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 Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) or the Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP).

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 Employment Network (EN) or by contacting Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) or the Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP).

Employment Networks are organizations that can give you the various employment services that Ticket provides. They can be public or private agencies, and may offer slightly different services depending on their specialty or focus. Here are some examples of types of ENs:

• Community rehabilitation programs
• Developmental disability agencies
• Mental health agencies

Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) and the Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP) also offer Ticket to Work services that can help you figure out what work to do and how to get a job. But with MRS or BSBP, after you've found a job and worked successfully for 90 days, your file will be closed. Tip: If you do the Ticket program with MRS or BSBP, after you get a job, you can switch to getting Ticket services with an Employment Network. By switching to an EN, you can keep getting help with things like adapting to work life, or dealing with Social Security and other agencies.

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 EN (or from MRS or BSBP) – that’s called “assigning your ticket.”

Choosing an EN

You can use the Employment Network Directory to find Employment Networks in your area.

For more help choosing an EN:

• 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
• Learn more about the different types of Ticket to Work service providers.

Once you’ve found an EN that interests you, contact it to see if the services and supports it offers are right for you. ENs offer different services based on their specialties. Talk to a few, so that you find one that's be a good match for you.

If you think you might want to assign your ticket to MRS or BSBP, learn more about the services offered by Michigan Rehabilitation Services or the Michigan Bureau of Services to Blind Persons.

Changing Employment Networks

You can change your Employment Network at any time. To change ENs, ask your Employment Network 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 an Employment Network (or MRS or BSBP) have agreed to work together, you create an Individual Work Plan (IWP) that clearly shows the responsibilities you and your EN have in order to help you achieve your work goals.

Your plan should contain at least the following:

• Your employment goals (the type of work you want to do)
• All services your EN 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 EN or your plan
• How you can change your plan if you need to

Timely Progress

After you and your EN 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.

A Michigan Works! One-Stop Service Center can help you with your job search or career planning. There are more than 90 local Michigan Works! centers statewide.

Services

Michigan Works! One-Stop Service Centers offer free services, including:

• Help finding a job
• Tests to see what skills you have
• Job training
• Career counseling
• Help creating or updating a resume
• Mock interviews
• Workshops

Your local center can tell you about all the services they offer. They can also tell you about local employers who are hiring and teach you the basics of how to do a job search. Plus, each center has equipment that can help you with your job search, including telephones, copy machines, computers with Internet access, computers specialized for those with hearing or visual impairments, and printers.

Locations

To find a Michigan Works! Service Center near you, call 1-800-285-9675 (1-800-285-WORKS) or visit michiganworks.org.

Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) can help you prepare for and find work. They can help you get the training or other services that you need to return to work, enter a new line of work, stay in the workforce, or enter the workforce for the first time. The vocational rehabilitation services MRS offers depend on your strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, and interests. An MRS counselor works with you to figure these out and make a plan for reaching your work goals.

To become eligible for services from MRS, you must have a physical or mental disability that makes it difficult for you to find and keep a job. If you qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) based on your disability, you probably qualify for MRS.

MRS can be your service provider for the Ticket to Work program, or you may be eligible for MRS services without being in the Ticket program.

To learn more about MRS or to apply, contact your local MRS office or call 1-800-605-6722.

Note: If you get Ticket to Work services through MRS, after you are successfully employed for 90 days, your MRS case will usually be closed. When this happens, to keep getting ongoing support services, you must reassign your Ticket to an Employment Network.

MRS Transition Services for Students

Students with disabilities who are 14-26 years old and in high school, college, or vocational or technical training may qualify for Pre-Employment Transition Services. There are five types of services:

• Job exploration
• Work-based-learning experience
• Counseling on college or vocational training programs
• Workplace readiness training
• Self-advocacy training, including peer mentoring

You can get these transition services before or after applying for MRS services, but you must show both interest and need. To learn more, talk to your teacher, school counselor, school social worker, transition coordinator, or MRS counselor.

Other resources

Michigan Career & Technical Institute (MCTI)

MCTI is a residential educational center offering 13 different vocational and technical training programs with supportive services for Michigan residents with disabilities. It also offers

• Medical and counseling services
• Occupational therapy
• Interpreters for deaf students
• Classroom and job accommodations
• Job placement services

The goal is to prepare for successful employment. Tuition and room and board in the dormitory may be free for eligible adults who have a physical or mental disability. The MCTI catalog provides more information.

Talent Acquisition Portal (TAP)

TAP is a national website that helps connect people with disabilities looking for work with businesses looking to hire. It offers an online job application, online job fairs, and preliminary online interviews. It also offers tools to help you build a resume. If you are getting MRS services and want to post your resume in TAP, talk to your MRS counselor about how to get started.

If you are blind or visually impaired, the Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP) can help you find work, with free services that include:

• Helping you to define your employment goals
• Finding training and other services to meet your goals
• Counseling and training in skills for daily living without vision

Depending on your needs and eligibility, other services can include low-vision equipment, vocational training, technical school training, a college education, job development and placement, and follow-up.

To learn more the about the services Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP) offers, or to apply for them, contact a Bureau of Services for Blind Persons office near you, or call 1-800-292-4200 or 1-888-864-1212 (TTY).

More BSBP Programs and Services

These are some of the other programs and services offered by the Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP):

• Five-day Mini Adjustment Programs at locations statewide give an introduction to the skills of blindness and explain the services that BSBP and other organizations offer.
• The BSBP Training Center in Kalamazoo offers training and services to people who are blind and visually impaired. Students live on campus, and the focus is on skills of blindness training and vocational exploration and planning, so students can become independent at home and in the community. Learn more about the training center; you can also download a training center brochure.
  
• BSBP DeafBlind Services support adults and high school students who are legally blind and have moderate to profound hearing loss. Services can include training, job placement, and transition to college services and accommodations.