In March it became abundantly clear that working was not option for me and I would have to go on long term disability. I'll write about that decision making process another time. It has been almost a year since I have been on disability. I finally qualified for Social Security back in October. Along with qualifying for Social Security I also qualified for the "Ticket to Work" program. They literally sent me a big postcard Ticket. So Willy Wonka. Four months later, I have finally decided to take a look into this program. This is a little long, but bear with me.
Maybe I am incredibly judgmental, or maybe I just have high expectations. But I have not been impressed so far in my short journey figuring out the Ticket to Work program.
How many steps should this take, and how many different people should I talk to for this to be effective? The first thing I did was flip through the pamphlet that came with my Ticket. It told me to go to the website for valuable information. I also notice that there was a company "MAXIMUS, Inc." that I need to call to get started. Interesting.... a third party handles all of this? Why don't I have any information from them being sent to me then?
Let's go back to my two options at this point - go to the website for Social Security or call Maximus. I did check the website and got some more information. I decided to Google Maximus before calling them. (I like to know exactly to whom I am talking). I found a website for them, apparently Maximus is aptly named. It appears to be rather large in size, handling a ton of different services for the government. I looked at more info on their website going over the Ticket to Work program. They don't have much info online geared toward the beneficiaries like me. Their barebones, ancient looking website for Ticket to Work, was targeted at getting more EN's signed up. Oh sorry, jumped into the government world there for a second. EN's are yet another group that I have to deal with at some point. These are Employment Networks. It has an entire paragraph about them on my golden ticket.
I found a list of these EN's on the Maximus website. I typed in my city and state to reach EN's that work with my area. It also states that the list will show other locations that have agreed to work in my area. Interesting, so the one that is clearly geared to Florida is really going to be able to support me all the way here in Indiana? I am already not very impressed. Then I start to click on a few here and there just to see what they are like. Hmmm, broken link to the state page for Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services, along with a few other EN's that are listed. A couple of the sites don't even seem legitimate. I'm not forking over $30K for them to help me develop my own business! These folks don't even have a decent website. Ugh, ok enough of this, let's call someone.
Hello Maximus. I finally call the number that was in the pamphlet to get started. After a while of ringing, a man who, of course, barely speaks english. And to boot, he can't seem to talk into the receiver and keeps cutting out. I know that a lot of people complain about folks not speaking english, but maybe they only have a little accent, get over it. Enjoy the accents of non-native english speakers. But, I draw the line, when they cannot speak english well. I think that the individual that I spoke to, had a limited comprehension of english as well. He took the normal information from me. And then asked me what I wanted. This kind of surprised me, as this is the number "To Get Started" with the vocational services. It should be clear what I want, right? I decided to play nice - "I need to get started with the Ticket To Work Program," I tell him nicely. And this is where we go down hill. He has a script that he is obviously reading from, hastily. I stop him from time to time to clarify what he is saying as he is mostly unintelligible. I also interjected when he got to the EN's, with "Some of those on the list do not look reliable." He just continued on, either not comprehending what I said, or ignoring.
In the end, it appears that I have to call EACH one of the EN's and decide which one is going to suit me best. I found 6 in my city out of a list of 61 that apparently work in my area. I have to find one that matches the services that I require and one that suits my disability. Seriously, a very basic drop down menu would be wonderful here.
Let's see what tomorrow brings. That's when I will start the phone calls.
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