Working can change your life! If you want to work, Social Security’s Ticket to Work program may be right for you. Listen to Bob Williams, Associate Commissioner for Social Security’s Office of Employment Support Programs message to learn about the Ticket to Work program.
Watch below or the video on our Choose Work YouTube channel.
To learn more about the Ticket program and take the first step toward financial independence, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/work, e-mail us at support@chooseworkttw.net or call our Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY/TDD).
If you have a disability and are ready to work or return to work, 2012 offers an optimistic outlook for employment opportunities. With a surge in disability employment support from both the White House and President Obama, you can expect positive changes on the employment front.
Below are some of the federal hiring initiatives that could positively affect Ticket to Work participants like you in 2012.
The Office of Personnel Management'sSchedule A hiring initiative is a federal employment program for people with disabilities. It allows eligible individuals to apply non-competitively for positions within the federal government and avoid lengthy hiring processes.
The Department of Defense and the Department of Labor’sWorkforce Recruitment Program is a recruitment and referral program that connects federal employers with college students and recent graduates with disabilities who want to improve their abilities in the workplace through summer or permanent jobs.
Learn more about Ticket to Work and how it can lead to a good job, a good career, and a better self-supporting future. Visit www.socialsecurity.gov/work, email us at support@chooseworkttw.net or call our Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY/TDD).
The best part is that we made it easy to host a WISE Webinar Viewing Party by providing a tool kit of easy-to-use, downloadable materials below. The tool kit includes resources to help service providers plan, promote, and facilitate their viewing party.
The WISE webinar, You Asked. We Answer. Work Incentives That Work For You, will be held on Wednesday, February 29 at 1:00 p.m. EST. If you plan to participate, we encourage you to register at www.choosework.net/wise. You will receive a confirmation message with webinar details including captioning information.
Immediately following the February 29 WISE webinar, we encourage you to join our live Facebook Question & Answer session where Ticket to Work and Work Incentives experts continue to answer your questions.
A WISE webinar is a free, fully accessible, online event designed especially for beneficiaries and their families, community partners, and service providers to learn more about the Ticket to Work program and Work Incentives. If you wish watch, listen to, or read the transcript of a past webinar, you can download any WISE webinar from our webinar library from any Internet enabled device.
When you’re ready to find a good job that leads to a good career and a better self-supporting future, attending a WISE webinar is a great way to start.
A WISE webinar is a free, fully accessible, online event designed especially for beneficiaries and their families, community partners, and service providers to learn more about the Ticket to Work program and available Work Incentives. WISE webinars typically occur the fourth Wednesday of each month from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m., EST. At each webinar, Ticket to Work and Work Incentives experts present engaging information on the program for an hour then conclude with a live question and answer session.
If you cannot make the live event, wish to review the information, or are looking for a particular webinar topic, all of our webinars can be downloaded from our webinar library.
When you’re ready to find a good job that leads to a good career and a better self-supporting future, attending a WISE webinar is a great way to start. Our next WISE webinar is February 29, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. EST. Register online or call 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY/TDD).
The Ticket to Work program hosted its first live Facebook Q&A on December 21 immediately following the national WISE webinar. The Facebook Q&A provided an additional platform for beneficiaries to ask questions about Ticket to Work and Work Incentives after the webinar had concluded.
The Q&A featured Ticket to Work and Work Incentives experts that answered participants’ questions through post discussions on how the Ticket program helps individuals with disabilities find good jobs, good careers, and a better self-supporting future. Community Work Incentive Coordinators (CWICs) from Aspire Indiana Works and Social Security’s Office of Employment Support Programs (OESP) staff answered 25 questions over the course of an hour. Participant questions ranged from working part-time and preventing overpayments to understanding eligibility for the Ticket program.
Want to keep more of the money you earned? If you make less than $49,078 per year, you may qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This special tax credit can put up to $5,751 into your pocket (even more if you live in certain states). It can be especially helpful to workers with disabilities and to working parents of children with disabilities.
Do You Qualify? Here’s What You Need To Know:
You must have earnings from a job. Self-employment and farming count, but money that you get from Social Security (SSI and SSDI) does not.
You need to file a federal income tax return, even if your income level is low enough to make it optional.
When you file your return, you have to specifically claim the EITC to get it.
You cannot owe any back taxes when you file your return.
You worked hard for your money, so take advantage of the EITC, and keep as much of it as possible!
For more information on the EITC and for free help filing your tax return, visit:
Free File, available at http://www.irs.gov/, lets you file your return electronically and claim the EITC using brand-name tax software – at no cost.
If you earn $50,000 or less per year, free tax preparation assistance is available at many community locations. Check your local newspapers, and radio and television stations for more information.
The EITC can make your life a little easier. There may be money due to you. You earned it. File now and claim it!
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs recently presented a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on a change to affirmative action requirements that may help Social Security disability beneficiaries go to work or enter the workforce for the first time. The proposed rule requires private businesses that provide contract work for the Federal government set a disability employment hiring goal of seven percent. The new requirement applies generally to all employers who have contracts or subcontracts with the Federal government that exceed $10,000.
The most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that people with disabilities face much higher unemployment rates than people without disabilities. Similar proposed rules demonstrate the Federal government’s commitment to close the employment gap for people with disabilities.
New Rule to Affect Social Security Disability Beneficiaries
Social Security disability beneficiaries participating in the Ticket to Work program may have the opportunity to benefit from the proposed rule since it will require Federal contractors to implement the following actions:
