Workforce EN Business Plan 2013 Ticket/EN Series Hosted/Facilitated by: Miranda Kennedy, NDI Technical Assistance Team Presented by: Kevin Nickerson and Mary Lynn ReVoir, NDI Technical Assistance Team U.S. Department of Labor

Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) DEI Projects at the state level and/or local level participating LWIBs are required to become Employment Networks (ENs) under Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) Ticket to Work Program. Training and Technical Assistance to DEI Projects in attaining Employment Network status and implementing effective EN operations is provided under U.S. DOLETA contract with NDI Consulting, Inc. and the National Disability Institute (NDI). Evaluation of the impact of the DEI Projects implementation and outcomes as Employment Network will be provided under U.S. DOL ODEP contract with Social Dynamics.

Learning Objectives Upon completion of this training webinar, DEI grantees and participants and partners from the public workforce system will have the following: An update on recent Ticket efforts Information about EN Business Models An understanding of the process to develop a Business Plan for your Employment Network Information on Next Steps

Subject Matter Expert Nickerson Kevin Nickerson DEI TA Team member P: (607) Ext. 136 E:

Agenda SSA’s investment of Employment Networks Review of EN models Local Level Collaborative Model State Administrative EN Model Understanding your EN business plan Staffing and Services Goal Setting with projections Reporting Requirements Tips for EN Operations Next Steps Q&A

Recent Direction of the Ticket Program

Statement of Robert W. Williams Associate Commissioner, Office of Employment Support Programs before the House Committee On Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Social Security and the Subcommittee on Human Resources September 23, 2011 “The Ticket program can be valuable even if it helps only a small number of beneficiaries return to work.” “Each disability award is expensive; on average, an award costs $250,000 in DI benefits and Medicare costs over a beneficiary’s lifetime.” “…it does not take many beneficiaries to return to work for those savings to add up…” “…we still must simplify our work incentive programs and refocus our strategy to promote the idea of financial independence more vigorously…”

Ticket to Work, an Evolving Program Recent reminders have been provided by Social Security Administration, directing ENs to be sure we are focusing on Career Track employment for Beneficiaries A new focus on Workforce Development – Over the last several years, SSA, OSM and contractors have collectively worked to improve: –Billing Processes – Now have ePay option for Workforce ENs –Outreach Methods – Now have eDataShare option for Workforce ENs –Administrative Ease – Joint efforts to develop streamline IWP, EN Tracking Tools shared, electronic IWP assignments available to Workforce ENs –Workforce EN agreement options – New Payment Agreement (PA) now available in addition to the Request for Quotation (RFQ)

Local Level Strategy This example shows a collaborative web allowing for referral and mentoring efforts amongst separate EN’s Ideally, State Vocational Rehabilitation provides information about all EN options when closing a case for consumers to receive ongoing support from EN Each EN (WIB) completes a separate application to operate as an independent EN

Collaborative Agreement Strategy State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency Partnership Plus Specific Advantage of collaboration with Community Rehabilitation Provider: Job Center can focus on job matching and placement services only.

State Administrative EN Strategy STATE VR Partnership Plus Example: 20% of payments for administrative functions (i.e. billing / marketing) kept by State AEN, which is also the EN of Record Example: 80% of payments go to providers per written agreement with State AEN Payments divided amongst providers based on services to Ticket holders that lead to EN payments

Questions/Comments If you have a comment or question you can: A: Submit it to the host in writing via the Chat or Q&A Box to the right, or… B: Click on the “raise hand” icon to have your line un-muted and ask your question/make your comment.

Understanding your Employment Network Business Plan

EN Business Model Components: Staffing and Services While the DRC is the most likely staff person to be involved in serving Ticket holders, other Job Center staff may be involved to some degree Here are some typical staffing needs to consider: 1.Ticket holder Assessment & Assignment of Tickets (who will screen, and determine which Ticket holders you should serve, and submit the Individual Work Plan to OSM, or, if using e-Ticket assignment, prepare the file to send to OSM) 2.Benefits Advisement and Planning 3.Job Development services for Ticket holders 4.Long-term follow-up supports for Ticket holders 5.Billing and Tracking of Ticket holders 6.Who will be the Signatory Authority? 7.Who will be the EN/Beneficiary Primary Contact, the EN staff member the Ticket holder will contact for more information on your EN services? 8.Marketing and Outreach to Employers

EN Business Model Components: Goal Setting for your EN Do you have a projected number of Ticket holders you expect to serve? Developing the number of Ticket holders you hope to serve, will help you evaluate the effort you should invest in outreach NOTE: To find the number of beneficiaries in any state, by county, see the Ticket to Work site, current link as follows: beneficiary-distributionhttps://yourtickettowork.com/web/ttw/en- beneficiary-distribution Revenue projections for the Ticket program can be tricky, based on the number of variables associated with each Ticket holder, and how the payment structure works NDI has developed an EN Revenue Projection Calculator to assist in site specific calculations, example on next slides

EN Revenue Estimate- Data from Challenge Workforce Solutions

EN Business Model Components: Reporting Requirements Have you considered how you will track Ticket Holders for purposes of billing and case management? Organizing your Ticket holder data is an important administrative task every EN has to develop There are currently two different tracking tools that Maximus has been provided by ENs that can be adopted for use, if your EN doesn’t want to create a system from scratch: –Ticket Data Manager (NY, Challenge Workforce Solutions) –EN Ticket Tracker (Iowa) *NOTE: These tools will be provided on a future training, and reviewed in detail.

EN Business Model Components: Reporting Requirements Who will maintain Ticket Holder files, and what information will they contain? At a minimum, your paper file will need to contain the Ticket holders signed IWP or IEP Other possible documents you may want in a Ticket holders file, although these are not required like the IWP or IEP: Wage Data, previous 18 months and ongoing Benefits information, including BPQY, and written benefits analysis Billing submissions (if manually billing) Pertinent medical documentation Why managing your Ticket information is useful –Ease in the completion of the Annual Performance Outcome Report (APOR) –Aids in future EN revenue projections –Now the EN Portal may aide in capturing relevant data

Subject Matter Expert ReVoir Mary Lynn ReVoir DEI TA Liaison P: (515) E:

For State Workforce EN Model “Exploring State Workforce EN: Considerations” –A guide for key planning personnel to review at onset –Questions designed by experienced practitioners –Questions are categorized in the following areas: Commitment to the EN Demonstrated Investment Regional level buy-in Partnership with State Vocational Rehabilitation Infrastructure Procedures –This guide is now included as part of the EN Business Model Checklist & Planning Guide (available at the close of this webinar for download)

Tips for EN Operations Developing your internal operations prior to accepting Ticket holders for services will allow you to provide better customer service to all customers involved (i.e. internal staff, Ticket holders, businesses) While you can plan in advance for many of the components of your EN operations, you will continue to streamline your business operations as you mature as an EN, don’t expect to have everything go smoothly from day one, even with excellent planning Ongoing outreach to beneficiaries is critical to the growth of any new EN

Tips for EN Operations Addressing EN operations internally first will provide you a platform to then market to Ticket holders, and other key stakeholders There is no teacher like experience, therefore, you should connect with other successful ENs whenever possible to learn from, and to collaborate with, in order to continually improve services you offer An EN Business Model Checklist & Planning Guide has been developed to assist you in taking next steps in your planning process, available at the conclusion of today’s webinar

Summary In today’s presentation we covered the following: Information on the commitment SSA has to ENs, as evidenced through recent changes in the program which streamline operations for Workforce ENs Information on various EN models Overview of basics an EN should consider in developing their business model of service Introduction to goal setting for ENs Tips for successful EN operations

Next Steps Stay tuned for upcoming trainings February 2013 in the Ticket to Work Boot Camp Series coming out via the DEI listserv the last week of January: Thursday, February 7 th 2013 Part 3: Ticket to Work and Benefits Planning, Overview of Social Security Disability Insurance Monday, February 11 th, 2013 Part 4: Ticket to Work and Benefits Planning, Overview of Supplemental Security Income

Questions/Comments If you have a comment or question you can: A: Submit it to the host in writing via the Chat or Q&A Box to the right, or… B: Click on the “raise hand” icon to have your line un-muted and ask your question/make your comment.

Contact Information Kevin Nickerson NDI Technical Assistance Team P: (607) Ext. 136 Mary Lynn ReVoir NDI Technical Assistance Team P: (515) E: