Getting to Work with Assistive Technology - Implications for Assistive Technology Act Grantees: Increased Access to AT in the Work Incentives Legislation

Table of Contents

• Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (TWWIIA) of 1999 Fact Sheet
  
  
• Questions and Answers on the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999
  
  
• Implementation of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act
  
  
• Opportunities for AT Act Grantees Under the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (TWWIIA)
  
  
• TWWIIA AT Act Project Self-Assessment Checklist
  
  
• Questions and Answers about TWWIIA from the AT Act Grantees
  
  
• TWWIIA Resources

TICKET TO WORK AND WORK INCENTIVES IMPROVEMENT ACT (TWWIIA) OF 1999

Fact Sheet (from the Social Security Administration website: http://www.ssa.gov/work/factsheet.htm

President Clinton signed the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 on December 17, 1999. This new law:

• increases beneficiary choice in obtaining rehabilitation and vocational services;
• removes barriers that require people with disabilities to choose between health care coverage and work; and
• assures that more Americans with disabilities have the opportunity to participate in the workforce and lessen their dependence on public benefits.

Establishment of the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program
The program will be phased in nationally over a three-year period beginning January 1, 2001, with the first Tickets issued early in 2001. Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability beneficiaries will receive a "Ticket" they may use to obtain vocational rehabilitation (VR), employment or other support services from an approved provider of their choice. The Ticket program is voluntary.

Expanded Availability of Health Care Services
The law includes several enhancements to Medicaid and Medicare that are effective October 1, 2000. States will have the option to provide Medicaid coverage to more people ages 16-64 with disabilities who work. States will have the option to permit working individuals with incomes above 250 percent of the federal poverty level to buy in to Medicaid. The law creates a new Medicaid buy-in demonstration project to provide medical assistance to workers with impairments who are not yet too disabled to work.

The law also extends Medicare coverage for people with disabilities who return to work. It extends Part A premium-free coverage for 4 1/2 years beyond the current limit for Social Security disability beneficiaries who return to work.

Expedited Reinstatement of Benefits
Effective January 1, 2001, when a person's Social Security or Supplemental Security Income disability benefits have ended because of earnings from work, he or she would be able to request reinstatement of benefits. Beneficiaries must be unable to work because of their medical condition. They must file the request for reinstatement with Social Security within 60 months from the month of their termination. While Social Security is making a new determination, beneficiaries may receive up to six months of provisional benefits, including Medicare and Medicaid, as appropriate.

If Social Security decides that the medical condition no longer prevents the individual from working, the provisional benefits paid would not be considered an overpayment.

Continuing Disability Reviews
Effective January 1, 2001, Social Security cannot initiate a continuing disability medical review while a Social Security or SSI disability beneficiary is using a ticket. Cash benefits may be subject to termination if earnings are substantial.

Effective January 1, 2002, work activity by a Social Security disability beneficiary who has received Social Security disability benefits for at least 24 months could not be used as a basis for conducting a disability review. However, the individual would be subject to regularly scheduled medical reviews. Again, cash benefits may be subject to termination if earnings are substantial.

Work Incentives Advisory Panel
The law establishes a Work Incentives Advisory Panel within Social Security composed of 12 members appointed by the President and Congress. The Panel is to advise the Commissioner and report to Congress on implementation of the Ticket program. At least one-half of the Panel members are required to be individuals with disabilities, or representatives of individuals of disabilities, with consideration given to current or former Social Security disability beneficiaries.

Work Incentives Outreach Program
The law directs Social Security to establish a community-based work incentives planning and assistance program for the purpose of disseminating accurate information related to work incentives. Social Security will establish a program of grants, cooperative agreements or contracts to provide benefits planning and assistance, including the availability of protection and advocacy services, and outreach.

The law also directs Social Security to establish a corps of work incentives specialists within Social Security.

Protection and Advocacy
The law authorizes Social Security to make payments to protection and advocacy systems established in each state to provide information, advice, advocacy and other services to disability beneficiaries.

Demonstration Projects and Studies
The law extends Social Security Disability Insurance demonstration authority for 5 years. Under the law, Social Security is required to conduct a demonstration project to test reducing Social Security Disability Insurance benefits by $1 for each $2 that a beneficiary earns over a certain amount or amounts.

The implementation dates and locations for this demonstration will be announced.

Social Security Administration
December 1999

Questions and Answers on the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999

• What is the Ticket to Work Program?
  The Ticket Program is something new in SSA. The program will offer SSA disability beneficiaries greater choice in obtaining the services they need to help them go to work.
  
  
• When will the Ticket Program begin?
  Before we officially begin this major new program, SSA will take one year to make sure that it will operate as well as possible. Some beneficiaries will begin to receive Tickets early in 2001.
  
  
• Will the Ticket Program start everywhere at the same time?
  No. During the first year of operation, which will begin January 2001, the program will be available only in certain States. In the next couple of years, we will expand the program to other parts of the country. The program will be operating in the entire country by January 1, 2004. So, people will receive their Tickets at different times.
  
  
• How will I know where the Ticket Program is available?
  We will announce our plans in many different places where people who receive Social Security disability benefits get information about SSA, including Social Security's Internet web site, www.ssa.gov.
  
  
• What will a Ticket look like?
  The Ticket will be a paper document that will have some personal information and some general information about the Ticket Program.
  
  
• How will I get my Ticket?
  When the program begins in January 2001, we will be working with an organization the law calls a Program Manager. The Program Manager, whom we have not yet selected, will help us to manage the Ticket program. The Program Manager will help us send the Ticket in the mail with a letter explaining the program.
  
  
• Where would I take my Ticket to get services?
  You will take your Ticket to what the law calls an Employment Network. The ENs will be private organizations or public agencies that have agreed to work with Social Security to provide services under this program.
  
  
• How will I find out about the Employment Networks?
  The Program Manager will send you a list of the approved ENs in your area when we send you your Ticket. Also, some ENs may contact you to offer their services. This information also will be available on our web site and in other places.
  
  
• How will I choose an Employment Network?
  You can contact any Employment Network in your area to see if it is the right one for you. Both you and the Employment Network have to agree to work together.
  
  
• Can I change Employment Networks?
  Yes. You can stop working with one Employment Network and begin working with another one. Before you make this decision, however, you should make sure you fully understand how the Employment Network plans to help you to work.
  
  
• How can I get more information about the Ticket program now?
  Before the program begins in January 2001, you can contact Social Security:
  • You can call our toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213.
  • We will have pamphlets and other written material available at local Social Security offices.
  • Information about the Ticket program also will be available from many other private and government organizations that help people with disabilities.
  • If you have access to the Internet, you can get information from our special web site, www.ssa.gov/work.
  Beginning in January 2001, you will be able to contact the Program Manager. We will announce their toll-free telephone number, and the date they are available to answer questions.
  
  
• If I get a Ticket, do I have to use it?
  No. The Ticket Program is voluntary.

• Does the new law include changes in health care coverage?
  Yes. Starting October 1, 2000, the law extends Medicare Part A (Hospital) premium-free coverage for four and one-half years beyond the current limit for disability beneficiaries who work.
  
  
• What about Medicaid?
  The law includes several important changes to Medicaid. For example, it gives states the option of providing Medicaid coverage to more people ages 16-64 with disabilities who work.

• If I go back to work, will I automatically lose my disability benefits?
  No, the new law has not changed our work incentives rules. For more information about Social Security's work incentives you should:
  • call our toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213;
  • contact your local Social Security office; or
  • visit our special web site at www.ssa.gov/work
  
  
  
• If my disability benefits stop because I go back to work, will I have to file a new application if I can't work anymore?
  Starting January 1, 2001, if your benefits have ended because of work, you can request that we start your benefits again without having to file a new application. There are some important conditions:
  • You have to be unable to work because of your medical condition.
  • The medical condition must be the same as or related to the condition you had when we first decided that you should receive disability benefits.
  • You have to file your request to start your benefits again within 60 months of the date you were last entitled to benefits.
  
  
  
• Will I have to wait for you to make a new medical decision before I can receive benefits?
  No. We will make a new medical decision, but while we are making the decision, you can receive up to six months of temporary benefits.
  
  
• If you decide that you are unable to start my benefits again, will I have to pay back the temporary benefits?
  No.
  
  
• Will you still review my medical condition?
  Starting January 1, 2001, SSA will not review the medical condition of a person receiving disability benefits if that person is using a Ticket.
  
  Starting January 1, 2002, under certain conditions, SSA will not review the medical condition of beneficiaries who have received Social Security Disability Insurance benefits for at least 24 months.
  
  We will provide more information about medical reviews in the future.

• The Social Security Administration has created a new office, the Office of Employment Support Programs (OESP)--to serve as the focal point for improving employment services to disability beneficiaries. The Associate Commissioner of the new office, J. Kenneth McGill, is in charge of setting up this new component and developing a readiness to lead the implementation of the TWWIIA
• Contact information: ken.mcgill@ssa.gov. Web site for the new office is http://www.ssa.gov/work/
• Write to OESP at:
  SSA
  Office of Employment Support Programs
  107 Altmeyer Building
  6401 Security Boulevard
  Baltimore, MD 21235
  Phone: Reggie Sajauskas at (410) 965-5381
  Fax: (410) 966-8597

In January 2000, SSA’s OESP office published a Redbook on Work Incentives: A Summary Guide to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income Work Incentives for People with Disabilities. Social Security Administration, SSA Pub. No. 64-030 ICN 436900. The Redbook is available online in both text and pdf formats.
http://www.ssa.gov/work/workincentives.htm

It is intended to serve as a general reference source about the employment-related provisions of Social Security Disability Insurance and the Supplemental Security Income programs for educators, advocates, rehabilitation professionals, and counselors who serve people with disabilities. The guide also includes some case examples of various SSDI and SSI work incentives along with timelines of eligibility. The guide does not mention "assistive technology" specifically, but includes examples of Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE), such as the cost of structural or operational modifications to your vehicle needed to travel to work, and wheelchairs, One-handed typewriters, typing aids (e.g., page-turning devices), measuring instruments, reading aids for visual impairments, electronic visual aids, Braille devices, telecommunications devices for hearing impairments and special work tools.

The TWWIIA presents a number of exciting opportunities for AT Act projects in programmatic involvement and in funding.

To address these opportunities, three key points must be reviewed. First, TWWIIA creates and empowers a whole new set of participants in the vocational rehabilitation process. Second, TWWIIA creates new funding streams and new kinds of financial incentives for participants in the rehabilitation and job placement process. Third, the role of assistive technology (AT) in the vocational aspirations of people with disabilities, while remaining centrally important, is not addressed with much specificity by TWWIIA.

Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Programs and Others. Among the institutions empowered and funded under TWWIIA, some are familiar and some are new. The AT Act projects are all familiar with state P&A programs, but these programs have an important new role and significant new funding under TWWIIA. They, along with other entities providing technical assistance, benefits counseling, and related monitoring activities, will play a critical role on what could be called the consumer side of the equation. To a significant degree, the work of these entities will determine whether people with disabilities are successful in negotiating the perilous complexities of work incentives and disincentives that make up the law.

The work of these entities will also be important to assist ENs in effectively conducting their job. From the standpoint of assisting job seekers or ENs, or both, AT Act projects are well positioned to play a major role.

Employment Networks (ENs).ENs is a new concept under the Act. Essentially these networks are the various groupings of contractors who will be created or who will come together to provide vocational services to ticket holders (SSI or SSDI beneficiaries) participating in the program. Since ticket holders are free to obtain vocational services from any eligible employment network, the likelihood is that there will be considerable competition among ENs for ticket holders’ business. But just as competition among managed care providers in the health field does not ensure comprehensive service, the structure within which ENs will work does not guarantee that AT will be fully utilized.

Two barriers exist to maximize the use of AT. First, AT services and resources for evaluation, selection, interface of appropriate devices and systems, training, and technical support are all too scarce. If TWWIIA results in any appreciable increase in the number of people seeking or needing AT in order to pursue vocational goals, this scarcity may become an even greater problem, at least in the short-term. Obviously, AT Act projects can be a major resource in this area.

To the extent they can provide expertise and point the way to other resources, they can play a critical role in making AT available to ENs and to those the networks serve.

Employment Networks. The second barrier to effective utilization of AT by the ENs under TWWIIA is potentially even more serious. TWWIIA uses funding models to compensate service providers that again are reminiscent of managed care. The amount of money that ENs can receive for their work with any individual, while it will vary depending on how long they work with the individual and, of course, depending on the outcome of that work, is not subject to significant increase for work with program participants who need costly or complicated services.

So putting a project in the position of an EN, who would a project rather serve for the same money: someone who needs assistive technology in order to work at highest potential or even at all, or someone who needs little or no technology for evaluation, training or placement?

Working with or as part of ENs, AT Acts can once more make all the difference. To whatever extent they can facilitate appropriate technology inputs at the lowest possible cost, they can contribute immeasurably to the ability and willingness of EN partners to incorporate AT into their services and to reach out to ticket holders who want and need AT.

Financial Self Interest. Obviously, AT Act projects will expect to be paid for their expertise and their work, whether they participate on the consumer side of the equation, the provider end, or both. Numerous approaches to this type of financial participation are available. AT Acts can work on a fee-for-service basis, under retainer agreements, as subcontractors (with or without outcome-based payment differentials), and under a host of other models. How a particular AT Act project will finance and, in turn, be financed by its participation in one or more TWWIIA program components or funding streams will depend upon many factors including the project’s overall approach to funding and its status as a public or nonprofit entity.

State VR Agencies. Because 15 AT Act projects are affiliated with or housed in state vocational rehabilitation agencies, and because many others work closely with such agencies, unique opportunities are available to these projects under TWWIIA. TWWIIA does not change the basic VR program, but it does present state VR agencies with new opportunities such as authorization to provide services under the TWWIIA model if they wish. AT Act projects will vary in their response to this opportunity, but the role of AT may be as important as any other single factor in VR agencies’ decisions on how to proceed.

Why? TWWIIA provides a very different reimbursement structure and timetable than traditional VR. Most state agencies that review this reimbursement structure are likely to decide that providing certain services under the TWWIIA model and other services (including AT) under the traditional VR model will be the approach that makes the most sense. Integrating the two program models, especially where AT is concerned, will be neither simple nor easy. Affiliated AT Act projects are likely to be in a good position to play a facilitating role.

Technology Acquisition. Even after AT Act projects have done all they can to assist ENs and state VR agencies to make the greatest possible use of AT, and even after they have worked with the P&As to ensure that every opportunity for using work incentives to obtain work-related AT has been taken, one grimly inescapable fact remains. There will not be enough money in the system to meet the AT funding needs of all beneficiaries who participate in TWWIIA. For this reason, the expertise and experience of AT Act projects in technology funding will become even more valuable than before.

Two important consequences flow from this fact. First, there may be opportunities of getting paid for funding expertise that did not exist before. ENs that cannot or do not choose to fund technology may be eager to find additional funding sources. Moreover, since the ticket holder may be fully aware that AT provision is not an automatic part of the service purchased with the ticket, the law does not prevent ENs and ticket holders from reaching out for such additional funding.

Second, the leverage value of allowing beneficiaries to maintain Medicare or Medicaid while working may be far greater than widely supposed. This is so because Medicare and Medicaid, in addition to providing health insurance, are important potential funding sources for AT.

The last several years have been a time of major advocacy and encouraging successes in establishing the principle that these publicly sponsored health insurance programs have a role in the provision of AT. The key conceptual barrier to using these insurance programs, as a source of funding under TWWIIA, is that the equipment TWWIIA participants seek is work-related equipment, while these medical programs are not designed or available to meet vocational needs. State AT projects can help bridge this gap by providing program participants and AT advocates with the understanding that functional considerations often transcend the distinctions between so-called medical and vocational objectives. Those who are familiar with AT can help make the case that even the most traditional medical definitions of improvement or of therapeutic benefit can be stated and restated in the functional terms that so often describe what AT does.

A project’s expertise in developing justifications, knowing how to document need, identifying evaluators, assessing cost effectiveness and determining appropriateness (to name but a few of the skills AT projects have) can likewise prove useful in the efforts of beneficiaries, ENs, and advocates to access a broad range of other potential AT funding sources. Having done this sort of work and amassed this sort of expertise over a decade, it is high time that your skills receive the appreciation they deserve. The decision to market and package those skills in a way understandable and responsive to the needs and the situation of the participants in the TWWIIA environment is the choice of the AT Act project.

Finally, TWIIA is not very specific about the range of services that ENs will provide. It is expected that some requirement will emerge in SSA’s regulations. However, it is also likely that ENs and job seekers will have an opportunity to negotiate the content of services. What is important here for the AT community is that SSI/SSDI recipients will have no guarantees that the average participating EN can or will provide a level of AT services. Therefore, the AT Act projects may find an important new dimension for their consumer outreach in identifying and describing the kinds of AT services that various networks are prepared to offer.

Should your project decide to meet and respond to the TWWIIA opportunities, your project may wish to address the following questions:

1. What level of priority will our project assign to TWWIIA opportunities?

___ High

___ Medium

___ Low

2. Will the TWWIIA opportunity plan be part of an overall sustainability strategy for our project?

___ Yes ___ No

3. What part of the TWWIIA can our project participate in and achieve the best results?

___ General technical assistance (education, staff training, I&R)

___ New ENs

___ Monitoring activities and performance networks

___ Specialized technical assistance (job analysis, worksite assessment, etc.)

___ Direct service providers

___ Interagency coordination with other private/public entities

4. What resources or contacts does our project currently have to undertake the technical assistance, consulting services, direct services, or coordination parts of TWWIIA or that can be leveraged for best results?

List specific resources

___ Technical assistance ____________________________________

___ Consulting services ____________________________________

___ Direct services ______________________________________

___ Interagency coordination _________________________________

___ Others _____________________________________

5. If no resources are currently available, does our project have a plan to develop these resources? If so, what resources or contacts will our project develop?

___ Technical assistance ____________________________________

___ Consulting services ____________________________________

___ Direct services ____________________________________

___ Interagency coordination _________________________________

___ Others

 

6. What individuals or networks does our project currently work with who are already involved or will be involved with implementation of the TWWIIA?

List Names & Contact Information

___ VR officials ____________________________________

___ One-Stop Center officials ____________________________________

___ Workforce Investment Act officials ______________________________

___ Others ____________________________________

7. What advisory tools will our project use to evaluate the efficacy of our TWWIIA efforts?

___ Consumer-controlled management structure

___ Other advisory monitoring and evaluation structures such as ___________

________________________________________________________

8. What will our project use as criteria for measuring its outcomes for TWWIIA opportunities?

___ Total number of individuals with disabilities served through TWWIIA

___ Number of technical assistance activities for TWWIIA

___ Number of trainings and trainees

___ Number of interagency TWWIIA collaborations generated

___ Number of TWWIIA job analyses/worksite assessments

___ Income generated for the project through TWWIIA opportunities

9. Is our project able to ensure the accessibility of the facilities that we may use in TWWIIA activities?
10. Is our project able to ensure the accessibility of all information resources that we

may offer in TWWIIA activities?

___ Yes ___ No

11. What marketing plan, if any, will our project implement to advertise our involvement with TWWIIA initiatives?

In its second report recommended that the Department of Labor develop a proposal for consideration in the FY 2001 budget process for an Office of Disability Policy, Evaluation and Technical Assistance (ODPET) to be headed by an Assistant Secretary of Labor.

The Office of Disability Policy, Evaluation and Technical Assistance will provide a long-term, permanent force to continue the work needed to ensure that persons with disabilities are integrated into mainstream employment and training programs within the Labor Department. The Presidential Task Force would continue to be responsible in the short-term for developing, refining, and monitoring the implementation of an aggressive, national employment strategy for persons with disabilities.

Pursuant to this recommendation, the DOL’s FY 2001 budget includes $43 million to address barriers that keep adults with disabilities out of the workforce by establishing the Office of Disability Policy, Evaluation and Technical Assistance within the Labor Department and improving access for adults with disabilities to employment services offered through the one-stop system.

The FY 2001 budget includes $20.556 million and 47 FTE’s for the Office of Disability Policy, Evaluation and Technical Assistance (ODPET). ODPET’S mission will be to implement a sustained, coordinated and aggressive strategy to eliminate barriers to employment for people with disabilities that result in meaningful employment opportunities and increase the employment rate of individuals with disabilities. (This office will subsume the President’s Committee on Employment of Adults with Disabilities).

First year activities will be to provide technical assistance for developing physical and programmatic accessibility for people with disabilities through the resources and opportunities provided by the One-Stop Career Centers (created under the Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (WIA), including work incentive grants to help people with disabilities enter or re-enter the workforce.

The FY 2001 Budget also continues the competitive grants enacted in FY 2000, $20 million annually to be awarded, by DOL to partnerships of organizations to provide incentives for broader systems—building efforts involving coordinated service delivery through, and linkages across, the One-Stop Career Center system established under Title I of WIA of 1998.

Other Department of Labor resources, listed on the RESNA Technical Assistance Project website, focusing on coordination and partnership of WIA activities and TWWIIA activities are:

http://usworkforce.org/--This is a gateway site for information on the Work Force Improvement Act. It is designed to provide answers to current and emerging questions about the implementation of the Workforce Investment Act. It represents an unprecedented collaboration between public and private sector groups and individuals to provide access to workforce information and resources and to apply that information toward innovative and effective partnerships and programs.

http://www.ttrc.doleta.gov – This link is the main website for the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration.

http://www.ttrc.doleta.gov/onestop/--The link for DOL’s One Stop Centers.

Rehabilitation Services Administration

In December 1999, RSA issued an Information Memorandum.

RSA-IM-00-09, http://usworkforce.org/resources/rehab-mou.htm, to State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies (general) State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies (blind); State Rehabilitation Councils; Client Assistance Programs; Protection & Advocacy of Individual Rights Programs; Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education Programs, American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Programs; RSA senior management team, which was a Guide for Developing Memoranda Of Understanding with Local Workforce Investment Boards as Required by the Workforce Investment Act. The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) requires the local board, with the agreement of the chief local official, to develop and enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) concerning the operation of the one-stop delivery system in the local area. The Guide specifically states that it is recommended that MOU’s (See Section 101(a)(11)(i)(II) of the Act) ". . . may provide for the promotion of equal, effective and meaningful participation by individuals with disabilities…through program accessibility…reasonable accommodations, auxiliary aids and services…and rehabilitation technology."

If you have any questions concerning the MOU Guide, please call Ms. Roseann Ashby, Chief of Basic State Grants Branch, at 202-205-8719 or Mr. Charles Sadler at 202-205-9286.

A chart of the status of the State Plans under WIA is available at:
http://usworkforce.org/asp/planstatus.asp

SSA is also working with HCFA, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to identify beneficiaries who will be eligible for the extension of Medicare entitlement in October 2000, and will notify these beneficiaries of their right to this extended entitlement. They are also working with HCFA to assist in their development of policies and grants to the states for increased Medicaid entitlement for persons with disabilities who are working to identify beneficiaries.

How can Tech project service integrate into TWWIIA? And possible financial support for services?

See the RESNA TWWIIA Self-Assessment Checklist above.

Both of these questions concern how beneficiaries will be assured that they can continue to receive through the use of the ticket rehabilitation technology or assistive technology services that were and are available thru VR. In analyzing these two questions, there is both a short term and long term answer.

Long term –

The Commission is required to periodically review both payment systems and may alter the percentages, milestones, or payment periods to ensure that ENs have adequate incentives to assist beneficiaries in entering the workforce. Additionally, the Commissioner is required to submit a report to Congress with recommendations for methods to adjust payment rates to ensure adequate incentives for the provision of services to individuals with special needs (including people who work below minimum wage, who require ongoing supports and services, who require higher-cost accommodations, and who receive partial cash benefits, such as SSI).

Short-term -

The new law also gives SSA the authority for five years to conduct demonstration projects to improve Title II work incentives. In particular, the new law requires SSA to conduct a demonstration to evaluate the effects of withholding $1 of Social Security disability benefits for every $2 a beneficiary earns over a specified level. SSA is also authorized to conduct other demonstrations or studies of work incentives for beneficiaries. The new law requires SSA to submit periodic reports to Congress regarding the progress and effectiveness of these demonstration projects.

Chart of the Status of the State Plans under WIA
http://usworkforce.org/asp/planstatus.asp

RSA’s December 1999 Information Memorandum.
http://usworkforce.org/resources/rehab-mou.htm

RSA-IM-00-09, to State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies (general) State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies (blind); State Rehabilitation Councils; Client Assistance Programs; Protection & Advocacy of Individual Rights Programs; Regional Rehabilitation Continuing Education Programs, American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Programs; RSA senior management team, which was a Guide for Developing Memoranda Of Understanding with Local Workforce Investment Boards as Required by the Workforce Investment Act.

DOL’s Employment and Training Administration
http://www.ttrc.doleta.gov

DOL’s One Stop Centers
http://www.ttrc.doleta.gov/onestop/

Social Security Administration’s Gateway Site for Information on the Work Force Improvement Act
http://usworkforce.org/

Designed to provide answers to current and emerging questions about the implementation of the Workforce Investment Act. It represents an unprecedented collaboration between public and private sector groups and individuals to provide access to workforce information and resources and to apply that information toward innovative and effective partnerships and programs.

Social Security Administration Fact Sheet on TWWIIA
http://www.ssa.gov/work/factsheet.htm

Social Security Administration’s Office of Employment Support Programs (OESP) office Redbook on Work Incentives: A Summary Guide to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income Work Incentives for People with Disabilities. Social Security Administration, SSA Pub. No. 64-030 ICN 436900. The Redbook is available online in both text and pdf formats.
http://www.ssa.gov/work/ResourcesToolkit/redbook.html

Medicare Coverage Expands For Beneficiaries With Disabilities

Many disability beneficiaries may no longer have to decide between working or keeping the health care coverage they need. Social Security beneficiaries with disabilities who are working, or thinking about working, may be eligible for expanded Medicare coverage. The coverage increases from 39 to 93 months after the end of the trial work period. http://www.ssa.gov/work/ResourcesToolkit/Health/qaextendcare.html

"Re-charting the Course - If Not Now When?" Report from the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities, November 1999.
http://www.dol.gov/dol/_sec/public/programs/ptfead/1999rpt/index.htm

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