January 18, 2024

As discussed during the most recent All Employment Network (EN) call, the Social Security Administration (SSA) released a Ticketholder Engagement message to Employment Networks earlier this year. SSA identified instances where some ENs are not in direct contact with Ticketholders and/or Tickets are assigned to ENs with no payments having been made to the EN over an extended period of time.

We have since continued our analysis and found that there are still many Tickets assigned with no payments within the last three years, and many instances where ENs are not engaging with their Ticketholders.

Part III Section 9.B of the Ticket Program Agreement (TPA) states that one of the criteria SSA uses for EN evaluation is: employment results for Ticketholders including job placement and retention rates, achievement of timely progress benchmarks, and ultimately, achievement of financial independence (exiting the rolls with earnings at or above the substantial gainful activity (SGA) level).

We are going to begin contacting ENs that have Tickets assigned where the EN has not received a payment in at least three years. No payment in three years indicates that the Ticketholder is either not working, or working and earning below the minimum threshold to generate a payment to the EN. These Ticketholders are receiving Continuing Disability Review protection without progressing toward self-sufficiency. We will contact ENs meeting this criteria to discuss your business processes for tracking your Ticketholder’s progress. ENs should review their assigned Tickets periodically and make contact with Ticketholders as outlined below.

For Ticketholder engagement purposes, we require two-way communication with the Ticketholder. Please refer to Part III Section 4 of the TPA for what that means during the Initial Job Acquisition Phase and the Ongoing Support Phase. In addition to two-way communication, if a Ticketholder is not meeting the goals outlined in their IWP, the EN shall discuss and document the following:

(1) If the Ticketholder goals are still appropriate, determine if additional services and/or supports are needed to achieve their goals and revise the Individual Work Plan (IWP).

(2) If the Ticketholder needs new goals, work with the Ticketholder to develop goals that are appropriate based on the guidance in Part III Section 4.A.2 of the TPA and revise the IWP.

(3) If the Ticketholder no longer wants to work towards their established goals or revise their goals, and is not working towards self-sufficiency, then the Ticket shall be unassigned.

As of January 2024, the Services and Supports Review will include confirming compliance to the Ticketholder engagement guidelines in the TPA. As such, it is important that each EN review the guidelines, and review your Ticket assignments to ensure that there is two-way communication, and demonstrated progress toward self-sufficiency.