Social Security Ticket to Work Program

Social Security’s Ticket to Work program is a voluntary program that gives people who receive SSDI or SSI access to free job training, career planning, and job placement services. It's designed to let you try going back to work without causing added stress about losing your disability benefits. For example, while you’re making timely progress toward a work goal, Social Security generally can’t start a continuing disability review to check whether you’re still disabled.

Many disability recipients worry that signing up for Ticket to Work will put their benefits at risk, so relatively few take advantage of the program, even when it makes financial sense. Participation in Ticket to Work is optional, however, and choosing not to join won’t affect your benefits. If you're thinking about returning to work even on a part-time or seasonal basis, it's important to understand how Ticket to Work operates so that you can dip your toe back into the workforce without jeopardizing your benefits. 

How Does the Ticket to Work Program Operate?

Ticket to Work expands vocational services to people receiving Social Security disability benefits through state vocational rehabilitation agencies and approved employment networks (ENs). These employment networks enter into contracts with the Social Security Administration (SSA) which allow them to collaborate to provide vocational and career resources for beneficiaries. ENs can include a combination of the following:

• state and local government agencies
• state vocational services
• private for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and
• colleges, universities, and technical schools. 

ENs work together to provide a wide range of employment support services, like vocational training, career planning, employment readiness seminars, resumé writing classes, and job placement. Some ENs specialize in providing services only to people with specific disabilities (such as developmental disabilities), while others serve all Ticket to Work participants. Other ENs are businesses that rely on the system as a means to employ people with disabilities in their own businesses. (These ENs are alternatives to the state departments of vocational rehabilitation.)

If you’re enrolled in Ticket to Work you can sign up for services with an EN or your state vocational rehabilitation department. (The SSA calls this “assigning your Ticket” to the EN or department.) These services are provided to you free of charge, and you can change ENs by withdrawing and reassigning your Ticket. Social Security pays the ENs, but only if you use their services to reduce or end your reliance on disability benefits by going back to work. ENs can accept or reject you as a client, but your state department of rehabilitation must accept you as a Ticket to Work participant as long as you meet the state’s disability criteria.

Who Is Eligible for Ticket to Work?

Most SSDI and SSI beneficiaries between ages 18 and 64 are eligible for the Ticket to Work program. But you won't be able to enroll in Ticket to Work in the following circumstances:

• You're expected to improve medically but haven’t yet had a continuing disability review. 
• You're receiving temporary benefits under the expedited reinstatement rules.
• You're only getting state supplemental SSI payments and not any federal disability benefit money.
• You're receiving Section 301 payments while participating in a state department of rehabilitation program.
• You're getting continued benefits while you appeal a medical cessation decision.
• You're receiving presumptive disability payments.

How Long Does the Ticket to Work Program Last?

The Ticket to Work program doesn't have a fixed end date—your Ticket will terminate once you're no longer eligible to participate (for example, you reach full retirement age). (20 C.F.R. §411.155 (2026).)  However, once you assign your ticket to an EN or state vocational rehabilitation department, you'll be required to make "timely progress" towards self-supporting employment. (20 C.F.R. §411.180 (2026).) That means Social Security will check in on you every 12 months to see how far along you are in your education, job training, work, or a combination of the three. The chart below shows what milestones the SSA expects to see from you each year in order to continue with the Ticket to Work program.

As you can see from the above graphic, the work and education requirements ramp up each year until you're able to engage in substantial gainful activity for about half the year (although you won't be eligible for disability benefits when you're working above SGA). And starting on your seventh certification period, you can then essentially keep up that 50/50 split until you age out of the program or begin working full-time for most of the year (instead of just half). 

Does Ticket to Work Stop Continuing Disability Reviews?

One of the benefits of pursuing a Ticket to Work program is that Social Security generally can't initiate a continuing disability review (CDR) provided you're meeting your timely progress requirements. CDRs are periodic evaluations Social Security conducts for disabled beneficiaries to make sure they're still considered disabled under the agency's rules. However, the SSA can complete any CDR that begins before you assign your Ticket. Furthermore, if you don't meet your progress requirements, you won't get kicked out of the program but you'll once again become subject to continuing disability reviews.

Will Ticket to Work Affect My SSDI or SSI Benefits?

The Ticket to Work program doesn't do away with the trial work protections for SSDI or the Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) protections for SSI. But some disability recipients believe that using the Ticket to Work program would risk their entitlement to Social Security benefits, so only a small percentage of disability recipients have taken advantage of it. For more information, check out our article on your disability benefit protections when you try returning to work.

Is Ticket to Work Worth It? 

The Ticket to Work program has many benefits and doesn't cost anything, so if you're thinking about returning to work in any capacity, it's likely a good idea to investigate joining up. If you aren't sure whether you're ready or are eligible, you might want to attend one of Social Security's online Work Seminar Incentive Events (WISE). WISE seminars are held on a regular basis, and you can participate remotely. 

Other Programs That Help Disabled People Return to Work

In addition to creating the Ticket to Work program, the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act provides additional work incentives for people receiving SSDI or SSI by:

• creating the WIPA program to provide benefits counseling
• providing the expedited reinstatement provisions
• encouraging states to make Medicaid available to people with disabilities who are working and earning up to 250% of the federal poverty level
• extending the period during which SSDI beneficiaries can receive continuing Medicare after returning to work at the SGA level
• authorizing payments to state Protection and Advocacy agencies for providing services to SSDI and SSI beneficiaries who return to work, and
• authorizing grants for work incentives planning and assistance.

For more information, see our articles about starting a small business while on SSDI and doing volunteer work while receiving disability benefits.