The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Ticket to Work (Ticket) Program supports career development for people ages 18 through 64 who receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and/or Supplemental Security Income payments and want to work.
Connecting people with disabilities to organizations that provide employment support and job opportunities is a complex endeavor. SSA recruits, oversees, and compensates several hundred service providers who offer various types of employment support, connect beneficiaries to job opportunities and help them on their journey towards a self-supporting future. To make beneficiaries aware of these resources, the Ticket Program conducts a nationwide outreach effort, and provides a contact center (Help Line) to support beneficiaries’ needs.
Cognosante serves as the Ticket Program Manager, providing program management and customer experience expertise to create a seamless experience for providers and beneficiaries alike. Bridging intentions and outcomes, we bring all aspects of the program — from provider training to beneficiary services — together to form an integrated experience that supports all program participants. We have optimized the program in several ways.
The Ticket Program’s primary communication channel is the beneficiary-facing Help Line. Every messaging vehicle – webinars, social media, text messages, or other promotional material – directs beneficiaries to the Help Line to obtain information about support available to them.
To optimize customer service, Cognosante expanded self-service options on the Help Line Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system so beneficiaries could resolve routine inquiries after regular business hours. In addition, the team created a self-service option that referred callers to SSA directly for inquiries that were beyond the scope of the Help Line. More than 1,000 callers per month benefit from this expedited transfer to SSA personnel who are empowered to address their inquiries.Â
Through targeted outreach supported by Cognosante, 4.7 million beneficiaries learned about the Ticket Program resulting in 65,000 new program participants in 2023. Also in that year, Cognosante produced and hosted 12 successful webinars attended by more than 4,000 people, and reached 36,717 subscribers through a text messaging campaign that continues to increase subscribers by several hundred per month.
Ticket Program messages reach and engage diverse audiences through social media, blog posts, and website features highlighting real-world examples of beneficiaries’ experiences with the program. One of the beneficiary stories received a 2023 Hermes Gold Award for web creative writing and content. It profiled a beneficiary who successfully navigated a return to work after a life-changing diagnosis made it unclear what work options, if any, were available.
To achieve a citizen-centric experience, we optimized communication channels to reflect generational, geographic, gender, language, ethnic and cultural associations, and multiple disability types. The team ensures that materials, platforms, and events are accessible for individuals with disabilities. Several Help Line specialists are fluent in English and Spanish, and beneficiaries can communicate with specialists via telephone, TTY, video relay, or email.
The efforts outlined above have resulted in the following direct benefits to beneficiaries and employees of the Ticket to Work Program.