Ticket to Work Program in NJ: Eligibility, Benefits, and Providers

The Ticket to Work program in NJ is a free, voluntary Social Security Administration program that helps adults receiving SSDI or SSI prepare for work, find a job, and keep it, while protecting their disability benefits and health coverage along the way. You sign up by choosing an approved service provider in New Jersey, either the state vocational rehabilitation agency or an authorized Employment Network, and working with them on a written employment plan.1Social Security Administration. Ticket to Work – How It Works

Who Can Use It

You qualify if you are between 18 and 64 and receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) because of a disability. There is no actual paper ticket. The “ticket” is a designation on your Social Security record, and you use it by assigning it to a provider who agrees to work with you.1Social Security Administration. Ticket to Work – How It Works

What You Keep While You Work

The point of the program, for most people, is the set of protections that come with it. Earning a paycheck won’t automatically end your check or your coverage.

No Medical Review While You’re Making Progress

Social Security normally runs Continuing Disability Reviews to decide whether you still meet the medical definition of disability. If your ticket is assigned and you are making timely progress toward your work goals, you are exempt from those medical reviews.2Social Security Administration. Ticket to Work The ticket has to be assigned before a review is scheduled for the protection to apply.3Social Security Administration. Ticket Dictionary If you fall behind, the exemption pauses, and it starts again once you get back on track.

Trial Work Period (SSDI Only)

If you receive SSDI, you can test working for at least nine months while still getting your full disability check. In 2026, any month you earn more than $1,210 before taxes counts as a trial work month. The nine months don’t have to be in a row; they just have to fall inside a rolling five-year window, and there’s no earnings cap during the trial period.4Social Security Administration. Working While Disabled This rule does not apply to SSI.5Social Security Administration. Trial Work Period

Extended Period of Eligibility

After your Trial Work Period, SSDI gives you a 36-month safety window called the Extended Period of Eligibility. You get your check for any month your earnings fall below the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level. In 2026, SGA is $1,690 a month for most people and $2,830 a month if you are blind.6Social Security Administration. Substantial Gainful Activity Impairment-related work expenses and employer subsidies, such as extra paid breaks or a reduced workload, can be deducted so your effective earnings count as less.4Social Security Administration. Working While Disabled

Expedited Reinstatement

If your SSDI benefits end because of your earnings and your condition later makes it impossible to keep working, you have five years to ask for your benefits back without filing a brand-new application.7Social Security Administration. Ticket to Work FAQs

Health Coverage

SSDI recipients keep Medicare throughout the Trial Work Period and for at least 93 months after. Part A hospital coverage stays free during that stretch, and you can keep Part B by paying the standard premium.4Social Security Administration. Working While Disabled SSI recipients can hold on to Medicaid after their cash SSI payments stop under Section 1619(b), as long as earnings stay below a state limit. For New Jersey, that 2026 threshold is $63,400.8Social Security Administration. Section 1619(b) State Thresholds

How SSI Treats Earnings

SSI calculates work differently from SSDI. The first $65 of monthly earnings doesn’t count against your check, and only about half of what’s left is counted against your benefit. SSI recipients can also use Plans to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) to set aside income for a work-related goal without losing eligibility, and Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWEs) to subtract disability-related costs from countable income.7Social Security Administration. Ticket to Work FAQs

Where to Assign Your Ticket in New Jersey

You have two kinds of providers to choose from. Employment Networks (ENs) are nonprofits, employers, and agencies that handle career counseling, job placement, and ongoing workplace support. State Vocational Rehabilitation agencies focus on more intensive services like training, education, and assistive technology.9Social Security Administration. Work Site – Ticket to Work

Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (DVRS)

DVRS is the state agency inside the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and it is the main vocational rehabilitation route for Ticket to Work participants here. When you sign an Individualized Plan for Employment with DVRS, your ticket is considered “in use” with the agency. DVRS provides career counseling, vocational rehabilitation, job placement, and certified benefits planners who can walk you through how a paycheck will interact with your benefits. Everything is free.10NJ Department of Labor. DVRS Benefits and Services

Field offices operate in every county, including Hackensack, Cherry Hill, Newark, Jersey City, Trenton, New Brunswick, Paterson, and Toms River.11NJ Department of Labor. DVRS Field Offices Once a DVRS case closes, the agency can hand you off to an Employment Network for continued job retention support.10NJ Department of Labor. DVRS Benefits and Services

Employment Networks Serving New Jersey

Several ENs accept ticket assignments from NJ residents. The right fit usually depends on where you live and what kind of support you want.

  • Project HIRE, run by The Arc of New Jersey, offers career counseling, job search help, work incentives advice, financial management resources, long-term employment support, and help securing workplace accommodations. Director Colleen Collick can be reached at (732) 246-7605.12The Arc of New Jersey. Ticket to Work
  • The Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services (RCAAS) serves neurodivergent people and those with intellectual or developmental disabilities in Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset, Monmouth, and Union counties, with clinical staff, employer partnerships, and benefits counseling.13Rutgers University. RCAAS Employment Network
  • Goodwill of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey is the designated Ticket to Work provider for residents of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Union counties.14Family Resource Network. NJWINS

Other ENs may serve your area. You can search by location using the “Find Help” tool at choosework.ssa.gov or by calling the Ticket to Work Help Line.9Social Security Administration. Work Site – Ticket to Work

Free Benefits Counseling by County

Figuring out how earnings will change your SSI, SSDI, Medicare, or Medicaid is the hardest part of returning to work, and it’s where most people need outside help. The federal Work Incentive Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program funds free one-on-one counseling for working beneficiaries. In New Jersey, three organizations split the state:

  • NJWINS, operated by the Family Resource Network, covers most New Jersey counties.15NJ Council on Developmental Disabilities. Benefit Counseling
  • Goodwill of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey runs the “WORK Advocate” WIPA program for Essex, Bergen, Union, and Hudson counties. Referrals go through the Ticket to Work Help Line.15NJ Council on Developmental Disabilities. Benefit Counseling
  • Full Circle Employment Solutions serves Atlantic, Cape May, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties. Call (888) 466-2942.16Full Circle Employment Solutions. NJ-DE WIPA Brochure

WIPA counseling is free and currently delivered by phone, video, or email.15NJ Council on Developmental Disabilities. Benefit Counseling

NJ WorkAbility: A Medicaid Safety Net

NJ WorkAbility is a Medicaid Buy-In program that gives full Medicaid coverage to working New Jersey residents with disabilities. Since April 1, 2023, it no longer counts assets or a spouse’s income. You qualify if you’re 16 or older, work, live in New Jersey, and have a disability determined by SSA or the state Medical Review Team.17State of New Jersey. Employment Assistance for People With Disabilities There is no premium if your countable income (which only counts about half of your earnings) stays under 250% of the Federal Poverty Level. Above that, premiums start at $185 a month.18Disability Benefits 101 NJ. NJ WorkAbility For a Ticket to Work participant whose earnings might eventually push them off SSI-based Medicaid, WorkAbility can keep health coverage in place.

A few other state resources sit alongside the program:

Keeping Your Ticket in Good Standing

To hold on to the medical-review exemption, you have to show “timely progress” at reviews that happen roughly every 12 months. The bar rises each year, and you can meet it through work, education, or a mix.20Social Security Administration. Timely Progress Review Requirements

  • First year: three months of earnings at the Trial Work Level ($1,210/month in 2026), or 60% of a full-time course load, or earning a GED or high school diploma.
  • Second year: six months at the Trial Work Level, or 75% of a full-time course load.
  • Third year: nine months at SGA ($1,690/month), or a two-year degree, or a full academic year toward a four-year degree.
  • Fourth year: nine months at SGA, or another academic year toward a four-year degree.
  • Fifth year and after: six months of earnings high enough to stop your SSDI or SSI cash check, or continued degree progress.20Social Security Administration. Timely Progress Review Requirements

Missing a benchmark doesn’t kick you out. Your ticket stays active; only the medical-review exemption pauses until you catch up. If you disagree with a progress decision, you can ask SSA to review it within 30 days and keep your exemption while that review is pending. If health problems get in the way, you can place your ticket in “inactive status,” which stops the progress clock and suspends the exemption until you reactivate.2Social Security Administration. Ticket to Work

How to Get Started

  • Confirm eligibility by calling the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 (TTY 1-866-833-2967), open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern.21Social Security Administration. Contact Ticket to Work
  • Find providers near you with the “Find Help” tool at choosework.ssa.gov, or ask the Help Line for a list.
  • Pick a provider and assign your ticket. You’ll build an Individual Work Plan with an EN, or an Individualized Plan for Employment with DVRS, that spells out your work goal, the services the provider will give you, and your own responsibilities.22Social Security Administration. Individual Work Plan
  • Call a WIPA benefits counselor before you start earning. NJWINS, Goodwill NY/NJ, or Full Circle can walk you through your specific numbers for free.

SSA also runs free monthly Work Incentives Seminar Event (WISE) webinars. Register at choosework.ssa.gov, or text “TICKET” to 1-571-489-5292 for updates.9Social Security Administration. Work Site – Ticket to Work The program email is TicketToWork@ssa.gov.23Social Security Administration. Choose Work