[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 175 (Friday, September 10, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55392-55393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-22611]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No. SSA-2010-0046]


Employment Network Report Card

AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA).

ACTION: Notice of Webinar and National Teleconference Call listening 
sessions--announcing two opportunities for SSA to hear public comments 
on Employment Network quality assurance, including a ticket consumer 
Employment Network Report Card.

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SUMMARY: We are soliciting the views of the public, beneficiaries, 
advocates, Employment Networks (EN), and other professionals on a key 
part of our quality assurance and performance measurement system for 
the Ticket to Work (TTW) program. An EN is a private or public entity 
that provides employment support and/or vocational rehabilitation 
services to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and 
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disabled beneficiaries who choose to 
participate in the TTW program.
    We are seeking to expand and improve the mechanism used to monitor 
and evaluate EN performance under the TTW program. We plan to 
accomplish this goal by combining a user-friendly EN Report Card, which 
contains customer satisfaction feedback, with the current 
administrative data that EN's submit annually. The EN Report Card will 
be useful to beneficiaries in making informed choices regarding their 
selection of ENs under the TTW program. We will use the findings to 
inform ENs about the service expectations of TTW beneficiaries, the 
level of satisfaction of beneficiaries who

[[Page 55393]]

have assigned tickets to the EN, and the ways that ENs may improve 
their performance under the program.

DATES: There will be two listening sessions--a Webinar and a National 
Teleconference Call in September 2010. On Monday, September 27, 2010, 
from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., we will invite Employment Networks, 
advocates, and other interested TTW program partners to participate in 
a Webinar. On Tuesday, September 28, 2010, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., we 
will invite our beneficiaries, the public, and those who cannot make 
the first date to participate in the National Teleconference Call.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bashiru Kamara, Office of Employment 
Support Programs, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security 
Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-6401, 410-965-9128, for information 
about this notice. For information on eligibility or filing for 
benefits, call our national toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213 or TTY 1-
800-325-0778, or visit our Internet site, Social Security Online, at 
http://www.socialsecurity.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the Webinar and National 
Teleconference Call is to provide a forum for us to hear the public's 
perspective on our planned means of monitoring and evaluating EN 
performance under the TTW program, including customer satisfaction with 
ENs. Since the publication of the revised TTW program regulations in 
July 2008, we have seen significant increases in the number of ENs who 
have Tickets assigned and are receiving payment for helping 
beneficiaries go to work. We have increased outreach efforts to 
disability beneficiaries in the TTW program. More beneficiaries are 
participating in the TTW program and successfully progressing in their 
employment goals.
    On an annual basis, one of the Ticket Program Managers, MAXIMUS, is 
responsible for collecting from ENs administrative data on each EN's 
performance, using a format called the Annual Performance and Outcome 
Report (APOR). This report is currently the primary EN evaluation tool. 
To expand on this effort, we will be conducting annual customer 
satisfaction surveys regarding the performance of ENs. The mechanism we 
will use to report the combined results of the customer satisfaction 
surveys and the APOR data is called the EN Report Card. In 2008, we 
tested the EN Report Card in New York with two focus groups composed of 
disability beneficiaries and their representatives. We then piloted it 
in customer satisfaction surveys with the clients of two ENs last year. 
We will be rolling out the EN Report Card in California first and then 
nationally.
    We will include the results of the EN Report Card on the 
Beneficiary Access and Support Services Web site that will be a feature 
of the new Program Manager contract. The Web site will also include a 
monitored user comments section where beneficiaries will be able to 
post comments about their experiences with ENs. We also will make the 
results of the Report Card available to the ENs.
    We invite participation in the Webinar and National Teleconference 
Call from persons who have an interest in the rules we use to 
administer the TTW program, applicants and beneficiaries, members of 
the public, advocates, and organizations that represent parties 
interested in the TTW program.
    This is not a request for written comments; comments will be 
accepted as part of the Webinar and National Teleconference Call. We 
will not respond directly to comments you send in response to this 
Notice. After we have considered all comments and suggestions made 
during the Webinar and National Teleconference Call, as well as what we 
have learned from our program experience administering the TTW program, 
we will determine whether and how we should adjust the EN Report Card.

    Dated: September 3, 2010.
Michael J. Astrue,
Commissioner of Social Security.
[FR Doc. 2010-22611 Filed 9-9-10; 8:45 am]
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