Unemployment rates for individuals with disabilities remain high, and while many barriers to employment remain, there are services available to assist this skilled talent in their search for a career. In this episode of the DE Talk podcast, we sat down with Tripp Carter, Project Director for EmployReward Solutions, to discuss the benefits of working with an employment network, and how DirectEmployers Members have found success working with them in the past. See a small portion of this conversation below to pique your interest!
Shannon Offord:
Well. I’ve been at DirectEmployers quite a long time and we’ve talked to some folks about employment networks, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of knowledge by many employers as to what an employment network is and how it can help them with bringing qualified individuals into their organization. So, can you talk a little bit more about exactly what an employment network is and the role they play in the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work program?
Tripp Carter:
Absolutely. Employment networks, they are public and or private organizations who have a contract with Social Security to provide employment services to people with disabilities through the Ticket to Work program. There’s a standard core set of services that you agree to provide under your contract, but beyond that, you can vary into other areas. In addition, you’re going to have ENs of various sizes in terms of the number of staff they have, the number of beneficiaries they serve, as well as I said, the additional services they may offer outside of what’s required in our contract. But to give you an idea of some of the services an EN may offer, they may do job placement, career counseling, vocational support services, but the ultimate goal is to help these participants find and maintain employment. Some other things I do want to mention that they may also help with are if a beneficiary’s facing specific barriers to employment, whether it’s transportation or housing related, EN’s also try to provide assistance in those realms as well as identify education and training opportunities for those individuals. One thing I will mention about the Ticket to Work program, I do understand there’s a lot that employers don’t hear, but this program is for individuals ages 18 to 64 who are receiving supplemental security income and or Social security disability insurance. And this program and the services provided to individuals under it are completely free and voluntary.
Shannon Offord:
So, there’s a lot of programs out there that help individuals with disabilities find employment. Obviously you’ve got voc rehab and others. How do employment networks differ from, let’s say, vocational rehabilitation services? How is it different? Is it set up–how are they joined, or do they work together, or how does that all work?
Tripp Carter:
That’s a great question. So EN’s focus more on helping individuals with disabilities. You do have to be a recipient of SSI or SSDI benefits to be eligible for the Ticket to Work program. ENs can offer some other vocational services, but typically vocational services are provided under the vocational rehabilitation program in each state. These are state run. They provide comprehensive short-term services. ENs typically offer the long-term support and employment retention services that a beneficiary may be looking for after they obtain a job.
Shannon Offord:
You mentioned the fact that ENs help with some of the retention aspects around employment. How do those services work?
Tripp Carter:
EN’s and VRs work together. There is a component of the ticket program called Partnership Plus where an individual may initially start in the ticket program under a VR, a vocational rehabilitation program, and that vocational rehabilitation program may have a contract in place with specific employment networks so that once the person has obtained a job and maintained it for a period of 90 days, voc rehab may transfer that assignment to an employment network for the retention services, if that makes sense.
Shannon Offord:
Wow. Perfect. Given that employment networks are part of the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work program, I want to give our listeners more context here. How does the Ticket to Work program work in conjunction with employment networks to help individuals with disabilities transition into the workforce?
Hear the answer to this question, as well as stories of DirectEmployers Members’ success in working with employment networks by listening to the full episode! Want to connect with EmployReward Solutions for assistance with your disability hiring efforts? Sign in to your DE.works account to chat with them directly within the Partner Relationship Manager tool!
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