Social Security Announces New Initiatives to Promote Employment Opportunities for People with Disabilities

October 2002

At the New Freedom Initiative Celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Jo Anne Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security, announced several new

initiatives to assist people with disabilities who want to go to work. These initiatives include the Disability Program Navigator, a new position formed jointly with the U.S. Department of Labor, and "Ticket to Hire," a specialized referral network linking employers to job seekers with disabilities. Also announced at the celebration was the launching of a new website, www.disabilityinfo.gov, an online resource for Americans with disabilities.

This web site is informative and user-friendly. It provides information and links to 12 important areas of interest. These areas are: employment, education, housing, transportation, health, income support and technology, community life, and civil rights. Each area is focused and the reader will discover different types of information to help answer one’s question.

Disability Program Navigator

According to Commissioner Barnhart, the Navigators will link people with disabilities who visit the Department of Labor’s One-Stop Career Centers with employers and benefit planning assistance and outreach organizations. The Navigators, who will work in the One-Stops, will also provide information on Social Security’s work incentives, employment networks and the Ticket to Work program.

Ticket to Work/Ticket to Hire

The Ticket program provides Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries with more choices and expanded opportunities to help them go to work. Upon receiving a Ticket from Social Security, individuals may give it to an Employment Network (provider) to obtain free vocational rehabilitation, job training, and other support services. The Ticket program, launched in February 2002, will be available nationwide by January of 2004. The program is currently available in 13 states (Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin).

As a spin-off of Ticket to Work, a new service has been developed with the U.S. Department of Labor to help employers locate and recruit skilled employment candidates with disabilities. The service, "Ticket to Hire," is a free, national referral service for employers to recruit workers from the Ticket to Work program. "Ticket to Hire" specialists, available at 1-866-TTW-HIRE (1-866-889-4473), will answer questions about the Ticket to Work program.

More helpful information:

• Career One Stop http://careeronestop.org/
• Social Security Administration www.ssa.gov
• DisabilityInfo www.disabilityinfo.gov
• New York Work Exchange www.nyworkexchange.org
• NY State Dept. of Labor www.labor.state.ny.us