Allsup Employment Services
Our History Of Advocacy & A Vision For The Future
Allsup Employment Services (AES) has more than a decade of experience helping former workers with disabilities navigate Social Security’s Ticket to Work Program.
Founded in 2014 by CEO Jim Allsup, AES is a Social Security-authorized Employment Network that helps SSDI beneficiaries nationwide get back in the workforce when they are ready to do so. Jim had a vision of helping people with disabilities lead lives that are as physically and financially healthy as possible and this led to the creation of AES.
Jim’s first job out of college was working for the Social Security Administration (SSA), or what he calls “Uncle Sam’s graduate school.” Assigned to SSA field offices in Iowa and Kansas, he realized people with disabilities really needed help getting their Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and then help getting back to work when it's appropriate for them. He decided there was a better way to provide true help from outside the federal agency and he set about empowering people with disabilities.
Throughout his business career, Jim has been active on Capitol Hill.
Jim’s testimony before Congress in the mid-1990s changed the workings of federal disability benefits. Jim advocated for vocational rehabilitation and returning to work for SSDI beneficiaries. His testimony helped bring about the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999.
This law created the Ticket to Work (TTW) Program, which provides critical services to U.S. workers with disabilities, helping them return to work once they achieve medical recovery or stability. A 2024 Mathematica analysis of SSA data found that 20% of SSDI recipients are either exploring work options or actively working. In 2024, 7.2 million people were receiving SSDI and 20% or 1.4 million individuals represents a huge untapped workforce opportunity.
Today AES is fulfilling Jim’s vision: We’ve completed outreach to hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries and currently more than 15,000 individuals are actively working with a disability through AES and the TTW Program. We continue to reimagine work for our customers every day.
AES Evolves Over Time
In 2002, the Ticket to Work Program got off to a slow start. Because of this, SSA revised program regulations in 2008 to make participation more attractive to service providers known as Employment Networks, or ENs. In 2012, Jim began to review these TTW program changes to best address the vocational needs of former U.S. workers across the country.
He and his team dug into how they could best use the Ticket program to assist SSDI beneficiaries. Building on decades of specialized disability expertise, Jim and his team knew how to make Ticket to Work work for the benefit of SSDI beneficiaries who experienced medical improvement and recovery.
In 2014, AES became an SSA-authorized EN and began a quest to develop best practices in helping disability beneficiaries get back to work and leave the SSDI rolls for an improved financial future and outlook for the Social Security trust funds.
Today, AES has more than 15,000 SSDI beneficiaries actively engaged in the Ticket program. AES has conducted outreach to hundreds of thousands of SSDI beneficiaries to communicate the value of TTW. We have assessed and written Individual Work Plans for all these SSDI recipients and given them the best chance at attempting to work, as well as recognizing when their disability prevents a return to full-time employment.
Through our efforts, we encourage financial self-sufficiency, full-time employment and provide assistance to help beneficiaries avoid overpayments to the SSA.
An Eye Toward The Future:
AES & Employment Networks Growing Nationwide
Jim stands by his role in the creation of the Ticket to Work Program and continues to advocate for the untapped opportunity of people with disabilities to return to the U.S. economy through TTW.
He imagines a stronger combined benefit of SSDI and Ticket to Work, building up a better Social Security program for the 161 million U.S. workers who are insured for both disability and retirement benefits.
He strives for a bold vision that holds ENs to a high standard of service, raising the quality of assistance and solutions offered to SSDI beneficiaries. With components including national scope, enhanced technology, privacy and data management, accounting and overpayment solutions available from SSA-approved ENs, the Ticket program will finally fulfill the economic vision for American workers, resulting in a stronger foundation for the Social Security trust funds now and decades down the road.
