July 30, 2012
Following our July 11 webinar, "Support for People with Disabilities on the Journey to Financial Independence," we hosted a Q&A discussion on our Ticket to Work Facebook page. In total, we addressed about 16 of your most pressing disability employment and financial independence questions, and we had a blast! Feel free to read through the conversation below and let us know if you have follow-up thoughts or questions by posting a comment below.
If you would like to get started working and would like to discuss your situation, call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 (V) or 866-833-2967 (TTY/TDD) or contact a service provider using our Find Help Tool.
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Posted in Financial Literacy, Events | 0 Comment »
July 27, 2012
Making choices and having options about what you buy, where you live, and what you do with your free time, being able to support yourself with money you earn from a job, not being limited by Social Security disability benefits—all these things are possible when you are financially independent. Would you like to work your way off of cash benefits and be financially independent?
During the July 11, 2012 Ticket to Work: Support Services for People with Disabilities on Their Journey to Financial Independence webinar, participants learned that financial independence is possible! With hard work, planning, education, training, and support from Social Security and other resources, you can have a good job, good career, and a better, self-supporting future.
Take advantage of the resources from the July 11 webinar. They will help you succeed in reaching financial independence!
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Posted in Financial Literacy, Events | 0 Comment »
July 26, 2012
By Bob Williams, Associate Commissioner for the Social Security's Office of Employment Support Programs
In 1990, I was privileged to be part of a coalition of people with disabilities, civil rights workers and disability advocates in Washington, DC who, with the tremendous support of thousands of ordinary citizens across America, convinced the Congress to enact the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. One of the most powerful memories of that day was watching, from high in the galleries above the Senate floor, as the bill was signed into law, after years of hard work and debate. I remember watching Senator Tom Harkin, the chief author of the law address his colleagues, the nation, and his brother Frank, not just in spoken words but in American Sign Language as well.
The Senator described how his older brother Frank, who grew up deaf, had to live far away from his family in order to attend a boarding school specializing in education for people who are deaf. He described the discrimination Frank experienced in adulthood, while trying to find a job. It’s an experience that many of us with disabilities in the chamber that day knew well. Senator Harkin then turned the conversation to the future, by dedicating the passage of the ADA to the children born that day, regardless of their disability status. It was then that tears of sorrow and hope flowed most freely.
Over the last 22 years, the ADA has been sweeping in its impact in assuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for Americans with disabilities of all ages, races and regions. Instead of weakening the country as some predicted it might, the ADA is continuing to strengthen America’s core value of individual freedom. Today, due to the ADA and related laws, more students with disabilities are graduating from high school and college. More Americans with significant disabilities are receiving the support they need to live in the community rather than languishing in institutions. Stores, restaurants, businesses, courts, and transit systems are now readily accessible to people with a range of mobility, sensory and other disabilities. The country’s telecommunications, 911 and other emergency preparedness systems are similarly accessible and usable by those with and without disabilities alike. The Internet and other digital technologies are transforming barriers into opportunities in education, employment and many other facets of American life.
President George H. W. Bush declared that the ‘shameful walls of exclusion’ must fall when he signed the ADA into law on July 26, 1990. Tremendous progress has been made, however to make the promise of the ADA a reality for millions of Americans with disabilities, there is still much work to be done. Barriers to full equality of opportunity persist. This is particularly true with regard to promoting the improved long-term employment, economic self-sufficiency and genuine financial well-being of working age Americans with disabilities and their families.
In an effort to address these discrepancies in employment opportunity, Congress created the Ticket to Work and Self Sufficiency Program. Like the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Ticket program is a work in progress. Since its inception, the program has equipped more than a quarter of million Americans with disabilities with the opportunities, life choices, services and support they need to become and remain competitively employed. Thousands have earned their way off Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, and created better lives and futures for themselves and their families. The ADA and the Ticket are working to improve our country.
To learn more about how Ticket to Work and Work Incentives can work for you or someone you know, please visit www.socialsecurity.gov/work or call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 (V) or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY/TDD).
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Posted in Leadership Messages | 4 Comments »
July 25, 2012
By the Disability.gov Team
On July 26th, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will celebrate its 22nd anniversary, giving people all over the nation the opportunity to celebrate the protections this landmark legislation affords to more than 54 million people with disabilities in the United States. Along with the ADA, many other laws ensure equal protection for people with disabilities.
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Posted in Events | 3 Comments »
July 25, 2012
The June 27, 2012, national Work Incentives Seminar Event (WISE) webinar, “Ticket to Work: Free Support Services for People with Disabilities” is now available online. Visit http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/m-wise-webinars.cfm to download the webinar, accessible PDF of the presentation, or transcript.
Other items in our webinar library include
To register for our next WISE webinar, please visit www.choosework.net/wise
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Posted in Events | 0 Comment »
July 20, 2012
On June 22, 2012, Ticket to Work and the American Association of People with Disabilities (@AAPD) facilitated our second #DEChat (Disability Employment Chat) Twitter Chat on “Career Help for Young Adults with Disabilities and Youth-in-Transition.”
Around 45 members of the disability community, service providers and advocates participated. Participants shared many helpful resources. @WACCTS and @CynthiaParkhill even created a helpful list and a Storify of these resources!
We discussed:
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How to prepare for work
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How to build a resume with little or no job experience
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Interview tips
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Reasons to work
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Common challenges or fears about working
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What we all can do to help young people with disabilities be successful in transitioning to work
A list of resources and a transcript are available below. Thank you to all who joined! Follow @chooseworkssa on Twitter for updates on future #DEChat events.
What else would you like to talk about? Leave a comment with your ideas for future #DEChats. Or, send us message on Twitter with the #DEChat hashtag. Keep the conversation going!
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Posted in Youth In Transition, Career Tips, Events | 0 Comment »
July 18, 2012
Register now for the FREE WISE Webinar Event on July 25th at 3 p.m. EDT.
This month marks the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) – a law prohibiting discrimination of people with disabilities in the workplace and many other areas. The ADA has advanced employment among people with disabilities and made job accommodations more readily available. In recognition, we will host a webinar on employment, job accommodations and resources for people with disabilities who are ready to work.
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Posted in Ticket Program News, Events | 0 Comment »
July 11, 2012
Social Security’s Ticket to Work program exhibited at the National Alliance on Mental Illness 2012 National Convention, Think, Learn and Live: Wellness, Resiliency and Recovery, held June 27 – 30, in Seattle, WA. About 1,900 people attended the conference. Participants included people with a mental illness and their families, supporters, service providers, mental health professionals, and advocates.
Attendees visiting the Ticket to Work booth received information about the program. Staff also showed individuals how to register for Work Incentive Seminar Event (WISE) webinars and use the Find Help tool on www.socialsecurity.gov/work
More than 340 people stopped by the Ticket to Work booth. Each received a packet that included:
Some Ticket to Work “graduates” stopped by the booth to share their appreciation for how Ticket to Work helped them. One said, “Who can I thank for this program? It’s wonderful! I hope it never ends.”
Discover what the Ticket to Work program can do for you. For more information, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/work, e-mail us at support@chooseworkttw.net or call (866) 968-7842 (V) or (866) 833-2967 (TTY/TDD).
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Posted in Ticket Program News, Events | 2 Comments »
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