It's time for the latest NENA E-News!
Your source for news, resources, and advocacy
for your Employment Network (EN).
Letter from the President
Greetings NENA Members and Partners or To our NENA Community, As 2024 comes to an end, I thought this would be a great opportunity to reflect on everything we have accomplished. It has been a year of preparation, growth, and collaboration and I am so proud of everything we have achieved as an organization. We have faced challenges and embraced them as opportunities for development. Thanks to your contributions and support, we have made significant strides in assisting member ENs and their partners in successfully implementing and streamlining processes through great training opportunities and technical assistance. NENA work groups have worked to advocate for needed changes to strengthen the Ticket to Work program. You all played crucial roles in making these successes possible through the sharing of information, successes and challenges. As we look to 2025, we are filled with optimism and excitement. Our priorities for the year include mission driven goals to increase program participation and employment outcomes. Continued collaboration with TPM and SSA in the development of consistent and practical strategies in TTW service provision will be essential as will the sharing of quality information and training opportunities. With your continued dedication, I am confident we will continue to build on our strong foundation. None of the success that NENA has experience this year would have been possible without the extraordinary support of our members. Your passion and belief in our mission are behind everything we do. On behalf of the NENA Board of Directors, thank you for your continued commitment to the Ticket to Work program and to our organization. I am honored to serve as your president, and I look forward to continuing this journey with all of you in the year ahead. Wishing you a joyful, peaceful and prosperous New Year! Brenna Schaefer NENA President
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Brenna Schaefer is a Workforce Development Coordinator at Hawkeye Community College and the NENA President.
News to Know
November 18, 2024O’Malley stepping down as SSA commissionerMartin O’Malley, commissioner of the Social Security Administration, will resign from his position at the end of the month. O’Malley announced his resignation Monday while sharing his plans to seek a nomination for chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Read more... |
November 13, 2024
Changes to Accessing Our In-Person Services
Dear Colleague,
In our ongoing commitment to serve the public more efficiently, we are expanding appointment-based services at our local Social Security offices. By scheduling appointments, we will aim to reduce wait times, streamline service delivery, and improve the overall customer experience. Nearly 400 field offices have already moved to appointment-based service this year. These offices have seen significant improvements in wait times due to more efficient and helpful visitor experiences and increases in the number of customers able to complete their business online.
We are implementing appointment-based services nationwide in two phases. The first phase is a transition period now through January 5, 2025. The purpose of this transition period is to educate our customers about needing to schedule an appointment for SSA services. As a reminder, many of our services can be provided via phone with an appointment and do not require a customer to walk into an office for service.
Effective January 6, 2025, we will require customers to schedule an appointment for service in our field offices, including requests for Social Security cards. We encourage customers to become accustomed to our:
online services, where many transactions can be completed conveniently and securely, and
automated services available on our National 800# at 1-800-772-1213.
Customers who are not able to handle their business online or with the automated options, may call their local Social Security office or our National 800# to schedule an appointment.
We want to make clear that we will not turn people away for service who are unable to make an appointment or do not want to make an appointment. For example, members of vulnerable populations, military personnel, people with terminal illnesses, and individuals with other situations requiring immediate or specialized attention may still walk in for service at our field offices. Some of our offices also have minimal to no wait times, and they will still serve customers who walk in.
We appreciate your partnership in sharing this information and helping our customers through this transition. Thank you for your continued support as we work together to improve service accessibility and responsiveness.
Sincerely,
Dawn Bystry
Associate Commissioner
Office of Strategic and Digital Communications
OEA.Net.Post@ssa.gov
November 4, 2024
Important Announcement: SSA Unable to Approve Payments from December 16-27, 2024
Due to a mandatory system upgrade, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will be unable to issue payments to service providers from approximately December 16 through December 27, 2024. SSA will continue to review payment requests during this timeframe but will not be able to submit any to the Treasury Department for payment. SSA will not penalize service providers for any EN or VR payment request that had filing deadlines in December 2024, but SSA expects all service providers to submit their requests for EN and VR payments for both December 2024 and January 2025 by January 31, 2025.
Member Tip: As of November 15, 2024, NENA has transitioned our meeting platform from Zoom to Microsoft Teams for all our NENA Calls. Please make sure to update your calendars accordingly. Keep an eye out for new login information, which will be sent out with meeting registrations. Please remember, if you cannot locate your meeting confirmation email with the log-in link, you can always find all the login information on the website here: https://nenaticket.org/page-18182 (Make sure you have signed in as a member to access this information.) Thank you for your cooperation as we make this switch. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to admin@nenaticket.org! |
Exciting Plans for 2025: Training and Assistance Ahead!
One of our key missions is to provide valuable training and technical assistance. Our Interest Area co-chairs will soon be meeting to plan topics for 2025. Have questions or ideas for training topics you'd like to see? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at admin@nenaticket.org.
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Bulletin Board
Work Incentives Training Interested in learning more about Work Incentives Planning? Opportunities are available! | Help Wanted Job Board Does your member organization have an internal position available within your organization that you would like to post in the NENA E-News? As a member courtesy, we will post your opening in our next E-News update one time. Posting requirements: • The posting must be for a specific, EN-related position within your organization (i.e., career specialist, career services provider) • Email admin@nenaticket.org to submit your post • Include the title, location, a brief description (25 words) and contact information on the form. *Those interested in applying should contact the EN directly. NENA will have no further information about any posted positions. |
