All EN Call Minutes

All EN Call Minutes

August 2, 2012

Agenda

•Welcome

•New EN RFQ

•Additions to EN Payment Status Report

•Overview of Operations Support Manager (OSM) Provider Support Structure

•Updates and Reminders

•Upcoming Call Dates

•Performance Indicators

•Assignment Confirmation Letters

•Portal and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Updates

•Portal Mandatory for Timely Progress Review (TPR) as of September 1

•Questions

Dan O’Brien/OESPwelcomed participants on behalf of Bob Williams. Mr. O’Brien indicated there will be four topics to cover in today’s call before the Q/A session.

The New RFQ

ENCT sent the new RFQ to the remaining EN to be transitioned to the blanket purchase agreement. If you have not received an email, contact . All EN must submit a proposal (pages 4 and 5 and pages 74-86).

ENCT will soon be sending the new RFQ/codicil to the EN currently under an agreement, awarded in 2011 and 2012.

• CCR/ORCA are now on the System for Award Management (SAM)

The Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and Online Representation and Certifications Application (ORCA) have merged into the System for Award Management (SAM).

• Specific Qualifications Requirements/Business Plan

EN with recent Ticket activity meet EN qualifications requirements and need not send in any additional information regarding their qualifications.

All EN must submit a business plan per the instructions in the EN Information Sheet, Part V--Section 2.Q. (pages 81-84). As indicated in the RFQ, do not send anything other than the answers to each of the following elements:

a. The requested information is about your organization, mission, accomplishments and some historical information. You can be very brief.

b. These are the services that you provide Ticket holders. Social Security will be looking for the core services.

c. If you do not anticipate changes (items 1, 2 and 3), you can indicate “not applicable”; however, you must respond to the marketing, IWP, and the short- and long-term supports sections (item 4 a-d) and to item 5.

d. Provide information about your funding stream.

e. If you are an employer EN, and if you have checked “employment” in Section 2.N. Services (page 80), you must complete all the elements in paragraph e.

f. EN with a business model that includes shared payments must complete paragraph F. Also, please review the new consumer-directed services section on page 12. Direct payments to beneficiaries are no longer permissible.

All EN must complete Section 2.V. Past Experience/Past Performance (page 86). This relates to current contracts or work outside of the Ticket program. Please include contact names and phone numbers.

Mr. Felix Stump covered the rest ofthe items in the agenda.

Additions to EN Payment Status Report

Mr. Stump said if you have not yet seen the email, this week’s EN Payment Status Report (ENPSR) contained a new and more detailed comments field. For example, if your payment was denied,the OSM is now including some more detail about why that was the case. Previously,the ENPSR included pre-coded reasons, including “insufficient earnings.”Moving forward, the ENPSR will also include comments about exactly why or how the earnings were below what is required. In addition, you will notice that the ENPSR that you receive by email was password protected. The password is the same five-digit PIN number your EN has been using with the IVR system (telephone Ticket assignability system).

If you do not know what the PIN number is, you can contact OSM on the toll free line (1-866-949-ENVR) and a Systems Help Desk Specialist can provide that to you. Please note that we will only provide the PIN number to the primary contact or the signatory authority listed in our records.

The ENPSR is also available in the Portal. As of this week, all EN have been provided a login to access the portal.OSM will continue to email the ENPSR weekly throughout August, but as of September 7, 2012,ENwill only be able to access the report through the Portal. The reason for these changes, besides just being more efficient, is that the Portal is the most secure method we can use to deliver information to EN.

OSM Provider Support Structure

OSM has aligned its efforts in three different initiatives.The initiatives are set up by OSM and Social Securityin a way that we think creates the best chance of increasing services and positive outcomes for beneficiaries to be self-sufficientand financially independent.

Those initiatives are:

1. Workforce. Wehave a team of people focused on working with EN that are within the workforce community.
2. Partnership Plus initiative, which is a team of people that work not only with the Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies (VR),but also with EN that we have identified as actively engaged with VR clients.
3. Innovative Practices. This team covers general service providers that may not fit into one of the other categories, or service providers who have developed a business model that we can take as a best practice to share with others.

There are someEN that do not fit in any of those three categories. Based on the activity levels we have seen over the past years, we have made a determination that at this point – in order for us to best use our resources –we are unable to provide this set of EN adirect one-on-one OSM point of contact. Those EN still have use of the IVR system, the Portal and information on the website. We also have email boxes where inquires can be sent, including a team at the help desk to answer payment questions. Our one-on-one capacity building resources, however, will be focused elsewhere. As we said last month, we do have the capacity for flexibility, and EN may move between initiative categories.

Updates and Reminders

Mr. Stump provided the following updates and reminders:

The next All VR Call is next week, August 14, 2012 at 3:00PM Eastern.

The next All EN PaymentsCall is August 28, 2012 at 1:00 PM Eastern.

The next All EN Call is September 6, 2012 at 3:00 PM Eastern.

Performance Indicators

This year’s performance indicator reports will be sent out to EN in September 2012.

Ticket Assignment Confirmation Letters

The OSM is now sending Ticket assignment and unassignment confirmation letters again and you should receivethem over the next several days. If you do not begin to receive those documents shortly, please let us know.

Portal and IVR Updates

There were a lot of questions and comments last month about the Portal, and more specifically, the manner in which you log into the Portal and provide dual authentication via the telephone (referred to as the phone factor tool). Felix Stump stressed again the importance of this step. The tool is a requirement based on the Federal government’s security guidelines and it is a mechanism necessary for us to create and administer an online database that contains as much PII as the Portal. Like the EN Payments Status Report password, it is an important part of the system we have created to protect the information of the clients you are serving.

Timely Progress

As of September 1, 2012, if you are going to be responding to Timely Progress Reports, you will need to use the Portal to do so. We are no longer goingto send the paper forms.This process is available on the Portal now. As of September 1, 2012, however, you will be required to log into the Portal to submit your timely progress requirements responses.

Questions and Answers

Dan O’Brien: there are a couple of questions from VR State Agencies. We need to know what problems you need help working through in the portal, and we will work on these issues one-on-one to comply with the new requirements.

The National Employment Networks Association (NENA) sent in a list of questions and they suggested we publish a frequently asked questions sheet that includes these.

A lot of questions need to be FAQs, but the question,“are all EN going to get a codicil?”we can answer here. If you already have a BPA under the new format, then you will have a codicil. If you have not come up under the new format, then you will have to come into compliance under the new rules. Most of youin the latter group got an email last week or this week. The rest of NENA questions are worthy of a FAQ sheet so we will work on that and answer any questions. If you have questions related to the RFQ, you can submit them through the text function that was sent out we will make sure those get in the FAQ as well.

Open for Q/A

Q: I know when we sign into our Portal we get a feedback phone call. Well, I cannot log into the portal while I use my phone for example talking to you now.

A: Felix Stump: You can put this call on hold and switch over, then it is something that you might not be able to do, unfortunately, unless you can dial in from a cell and then use a land line somehow.

Q: Is the whole EN Payment Status Report in the Portal or do we have to just input each specific one that we are looking for?

A: Mr. Stump: No, the whole report is there; it is titled, “Ticket Payment Status” and can be found under the Reports section.

Q:How are ENgoing to be notified that Timely Progress Reports (TPR) are due?

A: Mr. Stump:You can pull up the report within the Portal. So one way to do that:once a month, go into the TPR section of the Portal and it will tell you which of your beneficiaries for that month are due a response. We are working on an email notification that would alert you to the fact that there are X number of beneficiaries waiting for your input for TPR on the Portal. For this month, we are still using paper mailings, but as of September 2012 you will not get a paper mailing. At that point, you will need to use the Portal. You will receive an email announcement that reminds you to check your Portal account to see if your EN or VR has TPRs due.

Q: Where canI find the business plan template?

A: The template is on page 81. It runs from page 81-84. All you need to do forthe business plan is to answer those questions that are on page 81-84, that is your business plan. Social Security does not need any other information.

Q: I wanted to talk about IVR. I am getting calls from Ticket holders about part-time job or schooling, if you are going to pay for me to get certification, and they want to know about health benefits. Well we don’t have all the information as an EN. I am looking for people that are ready, willing and able to go to work. Is there any way that questions, robo calls or whatever you want to call them, could add the fact that if you are interested in Ticket to Work, call the Employment Network? Is that doable?

A:Dan O’Brien: You are talking about the automated calls that our beneficiary outreach company is making. There are two IVRs now in our world. One is the Ticket automatedresponse and the other is what you are talking about. Beneficiaries push the button and they talk to somebody at the Call Center. The Call Center should check on what this is about and if they are interested in working send them the list of EN and that is where the call is coming from. If somebody really wants schooling that is more a VR service so they should be directed more to VR. We can look at that.

Q: We are already registered in the CCR but we are not registered in ORCA, but when I went in on Monday to actually get into the system – which they have combined several components now on the SAM – do you know if we have to fill out something in addition to signing up for ORCA now or will they all be one under SAM?

A:Ms. Barcelles:We will just tell you in general what we know because this is new for us as well. It is my understanding that when you go into the SAM system you are basically asked to register in CCR and answer the ORCA questions and, as far as the

Ticket program, that is basically all that you need to do. If you have any additional problem with it just give the ENCT a call and maybe we can walk you through together.

We already have your email; we already have your information.

Q:Can we now go to the Portal for confirmation letters of Ticket assignment?

A: Mr. Stump: Yes, you can go to the Portal, but you will receive the letters as well as mentioned earlier in the call.

Q: I had a couple of cases that I looked into and it says the Ticket is InUse; normally it would only say that if it was with VRs, but it was with an EN, so parts of the Portal are working, but I still have to call my Account Manager to follow up which takes me back to why not just start there.

A: Mr. O’Brien: We are looking at individual instances that we have become aware of where the Portal is showing a status that is either outdated or that is inconsistent with what we see in the system or with what the IVR is saying. We are addressing them as they come up and in some cases it is a matter of a time delay. In other cases we found there really was a system glitch somewhere that was preventing a status from being updated in one system or another. So if you have not already done so, let us know about those specific cases where you are going into Portal and it is showing as In Use to you but it is really assigned to an EN.

Additional Questions Received Through the Chat Feature

Q: Where is the Portal login?

A: At yourtickettowork.com, the login is located at the very top of the screen. It is labeled “Sign In.”

Q: I did not receive my Portal login. Where can I get this information?

A: Please call the Systems Help Desk at 866-949-ENVR. Press 2 at the first menu and follow the prompts.

Q: I’m having trouble changing my Portal password. Can the Systems Help Desk help?

A: Yes! They can assist you. Please contact them at 866-949-ENVR. Press 2 at the first menu and follow the prompts. Please note that when you change the Portal password, the system locks the user out for one hour.This can be frustrating, but is part of the security package to ensure the data is protected.

Q: Have there been changes made to make the secure portal more effective and reliable?

Q: I have feedback/suggestions on the Portal.

A: We welcome that feedback! Yes, we are regularly using your feedback to improve the Portal. If you have specific comments, please do not hesitate to send them to .

Q: I am a new EN. Under Ticket, does the consumer choose what EN they want to work with? Does the beneficiary choose from a list of EN?

A: Both the EN and the beneficiary have the option to work with each other. The Ticket to Work program is a program of choice. Yes, the beneficiary can choose from a list; they can get this list from BASS and through the Choose Work website at

A from fellow EN: The majority of the support we provide to beneficiaries is technical support and general information about using a Ticket. It is part of our intake process.

Additional Questions Received in Writing Prior to the Call

1. Some existing ENs are already getting a codicil to implement the new requirements. Will all existing ENs be getting these? How is it determined? How are they being distributed so ENs can plan for the changes they need to make?

RESPONSE: To date, no codicils have been sent to ENs covering the terms and conditions of the new RFQ. In the near future, however, we expect to send them out to ENs already awarded EN agreements under the Blanket Purchase Agreement. We have invited ENs under contract with SSA who have not transitioned to agreements to submit new proposals under the new RFQ. The invitations went out during the period July 19-August 2, 2012.

1. The cover letter says this “RFQ represent(s) changes in the regulations.” We are not aware of any regulatory changes since 2008. What regulations does this refer to?

RESPONSE: In the cover letter, the bolded “Note” following paragraph 4 incorrectly refers to the regulations. This is a vestige from a previous RFQ that should have been deleted. We will remove it from the next version and the codicil.

1. The second bullet on Page 7 refers to “career ladder” jobs. Although it also reiterates that ENs must provide supports that “realistically enable them to leave and remain off cash benefits,” how does that relate to career ladder jobs? Please define this better. If a beneficiary wants to be a customer service rep short and long term and such employment leads to self-sufficiency, are ENs subject to sanctions because that is not a “career ladder” goal?

RESPONSE: We are referring to jobs that allow the individual to progress to the point that they leave and remain off cash benefits, as opposed to part-time or low-paying jobs for which there is no possibility of advancement, thus perpetuating the beneficiary’s cash benefits status. It is the job of the EN to assist the beneficiary in establishing goals and obtaining employment that allow him/her to progress towards self-sufficiency. For Ticket Program purposes, ENs should not assist a beneficiary in developing goals and placing them in jobs with little or no likelihood for achieving self-sufficiency.