Working Solutions and Financial Assistance for the Disabled - FAQ

3. The money you receive from Your Ticket Dollars can help with reimburseable expenses that support your career goals. They may include schooling or training, computer or other technology purchase or upgrade, work attire, transportation, supplies, telephone and travel expenses for job placement activities, obtaining or renewing a certification or license (i.e.CNA, RN, LPN, CDL, etc.). The list goes on. Refer to the list we sent you with your Individual Work Plan (IWP)

4. No. However you need to be working for us to receive money from SSA which in turn provides money to reimburse your approved work-related expenses.

5. That completely depends on the work-related goods or services you have identified on your IWP as needed to achieve your career goals. If you would like to talk with someone on our staff about this please call or email us.

6. Yes. There is no "fine print" to read. If you have your Ticket assigned to us and you are working at a level that results in payments to us from SSA we will reimburse you for approved work-related expenses. We have a long history of providing generous career support payments to our Ticket Holders. Give us a call and we can discuss your particular circumstances.

7. Not necessarily. In keeping with SSA's mission to want to genuinely help beneficiaries achieve self sufficiency, we will work with you to see where changes in your plan may make more sense.

8. Yes. Your Ticket Dollars believes that work, even part time work to start, is an important way to show that you want to work and are serious about getting to the point where you may be able to become self-sufficient. We are interested in helping you take your work effort to a new level, to meet long term career goals.

9. Submitting your pay stubs to us is your evidence that you are working. And it allows us to receive payments from SSA for our services to you and for others we provide services to who may or may not have returned to work yet. This is how we are able to provide generous approved work-related expense reimbursements to our Ticket Holders.

10. Talk with your State Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor about the next steps in your program. You want to be sure to complete your plan you've developed with your counselor that hopefully leads to employment. After you've been working for 90 days they will close your case. That is when you can select an Employment Network to continue working with you as part of the Ticket Program. If you choose Your Ticket Dollars complete the IWP (found on the "Sign Up" page) and mail to us and we'll review it to see if we are a good match for you. Or you can call us.

11. If you were not able to find the answers to your questions on our web site you can email us by going to the Contact Us page. Or you can call us toll free at 866-927-8231; local:(860) 286-0755.

12. We'll answer questions you have about the program and protections that are available to you. If you still have concerns or questions that we can't answer we'll direct you to someone who can. the goal of the Ticket to Work Program is to help you achieve self-sufficiency. We want to help you do that.

13. If you are receiving SSDI benefits you may be eligible for a period up to nine months (plus a three-month grace period) in which you can earn an unlimited amount of money from work and not have it effect your cash benefits. This work incentive encourages you to try to go to work and stay working to see if you can do it without fear of losing your benefits.

14. Sure. It's called a Benefits Planning Query (BPQY). By calling them you can get an analysis of your disability and work status to help you with planning your return to work. A BPQY provides information about your disability cash benefits, health insurance, scheduled medical reviews, representative payee, and work history, as stored in SSA's electronic records.

You can request a BPQY by contacting your local SSA office or by calling SSA’s toll free number 1-800-772-1213 between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. People who are deaf or hard of hearing may call our toll-free TTY/TDD number, 1-800-325-0778, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

15. As unearned income. As with earned income, certain unearned income exclusions are authorized by other Federal laws as well as by Title XVI. Countable unearned income can never be less than zero. However, there is one unearned income exclusion that can be applied to earned income (see (M) below). Unearned income exclusions are applied in the following order:

Is under age 65; or
Received SSI based on blindness or disability for the month he or she turned 65;

Does an IWP qualify as an Approved Plan?
Below includes what we would reimburse for and they would not have it counted as earned income.

With an approved plan, you can set aside money to pay expenses to reach your work goal. For example, the money you save can be used for:

Transportation to and from work;
Tuition, books, fees and supplies needed for school or training;
Health Insurance Premiums;
Child care;
Attendant care;
Employment services, such as job coaching and résumé writing;
Supplies to start a business;
Equipment and tools to do the job; or
Uniforms, special clothing and safety equipment;
Let us know about other expenses you may have that are not listed here.

Your Ticket Dollars

Quick Navigation

Main Navigation

Frequently Asked Questions

Main Navigation