Experiences of State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies with the Ticket to Work Program.

The authors examined administrative data from the SSA and the Rehabilitation Services Administration and conducted site visits and telephone interviews with SVRA officials in 25 states as part of a five-year evaluation of the TTW program. The recession of 2001-2002, along with recent financial constraints resulting from increased service demand and shrinking state budgets, has negatively affected implementation. SVRAs have spent significant time and energy implementing TTW, particularly assigning Tickets with little apparent benefit to their clients, according to SVRA officials. They also expressed concerns about conflicts between the necessity to obtain Ticket assignments from new and existing clients to receive SSA payments under the traditional cost reimbursement system and the requirements to provide maximum consumer choice under the Rehabilitation Act. New draft regulations rescind this requirement, and it remains to be seen what the future role of SVRAs will be.