PACER Center
952-838-9000
Champions for Children with Disabilities
TATRA Navigation Menu
Social Security/Work Incentives/Ticket to Work
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a program of the Social Security Administration. It provides monthly benefits to individuals with disabilities who have limited income and resources. SSI provides eligible individuals with a monthly check, and access to services such as food stamps and Medicaid. SSI can be a valuable resource to transition-aged students.
Work Incentives
Students who qualify to receive SSI benefits may also use the SSI program's work incentives. Work incentives allow students to have paid work experience during and after their secondary education experience. SSI work incentives available to transition-aged students include Earned and Unearned Income Disregards, Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE), Impairment-Related Work Expense (IRWE), Plan for Achieving Self Support (PASS), Blind Work Expense (BWE), and Property Essential to Self Support (PESS).
These incentives can be helpful in designing community-based, paid employment transition programs for students without decreasing the cash assistance benefits provided by the SSI program.
Information concerning the potential use of SSI work incentives can be incorporated within the transition IEP plan to help young people achieve meaningful employment outcomes. In doing so, special education personnel will need to assume responsibility for ensuring that SSI work incentives are discussed and potentially incorporated within students' IEPs.
The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act
The Social Security Administration has found that many young people with disabilities entering the Supplementary Security Income (SSI)/Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) rolls are likely to remain on the program rolls for their entire lives. The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act, signed into law in 1999, was designed to help SSI beneficiaries who want to work to join the workforce without losing their Medicaid benefits.
The Ticket to Work program provides a "Ticket" to SSI and SSDI beneficiaries that they may use to obtain rehabilitation and employment services. Most adult beneficiaries between the ages of 18-65 will get a Ticket, including transition-aged youth 18 or older.
Service providers, called Employment Networks, work with Social Security and SSI beneficiaries to provide assistance designed to help with the transition to work. The Ticket Program is voluntary. People with disabilities who receive a Ticket are not required to work, but may choose to use their Ticket to attempt to work. Likewise, Employment Networks are not required to accept Tickets.
Social Security/Work Incentives/Ticket to Work Links
-
Minnesota resources:
- Disability Benefits 101: Young People and Benefits, a web site helping Minnesota youth with disabilities and their families learn about important benefit programs for young people, postsecondary education options and ways to pay for them, and how income may impact benefits.
- Medical Assistance for Employed Minnesotans with Disabilities, A summary of Minnesota's MA-EPD program. It explains how the program works and who is eligible
- Minnesota Work Incentives Connection
- Social Security Offices in Minnesota
-
Find help in your state:
- Find your Social Security Field Office
- State by state information on work incentive and Medicaid Buy-in programs
- Work Incentive Provider Directory (listed by state) -
If you want to locate the WIPA organization nearest you, you can also call 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY/TDD) for the hearing impaired. - Ticket to Work National Employment Network Directory
-
Articles
- Benefits Planning for Youths with Disabilities
- Going To Work: A Guide to Social Security Benefits and Employment for Young People with Disabilities (2010 Edition) a publication from the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston.
- Medicaid Buy-In, information from the Healthy and Ready to Work Project explaining the federal program
- Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities, A summary of Minnesota's MA-EPD program. It explains how the program works and who is eligible.
- Minnesota Work Incentives Connection
- Online Social Security Handbook
- PASS Online - This site provides a detailed explanation of the PASS program, a tutorial on completing the application, including an online version of the form that can be printed or saved, and a guide to resources in each state.
- PassPlan
- “The Red Book,” A Summary Guide To Employment Support For Individuals With Disabilities - (also in Español)
- Social Security Administration
- The Rural Institute at the University of Montana has several helpful articles on SSI topics of specific interest to transition age youth with disabilities and their families, Including:
- Will My Child Lose Their SSI and Medicaid If They Work? Paychecks, SSI Benefits, and Work Incentives
- Is It True that SSDI Beneficiaries Can Only Work Part Time?
- Social Security and Transition Part I (PDF version of a PowerPoint presentation)
- Social Security and Transition Part 2 (PDF version of a PowerPoint presentation)
- Social Security and Transition Part 3 (PDF version of a PowerPoint presentation)
- Identifying Students Eligible For SSI PASS Plans at IEP Meetings
- SSI & Children Turning 18
- Paychecks And SSI Benefits
- Weighing The Risks: Some Tools for Benefits Analysis & Planning for SSI & SSDI Recipients
- Property Essential for Self-Support (PESS): A Self-Employment Resource that SSI Doesn’t Count (PDF)
- Social Security Handbook (includes complete guidelines for SSI, SSDI, overpayments, evaluation of disability, etc.)
- The Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE): How You Can Be a Student, Get a Job, and Keep Your Benefits
La Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE): Cómo se puede ser estudiante, trabajar, y mantener sus beneficios
Available in Spanish and English, this article from the Fall 2010 Proyecto Visión newsletter talks about one way students can make more than $1000 each month and continue to get SSI without their benefits being reduced. The key requirement is that you must be a student under the age of 22 - Ticket to Work. Information on the Ticket to Work Program and a national directory of TTW Employment Networks.
- Understanding Supplemental Security Income: SSI Spotlight on Continued Medicaid for People Who Work: 2011 Edition
In most cases, you can keep your Medicaid even if you earn too much to receive a monthly SSI benefit
- Using Social Security or Vocational Rehabilitation for International Exchange Opportunities
- Work Incentives, general information on all SSA Work Incentive programs
- Work Incentives Transition Network publications
- The Work Site, An excellent site created by the Social Security Administration. It contains a wealth of information on work and work incentives with specific sections for youth with disabilities, adults with disabilities, employers, service providers, and advocates.
- Youth In Transition and the Ticket to Work Program (.doc)
PACER's site offers many PDF files for download, which require