh air, I said we all have to go out and take a deep breath, because we're stressed out. Well, doing that outside helps too. It may be a little cold, like I said, but it's well worth getting out of a couple of rooms that you get to see all winter long. But go outside. Go for a walk. 

Take advantage of outside too. You know, I tend to walk. But when I walk, I still see people jogging on the sidewalk. I still see people riding bikes. I prefer not to do that kind of thing. But walking is great exercise. So, do what you need to do. And when we're talking about exercise, if what you did can't be done outside in the winter, how can you do it on the inside? You know, I'm not talking about -- you know, we're not trying to get you to bench press 250 pounds. You know, if you drain that milk jug, that milk you bought, and fill it up with water, you've got some weights. You can lift those weights and do a little exercise, and it takes your mind off of your stress. So, exercise is a great outlet for stress, and I think most of my exercise is directly related to getting rid of stress. 

Search online for winter workouts. You know, you'll find some of them that you can do seated. You know, when we used to be able to travel, when I was flying around in planes, you pick up a magazine from the airlines, and it tells you to do certain exercises on the plane. Well, not only is that good for you because you're sitting down a lot, it also takes your mind off the fact that you're stuck in the plane. So that's kind of going to work for you if you are stuck in your home because there there's a lot of snow outside. Do something like that. You know, you can probably get on one of those 700 stations on TV and find someone that you can work out along with just to get your mind off of things. 

Stretching, walking, lifting weights, again, a milk jug full of water is a weight, it's a great place to start. And make it a habit. You don't have to do it the first thing you do when you get out of bed. You know, you might want to wait until noontime. The sun is high and it's getting warmer, you know, as opposed to doing something when it's colder. Or even, you know, I think it's coming up soon, but pull up your shades. Stand in the sun in the window. I'm fortunate enough to have an office with a big window in it and the sun is shining through it right now, and that sunshine helps. 

How about accomplishing a goal? We can do that. We can do that inside. Make a list. That's what this slide is all about. Now, when I got up this morning, I did exactly that. I took my pad of paper and I wrote a list of what I had to accomplish today. And when I finish a task, I cross it off. I just cross them right off. And what does that do? It convinces my little mind here that I am accomplishing things. Now, what could your task be? We're looking for a job. How many applications do you want to fill out this week? Do you want to mail this week? If you wanted to make two applications for a job this week, you write that down on a piece of paper. And when you finish the first one, check it off or cross it off the list. You're halfway through the goal for the week. When you finish the second one, do the same thing. 

Reach out to somebody. You know, every weekend I call my dad. I have friends that I'm going to call. I have friends that I sometimes need to call. Improving your skills, we talked about those hobbies that could turn into jobs, or the hobbies that you picked up while you were disabled, and now you're thinking about using those to go to work. Improve those skills. Do you want to go to a job that requires typing on a computer? Well, if it does and you have a computer, type a letter. Type a Christmas letter. And that's an accomplishment. Write down everything you need. If you're going to volunteer, lot of volunteers needed nowadays; you know? You can do whatever you want. Volunteer for whatever you want. Write it down. On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00 to 5:00, I am volunteering at the food pantry to get boxes ready to go out for Christmas. Write it down, check it off, and you will find that at the end of the week, you haven't just been sitting around doing nothing. You actually did things, and it's right there on paper for you. I think that is a wonderful way to do things. And sometimes it's the only way that I even realize I did anything, because I wrote it down and crossed it off, so try that. It's just a little trick that works. 

Now, managing that job search and battling the winter blues can be a tough thing. So, we all have to take breaks. And I'm, right now, in the process of -- we finish teaching a course and people are moving on to the next step, which is writing their papers, and people are asking for case studies, and I told them, I'm going to keep you a week-and-a-half longer to do the case study than you normally have, and why? Because the holiday is coming up, and I don't want anybody working during that holiday, so take a break. 

You know, breaks are very important, and I am the biggest offender, because I tend to sit down and work and not take a break. But go for a walk. Stick your head outside. Catch up with a friend. Watch a funny video. Some of those YouTube things are a riot; you know? Laugh. I always I think my mother told me this. She said if you have a good belly life every day, you're going to live for another five minutes, and I like that a lot, so I try to have a good belly laugh every day. 

Play with you pets. You know, there's real science behind that one. If you sit down and you're snuggling with your puppy or you're snuggling with your cat and you petting that cat and you're loving that cat and that cat is loving you, both of you feel better. 

What about writing down your feelings? You've got the blues, keep a journal. You know, this is something that is very cathartic. Write it down. Read a book. Watch your favorite TV show. Now I'm on the reading the book side of that. I read every day, because reading, to me, is like taking a vacation. I'm not thinking about work. I'm not thinking about whoever is trying to talk to me. I am just reading a book and I'm in my own little world. I know people who can watch TV shows like that. I live with one of them. And if open my mouth during a TV show, I either am not heard of I get a Shh. So, get absorbed in something else. 

And here, again, if it's really cold like it is right now today, open the curtains. Turn on the lights. Let the sunshine, and don't be afraid to get out and go for a walk around the block. It just takes an extra layer. But take a moment and think about how you are going to fight the winter blues. You know, we can take that back from winter. We can take our lives back from winter and get on with it. 

Now I want to tell you about Johnny. I this is one of my absolute favorite parts of the success stories. Now, Johnny, her granddaughter passed away, and her grief triggered clinical depression, and she was basically unable to function. She received treatment and focused on her recovery for more than ten years. And that sounds like a long time, but, you know, we all feel this recovery in our own way and in our own time. When Johnny was ready to return to work, she sought help. There were a bunch of organizations in her community, but it led her to the Ticket to Work program. She participated. She was connected with a benefits counselor who talked to her and schooled her what earned income was going to do for the benefits and how it was going to improve her financial outlook. 

And the work incentives that could ease your transition to work, that's very important too. You know, we haven't talked a lot about work incentives today, but when you use these incentives, you can move along at your own pace. You're not forced just, okay, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. You can take your time. Do what's right for you. Johnny now has a full-time job and she's confident and she's on the path to financial independence. And here is her quote. "Being back at work has been an important part of my recovery. It's restoring my self-confidence and has made it possible for me to buy the house that I always wanted." Now, you notice there's a link under her picture, and there is a link in the Web Links pod of Johnny's success story. 

There's a lot of success stories on that website. And some of them have become friends. We've worked together doing these webinars, and they're absolutely wonderfully inspiring stories, and if Johnny can do it, you can do it. You just need to think about it, make up your mind and start. And I think the one thing to know is that all of those players that we talked about, all of those members of your employment team, there's really no long way to start. You can go in through any one of the many doors that we've pointed to you, and you will end up with an entire employment team just because you need all of those services, or most of them, to help make this a successful and easy transition. 

And I think I'm done, so let's get back into some questions. Oh, I do have another slide here. Okay. I was so into telling stories. I was just enjoying my success stories. I do like them an awful lot. 

Okay, how to get mental health. You know, if you know someone or you are someone who has a mental illness, there are lots of ways to find help. If you have a doctor, that's who to contact. If you have a clinic, that's who to contact. If you don't, visit SAMHSA. They're great to find resources for individuals and families facing any kind of mental health or substance abuse disorder, or both. And they can be reached at www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline. And they are a great organization. Let me read their phone number for you, 800-662-4357, or for TTY users, 800-487-4889. And that's their national help line, and they'll get you all set. Now we have questions. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray, and thank you for sharing Johnny's story with us. I appreciate it. We're going to take a few moments and address some of the questions that we've been receiving from the audience on the topics you went over. The first question I have for you is, when participating in the Ticket to Work program, will I receive my whole SSI benefit check? 

RAY>> You know, it depends on where you are in your participation. At the very beginning you're going be doing a lot of preparation. You may be doing some training. You may be doing some training. During that period of time, yes, you will get your full SSI check. Your SSI check will be impacted once you start receiving earned income. And I talked to -- I said the word "work," and I said the term "work incentive." You know, some of the work incentives are the basic calculations that social security uses for SSI recipients when they count that income. They're going to count less than half of what you earn, so there you will have more money, you know, because they're going to make some deductions and then divide everything by two before they apply that earnings to your SSI grant. So, it's very, very difficult to come out not ahead. But when you start getting paid by an employer, that's when your SSI check will be affected. 

SARAH>> Okay, thank you, Ray. The next question I have for you is, does the Ticket to Work program provide assistance with finding a work-from-home job? 

RAY>> Most certainly they can. We did a webinar, two months ago I think, on working at home, and there are lots of jobs where you can do that. I do it, and I've done it for almost 20 years now, so, yes, they can do that. I think that what you want to do is, when you're searching for an EN -- remember I said you could search for the type of services, you might want to put work at home in that little box from the search engine and see what comes up. But that is most certainly an opportunity, whether it be as an employee or whether it be somebody who is self-employed. 

SARAH>> Ray, could you tell us about some of the signs of stress. 

RAY>> Some of the signs of stress, I can tell you lots about some of the signs of stress. I happen to be a pretty stressed-out man right now. You know, I think some of the signs of stress are maybe not wanting to get out of bed in the morning, maybe not eating appropriately, not taking care of yourself, snapping at people. Like I said, I've had a plumber in the house for the last several days, which makes life more stressful. It's the end of the year, and we have a shut down that begins next week for the holidays. And end-of-the-year work is very stressful for me, so I don't want to be interrupted, even though there are other people living in this house who need to interrupt me, and I may not react appropriately to that. 

I think any time your stomach turns over and is in a knot, it's probably stress-related. And at that point, you've got to stop and take a breath. But there are many, many types of stress, many, many types of stress and many reactions to it. We all react to it differently, and I think we just have to stop, think, and would I have yelled at that person the way I did? You know, would I have responded to that person by slamming the phone down or slamming the door to keep them out of my office? No. There are a lot of things like that. 

Have I eaten breakfast? You know, it's late in the afternoon to think about eating breakfast, but I can assure you there are days when I realize I haven't eaten a thing yet and that might help me feel a little better. So, stress is going to be very individualized. But the reaction to it, how to know that you're stressed out, I think it's because you feel yourself acting differently than you would if you weren't feeling the stress. You all know how you act when you're happy, when things are good. Is it different? Do you feel different? Are you responding, again, differently? Am I not taking my dogs for a walk? Have habits changed? So, there are lots of things like that. And I think if anything is out of whack, you know, it could be a reaction to stress. It can affect us in many ways. 

Physically, headaches, a headache can lead to not watching -- watching TV and only making it worse. I mean, there are lots of ways to do that. I can't really name them all. I'm not a doctor. I can only talk from self-experience. But stress is real. It's out there. It does things to us and changes us. Did you think before you responded, or did you just yell? Guilty. I've done it. And I know it's not right. I'm sorry is necessary, and, you know, that means I need to change my behavior. And if that's caused by stress, I might be able to do it myself. But if I can't, we've given you numbers, and there is absolutely no shame in getting help. We all do it when we need it, whether it's from a professional or a friend or a relative, or my do, Cooper. So, if you find yourself in a stressful situation, just find a way out of it. And don't worry, just do it. 

SARAH>> Awesome, Ray, and those are all great tips on recognizing and redirecting stress in your life, so I appreciate that. The next question I have for you, am I able to talk to my benefits advisor before I decide to use my Ticket to Work? 

RAY>> Yeah, most certainly you are. You know, you don't need a ticket to talk to a benefits planner if that's what you mean by advisor. So that's something that's independent of the ticket. You can also talk to all of the employment networks and you can talk to state VR before you assign your ticket. And I think you should do that. I don't think you should just pick one, because they happen to be within walking distance of your house. Virtual services can be just as effective as face-to-face services. 

So, I think that what you should be doing is picking three to four employment networks and your state agency, and talking to them. What can you do for me? This is the issue. This is what I think I'd like to do for work. How can you help me get there? And what's the plan? And then talk to somebody else, and make sure you ask, you know, I have a mental illness, I have anxiety, I have stress-related disorder, have you worked with people like me before, and what are they doing? So, I think you can do all of that shopping before you need to assign your ticket and talk to almost anybody in the networks that we've given you before you assign that ticket. And the more information you have the better your decision is going to be. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. The next question I have for you is, how do I know which service provider is right for me? 

RAY>> Oh, I think I just said that, so I'm going to repeat everything I just said. You know, it's up to you to hunt. You know, I mean, there are people out there who can help you do that, the benefits planners who you can talk to at the very beginning of this to see what's going to happen to my benefits if I do go to work. Okay, I understand. I feel good about that. What's my next step? And the benefits planner should be able to tell you, well, let's look at some employment networks that are in the area and see who does that, or they can get online with you and do the same search that you'd be doing at home. We're looking for somebody that deals with mental illness, so we're going to narrow the employment networks down to that. And we've got four here. I'm going to give you their names and phone numbers, and what you need to do now is start talking to them. And you'll know after you talk to all of them. 

You may talk to somebody and not like what you're hearing and you cross their name off the list and you may talk to somebody and think, yeah, this is the guy I want to work with. You know, I want him. And oftentimes that is just a feeling that comes from talking to those four people, and you will know who's right for you, because you've narrowed it down to the type of service you need. Now the question is, who's going to give you a good plan, who sounds excited to work with you, and who do you feel you're going to be able to work with best. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. I have another question for you. Do beneficiaries need to have their ticket in paper sent by social security in order to participate in the program? 

RAY>> Absolutely not. Absolutely not. There is the help line out there, and we've got that in the Web Links pod for you. And they will be able to tell, either the employment network you're talking to, the state agency, or you can give them a call just to see if you have a ticket that's available to assign or use with a state agency, so you don't need the paper. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, I have one final question for you before we wrap up today. Who can I reach out to for help when I'm looking for a job? 

RAY>> Almost anybody. Almost anybody. You know, we talked to you about the employment network. If you're looking for a job, that is a good place to start. If you feel you want a job that you may need training for, a state VR agency might be a place to start. If you're curious about what's going to happen to benefits, regardless of the type of job that you have, you could talk to a benefits planner first. Again, there's no wrong store. But if you are looking -- if you're set on a job and you want to look for that job, then we would look to the state VR agencies or the employment networks. But, again, I need to stress that there is no wrong door here. If you do walk into a door prematurely, that agency will make a referral to the door that you need. 

SARAH>> All right, Ray, and we are, unfortunately, out of time for questions today. Thank you for sending in all of your questions, and we hope that we provided you with answers to your questions about the ticket program. 

Ray, many thanks to you for being here with us today and sharing your knowledge of the Ticket to Work program. 

RAY>> You're more than welcome. Those were great questions. 

SARAH>> Awesome. Thanks so much, Ray. 

Okay, Social Security Ticket to Work program has a number of service providers and other resources ready to help you get started. To get a list of providers in your area or to get answers to questions that you may have about the ticket program and other work incentives, you can contact the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842. Or for TTY 1-866-833-2967, Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You can also visit the Ticket to Work website at choosework.ssa.gov at any time. You can also find us in social media or subscribe to the blog and e-mail updates by visiting choosework.ssa.gov/contact/index.html. This link appears in the Web Links pod under Ticket to Work contact information. 

To get advice and encouragement, and read success stories from the people who have had success with help from the Ticket to Work program, with these text messages from the ticket program, go ahead and text ticket, T-i-c-k-e-t, to 474747. Standard messaging rates may apply and you may opt out at any time. 

And you can start your year off right and join us for the next WISE webinar, Choosing a Service Provider That's Right for You, which will be held on Wednesday, January 20th, 2021, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Registration is open, and we look forward to having you attend. To register online, go to chooseworks.ssa.gov/wise, or you can call 1-866-968-7842 or for TTY 1-866-833-2967. 

Your feedback is very important to us and it helps us plan for future webinars. Please provide your feedback and tell us what you think about today's webinar by taking our survey. To take the survey, you can follow the link that will pop up after the webinar, or visit the Ticket to Work website to complete the survey. The survey can be found in the Web Links pod. Thank you again for attending today to learn about the Ticket to Work program. Please take this opportunity to reach out to any of the resources we discussed today and take the next steps in your career path. This concludes today's webinar. I hope you have a wonderful evening. Thank you.