The Ticket to Work Program and Beneficiaries With Blindness or Low Vision

Abstract

Using Social Security Administration data, the author evaluated the characteristics of beneficiaries who were blind and visually impaired and who assigned their tickets, the characteristics of beneficiaries who assigned their tickets to employment networks (ENs), and preliminary employment outcomes. The characteristics that predicted assignment of a ticket were younger age, higher education level, no additional disability, receipt of social security disability insurance, and African American or White race/ethnicity. The only substantial predictor of assignment of a ticket to an EN was race/ethnicity, with all minority groups more likely to assign to ENs than were White beneficiaries. Differences in employment outcomes based on assignment to an EN versus a state vocational rehabilitation agency were found, with preliminary evidence favoring outcomes for beneficiaries served by ENs.