Ticket to Work Program

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

• Be 18 to 64 years old
• Currently be getting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits

Note: If you have a disability and don’t qualify for Ticket to Work because you don’t get SSI or SSDI, you may still qualify to get vocational rehabilitation services through Iowa Workforace Development's Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services.

Ticket to Work, sometimes called the “Ticket program” for short, connects people to services like:

• Vocational rehabilitation
• Training
• Referrals
• Job coaching
• Job counseling
• Placement services

While you are in the Ticket program, Social Security will not do medical Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs), as long as you make timely progress in meeting your employment goals. That means you won’t lose eligibility for SSI or SSDI for medical reasons.

Signing Up

If you get SSI or SSDI and are 18-64 years old, you automatically qualify for the Ticket program. When you are ready to think about work and want to figure out how to get started, you can start the Ticket program by contacting a Ticket to Work provider like Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services, the Iowa Department for the Blind, or an IowaWORKS office.

These organizations can give you the various employment services that Ticket provides. They may offer slightly different services depending on their specialty or focus.

You can only get Ticket to Work services from one agency at a time. That means you have to decide on getting your services from one of them – that’s called “assigning your ticket.”

Changing Your Provider

You can change your Ticket to Work provider agency at any time. To change, ask your provider to have your ticket “unassigned.” For more detailed information:

• 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

Individual Work Plans

When you and your Ticket to Work provider agency (like Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services, the Iowa Department for the Blind, or an IowaWORKS office) have agreed to work together, you create a plan that clearly shows the responsibilities you and your provider have in order to help you achieve your work goals. Depending on your provider, the plan may be an Individual Work Plan (IWP), an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE), or an Individual Employment Plan (IEP).

Your plan should include at least the following:

• Your employment goals (the type of work you want to do)
• All services your provider agency agrees to give you and how they will be delivered to you
• Your responsibilities to meet your work goals and continue to receive services
• What you can do if you are not satisfied with your provider agency or your plan
• How you can change your plan if you need to

Timely Progress

After you and your provider sign the plan, you want to make “timely progress” towards reaching your employment goals, because as long as you do so, you will not be subject to a medical Continuing Disability Review (CDR) by the Social Security Administration (SSA). That means you won’t lose your eligibility for SSI or SSDI for medical reasons.

To see if you are making timely progress, the Ticket to Work program will review your progress at the end of each 12-month period. If you have met specific requirements related to working a certain amount and making a certain amount of money or achieving educational goals, you don’t have to do a medical CDR.

Get more information from Social Security about timely progress.