Effectiveness of the Ticket to Work Program for Beneficiaries Who are Blind Or have Low Vision: Comparisons with Other Beneficiaries (Research Reports‪)‬

The Ticket to Work (TTW) program began in 13 states in February 2002, and nationwide implementation was completed in fall 2004. This federally funded program is meant to assist persons who receive disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA) in obtaining employment, with the ultimate goal of terminating SSA benefits and thereby providing a cost savings for the government (Livermore et al., 2003). Other goals of the program are to increase beneficiaries' choice of providers of rehabilitation services and to improve the quality of rehabilitation services by providing for competition among service providers. With its focus on employment, the TTW program would seem to be an excellent opportunity for beneficiaries who are blind or have low vision, since lower levels of employment are a well-known problem for them compared to persons without disabilities and persons with most other types of disabilities (Houtenville, 2003; Kirchner, Schmeidler, & Todorov, 1999). However, the manner in which the program has been implemented has caused professionals in the field of blindness rehabilitation to voice concerns about whether the program is effective with beneficiaries who are blind or have low vision. This concern stems primarily from the fact that the program has not provided incentives to serve beneficiaries who are more severely disabled (that is, those who may require more time and assistance to become employed). How THE PROGRAM WORKS