Workforce EN Business Plan
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
2013 Ticket/EN Series
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) 272-7570 Ext. 136
E: knickerson@ndi-inc.org
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…”
http://www.ssa.gov/legislation/testimony_092311.html
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
Each EN (WIB)
completes a separate
application to operate
as an independent EN
Job Center
/ EN
Job Center/
EN
Ideally, State
Vocational
Rehabilitation
provides
information about
all EN options when
closing a case for
consumers to
receive ongoing
support from EN
Job Center
/ EN
STATE VR
Partnership
Plus
Job Center
/ EN
Job Center/
EN
Job Center
/ EN
This example shows a
collaborative web
allowing for referral and
mentoring efforts
amongst separate EN’s
Collaborative Agreement Strategy
State Vocational
Rehabilitation
Agency
Partnership
EN of record –
Has submitted EN
application, In
this example, the local
Workforce
Investment Board (WIB)
Plus
Ticket Holder receives
up front
Job placement
supports from Job
Center, and LongTerm supports
from CRP
Specific Advantage of
collaboration with
Community Rehabilitation
Provider: Job Center can
focus on job matching
and placement services
only.
WIB has Local
agreement
with Community
Rehabilitation
Provider (CRP) to
provide Long-Term
supports to Ticket
holders
State Administrative EN Strategy
Payments divided amongst providers
based on services to Ticket holders that
lead to EN payments
Partnership Plus
STATE VR
Community
Rehab
Provider
State Department(s)
Note:
Could be one,
or a partnership of
State Departments
Workforce
Investment
Board
Community
Rehab
Provider
Workforce
Investment
Board
Example: 20% of payments
for administrative
functions (i.e. billing /
marketing) kept by State
AEN, which is also the EN
of Record
Community
Rehab
Provider
Workforce
Investment
Boar
Example: 80% of payments
go to providers per written
agreement with State AEN
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: https://yourtickettowork.com/web/ttw/enbeneficiary-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 EstimateData from Challenge Workforce Solutions
EN Revenue EstimateData 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) 975-2344
E: mlrevoir@ndi-inc.org
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 7th 2013
• Part 3: Ticket to Work and Benefits Planning,
Overview of Social Security Disability Insurance
Monday, February 11th, 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) 272-7570 Ext. 136
E:knickerson@ndi-inc.org
Mary Lynn ReVoir
NDI Technical Assistance Team
P: (515) 975-2344
E: mlrevoir@ndi-inc.org