**Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel**

**May 11, 2006 Teleconference**

**2:00 p.m. -- 4:00 p.m. EDT**

**[Attendees]{.smallcaps}**

[Advisory Panel Members]{.underline}

Libby Child, Cheryl Bates-Harris, Frances Gracechild, Thomas Golden,
Loretta Goff, Dorothy Watson, Katie Beckett, David Miller, Torrey
Westrom, and Andrew Imparato.

[Advisory Panel Staff]{.underline}

Jill Houghton, Executive Director; Debra Tidwell-Peters, Mike Anzick,
Jenn Rigger, Tinya White-Taylor, and Pat Laird.

[Designated Federal Officer]{.underline}

Chris Silanskis

[Contractors]{.underline}

Becky Roberts, International Leadership Consulting, LLC, Dorothy
Firsching, International Leadership Consulting, LLC, and Michael Morris,
National Disability Institute and Washington DC Office of Burton Blatt
Institute Centers of Innovation on Disability.

[Audience Members]{.underline}

Sandra Beckley, Ronald Berg, Carol Brenner, Eric Bridges, Joanne Butler,
Anthony Chavez, Joseph Cordova, Linda Costarella, Eldri Ferguson, Cindy
Flom, Elizabeth Frisenda, Chris Howell, Barbara Jackson, Lori
Kauzlarich, Margaret Knoff, Donna Krause, Justine Maloney, Tim McEvoy,
Ken McGill, Carol Millikan, Jill Nelson,

Kathleen Overdiep, Alaine Perry, James Shaw.

**[Call to Order]{.smallcaps}**

Chris Silanskis, Designated Federal Officer, called the meeting to order
at approximately 2:15 pm and turned the meeting over to Meeting Chair,
David Miller.

**[Welcome Introductions and Review of the Agenda]{.smallcaps}**

David Miller began by welcoming Panel members, staff, contractors and
the public. He noted that the Panel's Chairperson, Berthy De La
Rosa-Aponte, was not able to be present and designated him to lead the
meeting in her absence. Brief introductions were made, followed by Mr.
Miller's review of the meeting procedures and agenda.

**[Business Meeting]{.smallcaps}**

**February 2006 Meeting Minutes**

The meeting began with a review of the February 2006 meeting minutes and
a motion to accept the minutes into the record. David Miller asked if
there were any corrections to the minutes. Cheryl Bates-Harris pointed
out that the overview of her report on a December 2005 Social Security
Administration (SSA) town hall meeting should be revised. It should
reflect that the meeting was beneficial and the issue she raised about
some problems BPAOs were having was later discussed with SSA.

***Motion: A motion to approve the minutes as corrected was unanimously
accepted*.**

**Congressional Briefings Report**

David Miller reported that Panel members, Berthy De La Rosa-Aponte,
Libby Child, and Katie Beckett participated in Congressional staff
briefings on March 22- 23, 2006. They provided the Congressional staff
with a report on the following:

-   February Quarterly Meeting Highlights;

-   Committee Tasks;

-   Strategic Plan and Roll-out; and

-   Update on the Ticket Evaluation.

David Miller explained that, with these briefings, the Panel expanded
its outreach to Congressional staff. In addition to the Congressional
briefing with staff from the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and
Means Committee, meetings were held with staff from the Senate Budget
and Appropriations Committees. Additionally, Libby Child and Katie
Beckett met with Congressional staff representing their states.

David Miller asked Katie Beckett and Libby Child if they had any thing
to share. Ms. Beckett thought the staff were very receptive to the work
being done by the Panel. Ms. Child added that staff asked quite a number
of questions, and she felt it was very beneficial.

**Agency Briefing Report**

David Miller reported that, in addition to meeting with Congressional
staff, Katie Beckett, Berthy De La Rosa-Aponte, and Libby Child also met
with Jim Courtney, SSA Deputy Commissioner of the Office of
Communications. The items they discussed were the structure and goals of
the Panel and the Ticket marketing and outreach plan. Both Katie and
Libby felt this was a productive meeting.

**Outreach Activities of the Panel**

[President's Committee on Intellectual Disabilities' Asset Development
Roundtable]{.underline}

Dorothy Watson attended the President's Committee on Intellectual
Disabilities' Asset Development Roundtable on March 22, 2006. This was a
one day meeting, with the purpose of exploring the availability and
accessibility of various asset development instruments. Dorothy Watson
reported that, while no recommendations were released, small groups did
explore possible solutions and federal strategies. Andy Imparato noted
that the Transformation Committee is interested in the possibility of
including an asset development component in the National Employment
Investment Policy.

**[Action Item]{.underline}: Dorothy Watson will provide Andy Imparato a
list of participants in the roundtable with a specialty in asset
development.**

[New Freedom Initiative Workgroup Meeting]{.underline}

David Miller then reported that Berthy De La Rosa-Aponte and Jill
Houghton had presented at a meeting of the Office of
Disability/Department of Health and Human Services' New Freedom
Initiative Workgroup on April 6, 2006. The focus of their presentation
was on the background of the Panel and its strategic plan and
implementation. Jill Houghton reported they had a good dialogue around
the Panel's strategic plan.

**Committee Reports**

David Miller requested committee chairpersons to give reports on recent
committee activities.

[Continuous Improvement Committee (CIC)]{.underline}

Torrey Westrom, chairperson of the Continuous Improvement Committee
(CIC), reported that, on May 4, 2006, the committee held a
teleconference with Sue Suter and staff from SSA and a representative
from CESSI about the Ticket marketing and outreach plan. Mr. Westrom
noted that Ms. Suter stated that SSA has incorporated some of the
Panel's recommendations on the Fleishman-Hillard marketing plan, which
the Panel submitted to SSA. He also reported that SSA and CESSI are
moving forward with a five-year plan and are currently working on the
outreach strategy and fine-tuning the marketing plan. Mr. Westrom
requested that the Panel receive copies of the material being developed
before the next Panel Meeting in June 2006.

Mr Westrom reported that, for the June quarterly meeting sessions on
BPAOs and Medicaid Buy-In, the committee is developing questions and
will be coordinating with the Transformation Committee. He also reported
that the committee is reviewing the need for a policy paper on how
employment rates for people with disabilities varies by state.

Torrey Westrom concluded with updates on Federal Register activity. He
reported that staff monitor the Federal Register daily, checking to see
if draft regulations, etc. are published that the Panel should be
commenting on. Panel staff also check the Federal Register to gather
background information. Torrey Westrom reported that SSA recently
published information about a new SSI Wage Reporting Demonstration
project. The committee developed questions and submitted them to SSA. Of
interest to the Panel, the May 9 Federal Register included an
announcement from the Department of Labor's Office of Disability
Employment Policy. They announced the availability of funds for a
cooperative agreement to set up a research consortium to review
structures leading to increased recruiting, hiring, retaining and
promoting of people with disabilities.

Libby Child inquired whether any in-depth marketing to employers was
included under the new marketing plan.

[Transformation Committee (TC)]{.underline}

Andy Imparato, chairperson of the Transformation Committee, reported
that the committee has been holding monthly teleconferences and that all
their efforts are moving the committee toward having a draft national
Employment Investment Policy (NEIP) by the February 2007 Panel meeting.

Mr. Imparato reported that the committee will be holding several
roundtable meetings, gathering information for development of the NEIP.
The committee held its first roundtable on March 21, 2006. Participants
were a cross-section of policy experts, along with Martin Gerry and Pam
Mazerski from SSA. Two more roundtables are planned: July 25, 2006
(Asset Development and Tax Policy), with a focus on people with
disabilities becoming economically self-sufficient, and September 7,
2006 (Health Care and Long-Term Services and Supports) designed for
people working with significant disabilities.

Andy Imparato reported that, on day 3 of the June 2006 Panel meeting,
the committee will conduct a workshop to obtain Panel members' input in
developing the framework for the NEIP. Becky Roberts, president of
International Leadership Consulting, LLC, explained that the workshop
will be structured to build on the preliminary results of the
transformation literature review and the March 21st roundtable to
continue developing a concept for the NEIP.

Andy Imparato also reported that the committee is seeking to increase
feedback by reaching out to members of Congress and other key
stakeholders. The purpose of this is to have these individuals share
their vision about the future of the Social Security disability
programs. As an example, Andy Imparato reported that Libby Child had an
opportunity to meet Tom Ridge, the former Governor of Pennsylvania and
Secretary of Homeland Security, who is now Chair of the National
Organization on Disability (N.O.D.)'s Board of Directors. Mr. Imparato
discussed the possibility of inviting Tom Ridge to participate in an
upcoming Panel meeting to share his vision regarding the employment of
people with disabilities.

Next, Frances Gracechild brought up the concept of a "universal living
wage" and its coverage in a New York Times Magazine article (January 15,
2006). She would like this included in a NEIP development discussion.

**[Action Item]{.underline}: Staff will get a copy of the article and
share with the Panel.**

[Beneficiary Voice Committee (BVC)]{.underline}

David Miller, chairperson of the Beneficiary Voice Committee (BVC),
reported that the BVC will be reaching out to a diverse group of former
and current Social Security beneficiaries to engage in dialogue
regarding the planning of the Beneficiary Summit. The BVC will begin the
dialogue with these individuals at the June meeting.

Mr. Miller wants to ensure that the Panel's other committees share their
feedback and needs from the Beneficiary Summit with the BVC. He
mentioned that the plan now is for the Summit to be held in conjunction
with the Panel's February 2007 meeting.

**[Action Item]{.underline}: Staff will make sure that this issue is
added to the agenda of upcoming teleconferences for the Continuous
Improvement Committee and the Transformation Committee.**

David Miller also explained that the BVC is looking for ways to gather
and incorporate focused beneficiary feedback. One way of doing this is
holding panels of beneficiaries to react to information presented to the
Panel during meetings. The BVC will begin this process at the June 2006
meeting with beneficiary reactor panels responding to the "Medicaid
Buy-In Update" and "Benefit Planning, Assistance and Outreach Programs:
Lessons Learned from the Past 5 Years" presentations.

David Miller said that the BVC will be reviewing SSA's process for
obtaining and incorporating beneficiary feedback. Meetings are being
scheduled with SSA's Office of Public Inquiry and Office of Quality
Performance to learn about SSA's processes.

**Year Six Annual Report**

Before beginning discussion on the Year Six Annual Report, David Miller
shared the request of Berthy De La Rosa-Aponte to acknowledge the
efforts of Panel member Dorothy Watson. She provided excellent feedback
that was very helpful in strengthening the report. David Miller then
turned the discussion of the report over to Michael Morris, Director of
the National Disability Institute and Managing Director of the
Washington DC Office of Burton Blatt Institute Centers of Innovation on
Disability, to share highlights of the revised report.

Mr. Morris described the changes made to the draft. He noted that it is
a stronger report because of the revisions.

**[Action Item]{.underline}: Staff will send Panel members a copy of
their bios to make sure the Year 6 Report includes the most current
bios.**

***Motion: The Panel passed a motion to accept the Year Six Annual
Report with corrections and updates to the biographies of Panel
members.***

**Operating Procedures**

Becky Roberts from International Leadership Consulting, LLC, led the
discussion. She noted that only minor changes were included in the draft
based on Panel comments.

***Motion: The Panel passed a motion to adopt the updated Operating
Procedures.***

**Year Seven and Year Eight Annual Report**

David Miller led a discussion about whether the Panel should have a Year
7 Interim Annual Report, a Year 8 Interim Annual Report, and a Final
Report.

***Motion: The Panel passed a motion to produce a Year 7 Interim Report
and to produce a Final Report, during their eighth year of
operations*.**

The Panel began discussing some of the potential themes for the Year 7
Report and the Final Report. Becky Roberts mentioned that it will be
important to go beyond listing the Panel's activities and instead to
share the Panel's message or story. Frances Gracechild recommended
adding Panel member quotes in boxes in the text -- like the beneficiary
quotes included in the Panel's Year 6 Report.

Thomas Golden noted the need to establish a process for gathering Panel
member input. David Miller recommended that the staff develop an action
plan -- like that used by each of the committees -- that includes action
steps for producing the reports.

**[Action Item]{.underline}: Staff will draft an action plan for
developing the Year 7 and Final Report, including seeking and
incorporating input from Panel members.**

**Other Issues**

The Panel congratulated Katie Beckett for her recent reappointment to
the Panel and discussed the fact that the terms of some members are
ending.

**[Adjournment]{.smallcaps}**

David Miller adjourned the meeting at 3:46 p.m.