WIPA Training for AWICs – Session 4
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Eastern
Trainers: Becky Banks & Connie Ferrell
Transcript
Operator:
This is Conference ID:
27682903.
Good afternoon, my name is (Angel) and I will be your conference operator
today. At this time I would like to welcome everyone to the WIPA training
for AWIC's Session 4. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any
background noise.
After the speakers remarks there will be a question and answer session. If
you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star then the
number 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press the
pound key. Thank you. (Terry), you may begin your conference.
(Terry): Good afternoon again everybody. This is the fourth what does a WIPA do kind of
training that we're doing with the office of research demonstration
employment support at headquarters. And we've gotten some very good
evaluations and some very good comments and I'm really grateful that
you've all participated and hope that you look forward to this last session.
I'm going to pass you over to (Susan O'Mara) from VCU. (Susan).
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(Susan O'Mara): OK, thank you (Terry) and welcome everyone to our last session in the series
this afternoon. We are going to be talking about several different things in
the presentation today including the CWIC's role in providing effective
information and referral and intensive WIPA services. We're going to touch
on developing benefits summary and analysis reports as well as work
incentive plans, and we'll also be discussing WIPA follow up services and
proactive benefits and work incentives management.
As with the previous sessions, we're scheduled to go until 4 pm eastern
today and we'll be breaking during this time for questions and answers just
(like) we have in the first three sessions. You should have two handouts for
today's session including the PowerPoint presentation and one resource
document. It's the sample benefits summary and analysis or BSA and WIP
work incentive plan document.
If you need us to resend these documents or you're having any difficulty with
them you can certainly email or call (Julie Schall) and I bet you probably have
her contact information memorized at this point. But just in case, (Julie's)
phone number is 804-827-0741. And her email is jaschall S-C-H-A-LL@vcu.edu.
Once again following the call today we're going to be sending an email with a
link to an online training evaluation form. And as (Terry) noted, the feedback
you all have been providing us is just wonderful so we really appreciate you
taking the time to do that. And so we'd appreciate it one more time after
today's session. And also use that form to submit any additional questions
that you may have.
Since this is the last session, I do want to say that we can certainly you know
if something comes up next week if you think of another session, we are
certainly happy to answer any questions. And (Terry) you may want those
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questions directed to you instead but you know we're certainly happy to
continue dialogue and you know responding to any questions that you may
have.
Our presenters for this session today are Connie Ferrell and (Becky Banks).
And for those of you who participated in session one, you'll probably
recognize their voices because they were the trainers for the first session we
conducted. Both Connie and (Becky) are senior training and technical
assistance specialists with our national training center team. Connie has a
lead role in our CWIC initial training and certification (effort) and (Becky) is
the technical assistance liaison for WIPA projects in Social Security region
four.
So at this point, I'm going to turn the floor over to Connie who is our first
speaker today. Connie.
Connie Ferrell:
Thank you (Susan). Hello. I'm happy to be here with you again for this last of
the series of the informational calls. As (Susan) mentioned, (Becky) and I did
the first session and so, what you'll find is that there is a little bit of repeat in
the first half of this session just to kind of rethink our memories a little bit
about some pieces that we covered and then also to give you a little more
detail.
In this presentation today we're going to be discussing the four processes
involved in WIPA service delivery, and slide two of your PowerPoint
presentation lists those four processes. So let's take a look at those. The
work of the CWIC when they are working with an individual beneficiary
involves these steps in kind of a linear fashion if you will.
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Preparing for individualized WIPA services; so they don't just jump in and
start giving information when someone calls, instead they start with the
process of information gathering then verifying benefits. Using BPQY is a
major source of this. Then resolving any issues that are brought up by the
beneficiary or identified in the verification. Sometimes that part right there
takes a little bit of time of kind of clarifying and dealing with issues and
getting records straight et cetera, communicating with the local field office
and the AWIC is needed in order to address these issues.
Now those first two parts of the process I'm going to be talking with you
about in a little bit more detail here first half hour to an hour. And then once
those pieces are done, that CWIC moves right into providing individualized
information and support to the beneficiary which will involve developing the
benefits summary and analysis reports which we call BS&A for short, and
developing work incentive plans which we call WIP for short. And then
providing individualized WIPA services and ongoing follow up for as long as
the individual wants it and needs it.
So now that we've looked at what those four are, we are going to go ahead
and move ahead. That next slide really just kind of reiterates those same
points that I just made so I'm not going to go back to those right now
because we did cover those before in one of the previous sessions. So what I
want to do is move us along.
Slide five you'll see is just a reminder of the WIPA eligibility criteria. If you
remember we covered those in detail in session one. Actually you all had
some great questions about the WIPA eligibility criteria and hopefully
everyone got their questions answered. We also covered slide six in session
one. It was the slide as you see about the two types of WIPA services;
information and referral and intensive services.
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And I talked mostly about information and referral and about how when
someone calls in and has a question sometimes you can kind of spot that this
person's going to need intensive services. Other times a person really
doesn't want that (answered) or they may need a referral to another source.
And if you remember we talked about sometimes where actually at that
point that CWIC may actually be referring the individual to the call center
line, to the help line. And so the biggest portion of the time that CWICs
spend with beneficiaries is in providing those intensive services that are the
ones that we're going to be talking about today.
Also, slide seven is just a review because we covered that slide in session one
as well. But we wanted you to have those here because they fit in trying to
understand kind of the linear process of what happens from the very first
contact with the beneficiary forward, OK. But now let's look on slide eight
because that's where we get into some new material that we haven't
covered yet in any of these presentations.
So let's look at slide eight. And in order to know what type of service to
provide that beneficiary that's going to get intensive services and how
quickly those services are needed, the CWIC generally is going to ask a series
of questions of the beneficiary. Some of those questions are listed here on
this slide so let's just look at them for a minute.
Some of the types of questions that are used for determining priority; are
you currently working or actively seeking employment? Do you have a job
offer pending or are you on the brink of starting a small business or
otherwise becoming self employed? If the answer to either one of those two
is yes, this person's a super high number one priority for receiving services
and receiving them fairly quickly.
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Another question might be, are you actively seeking a job or working to start
a small business? So in this case you don't have somebody right on the brink
of employment or already in it but they are – they are job developing, they
are putting out applications or they are starting the process of starting that
business. So they would be kind of a second priority if you will. It's still very
important that they get the information that they need but we may have a
little more time to get to them if case loads are real busy.
The next couple of questions are, are you preparing for work in any way and
of course how? Have you take any steps to start pursuing employment?
Here while we have a person who's not already working or not actively
seeking employment, we're trying to find out are they doing anything to
move towards work. So we call that the preparation phase. Again, that may
be an ideal time to begin giving the person information about the effect of
employment on benefits but we may have a little bit of time to get to that
person.
And then if none of those are the case for this individual we move to the
questions; are you seriously considering pursuing paid employment or self
employment in the near future? Or do you have any interest in finding out
how paid employment or self employment might affect your benefits? And
so in some cases a person isn't doing anything yet about going to work but
what we're trying to do is find out you know are they – are they seriously
considering?
Are they contemplating employment? Are they trying to picture themselves
moving into employment and are they needing this piece – this information
about work incentives in order to make a decision to move into preparation
or job seeking et cetera? Again these folks are lower priority. Doesn't mean
that they're not going to get services but they're lower priority. And these
also are ideal candidates for the help line as well as for WIPA CWICs.
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So let's look at slide nine which lists some of the important points to
remember in this service determination process that I've just been speaking
about. The beneficiary as we know does not have to be employed in order to
get services from the WIPA. They don't have to have a job offer or be
actively engaged in return to work effort to be eligible, OK because
remember what we talked about with eligibility. But they may be lower
priority depending on how far away or how close they are to engaging in
employment.
The beneficiary may need assistance with non-employment related needs if
she or he is also employed or pursuing employment or interested in
employment. So in some cases, CWICs will get a call from someone who's
employed and maybe there's an effect of the employment on something else
that's going on in their lives. For instance what we see many times is that an
individual may be living at home with mum and dad and then they get into a
job and now they have some income coming in. Mum and dad are pushing
them to pay some on the rent or they may be going to move out into their
own place.
And so the individual may at that point not really so much need answers
around work incentives but may need some information on, well how is my
change in living circumstance going to affect my benefits at all? So, CWICs
are prepared to help individuals who are employed or pursuing employment
with those kinds of questions as well. And to help them to know to be if
they're on SSI to be sure and report any changes in living circumstances as
soon as possible to Social Security administration; a change in income
support arrangements et cetera.
The beneficiary may be receiving other federal benefits in addition to
receiving or having been approved for Social Security benefits. And so in
some cases the individual who's going to work is already working may have a
pretty good understanding about how their Social Security benefits are going
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to be affected because maybe they got their questions answered for the
most part on that. But they may have need for support or answers to
questions around how working is going to affect their other federal benefits.
Many of the other federal benefit programs it's not as clear, there's not as
much real specific information available to the individual beneficiary in terms
of the effect of employment on their benefits. And so often the CWIC finds
themselves helping with those kinds of issues.
Even individuals that are in (1619b) status or entitled to suspension during
(EPE) are good candidates for WIPA services because those individuals you
know life changes all the time. There may be a person that's in (1619b)
status that's up for a big raise and they're needing some counseling around
at what point they would hit the state annual income threshold for (1619b),
and how to go about if appropriate requesting that Social Security
administration do an analysis of an individualized threshold. Or this may be
the time that they need to look into their Medicaid buy in in their state.
With the Title II suspension candidate that's in the (EPE), depending on
whether they're getting close to their (EPE) that's a perfect time for a CWIC
to be reengaging with or engaging with the individual because they're about
to hit another touch point. As they finish that (EPE) and if they're over (SGA)
as you know, they're going to – their case file's going to get closed. And
that's the point at which the CWIC is needed to kind of go back over or go
ahead and start talking about the (EXR) process should it come into play and
the extended period of Medicare coverage. So individuals with a recent
decision of (SGA) are always a high priority for getting services when it looks
like from what we can see probably they're nearing (SGA) level or they've
gotten notice from Social Security administration that an (SGA) decision's
been made. That's a time when many times we get a first call or another call
from an individual a beneficiary to the CWIC.
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So in summary let's look on slide 10. All beneficiaries are not equal in terms
of (presenting) needs. As I covered in session one, CWICs don't just take
people in first come first served kind of priority. They look at what's the
need, how pressing is the issue, what's the depth of the need for information
of this individual? So the CWIC has to conduct kind of like a triage if you will.
And when they're doing that determinations are being made as to how close
the needs are to the mission of the WIPA which includes increasing numbers
of Social Security beneficiaries working, supporting the beneficiaries that are
working in maintaining employment and providing work incentives
assistance that enables increased self sufficiency. So, CWICs determine that
level of priority and services provided based on decisions of the WIPA. The
next slide summarizes this. So let's look at slide seven – 11 excuse me.
What we've been talking about here is looking at importance and urgency
associated with the (presenting) needs of an individual. The importance of a
(presenting) need is directly related to where that individual is on that
employment continuum. You know I just mentioned that you got people
who are already employed or getting ready to be any minute now. Then
that's the – that's on one end of the continuum. Just short of that are people
looking for a job, then sometimes people aren't there yet but they are
preparing for employment.
And on the other end of the continuum are people who are in what we call
the contemplative stage. They're just thinking about going to work at some
point. Sometimes very seriously thinking about it, sometimes just with a
little bit of curiosity.
So low importance is if the individual's either not really considering
employment or they're in the contemplative stage. That doesn't mean they
don't get services, it just means that they might not get a full range of
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services at that point in time. This may be a person who just gets
information and a referral at this point. This person may be getting a packet
with some little flyers and some general information and then asked – and
then told to call back if they need more information later.
On the other hand if this is an individual who is right up on that high end of
that employment continuum, that's considered to be high importance. That
preparatory stage, the job search stage, the employment stage. That
person's needing that work incentive information that applies directly to
their case. They need it now and in some cases they needed it yesterday.
So that brings us to the issue of urgency. Urgency relates to issues that are
pressing. So for instance if a person's in a preparatory stage, they may be
trying to think six months down the road I'm hoping to be in a job so what do
I need to know? Again, you may be able to wait a couple of weeks to book
that person in terms of having you know a more intensive session to talk
about work incentives et cetera.
But if an individual's calling I already have a job, I've had a job for about a
month and it just occurred to me maybe I should have told Social Security.
Or I've got a job offer and I don't know whether to tell them yes or no
because I'm not sure how it's going to affect my benefits. Those are
considered to be very urgent calls. And so one of the things that CWICs are
always looking to do is to keep a little open time in their schedule each week
because when you have a person who has a need that's highly important and
highly urgent, we want to be able to get to them just as quickly as possible.
So as you see, it can't be a first come first served kind of situation when all
people's needs are not the same.
Let's look on slide 12. And there you see the types of issues that the CWIC
has to look at in determining what type of service delivery they're going to
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offer now that they've determined this person definitely needs intensive
services. And the first is just what is that type and intensity of servicing
need? Do they need full blown individualized work incentives counseling?
Or if they haven't established an employment goal yet maybe what they're
needing is pretty good solid work incentive summary information but until
they have a work goal they're not ready for individualized work incentive
counseling. (Becky) will be talking a good bit more about that in the second
half of this call.
The second thing that the CWIC is looking at is the service method. Is this an
individual that we need to meet face to face with or over the phone or use
internet or email? Now, I got to tell you that just because some of the CWICs
serve huge, huge (areas) for instance states like Wyoming and some of the
states that are lower population, there may be a CWIC that serves half of a
state. And so meeting face to face in some cases is almost not heard of, OK.
But to the extent that it's available, if there's a pressing need why a session
needs to be face to face it can be considered.
For the most part, intensive services is provided by phone. However, there
are individuals some individual who prefer to use email and internet for
some types of services. Again, we work hard with the WIPAs and with the
CWICs around understanding how they have to honor personal privacy kinds
of issues and there's certain kinds of information they just cannot deal with
with the individual via internet or email even if the person wants to. So you
know, there are some things that can be provided through internet and email
such as just general work incentive summary information or setting up an
appointment et cetera.
Next the CWIC has to look at well, how long will I be working with this
individual? What's the duration of services? So for some individuals as I
mentioned before, they really are just looking for more like I need a good
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comprehensive benefits analysis (and then) I'm good. I'm used to managing
my own affairs, I can do that as long as you give me good solid information.
Most individuals who receive intensive benefits counseling however have
multiple contacts with that CWIC. And many also have extensive follow up
over time. Again, you heard a little bit about that in session two and three
but you'll hear more of it in the second half of this call. And then there's that
issue as I've mentioned before of service timing. Is this an individual who has
a situation where we need an immediate response or can services begin at a
little bit later date? And so all of those are taken in consideration by the
CWIC as they think about and plan for how to best meet the needs of a
particular beneficiary. To try to customize the service delivery as much as
possible, OK.
Now, in the instance that individualized counseling is going to be delivered in
the near future the CWIC then begins the information gathering process, OK.
So let's look at slide 13, OK and discuss this just a little bit. Before any
information is given out, it's so important for the CWIC to gather pretty
comprehensive up front information from the beneficiary and to verify their
benefits because otherwise they could be giving them the wrong
information.
It's amazing how many times individuals come in and would swear on a stack
of bibles that they're getting SSI, and then when we verify we find that their
getting Social Security disability. And I think it's because those two sound so
much the same but it's so important to get all the information they can from
the beneficiary right up front but then to verify those important pieces such
as what benefits system they're hooked up with and where they are in the
scheme of things et cetera. So, information gathering involves identifying
first the presenting problem or needs or questions that the beneficiary has.
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So the CWIC's always going to start with what is it that you want, what is it
that you need? What is the question that you have, what is the problem that
you're needing help with from the perspective of the beneficiary, OK. The
second is determining the information necessary to resolve that problem or
that issue or to meet that beneficiary's needs. And certainly in many cases,
the CWIC's going to be going well beyond what the beneficiary identifies as
their immediate question but we have to make sure that at the bare bones
and minimum the individual's needs and questions get answered.
And then as I mentioned before, the next step in the process is verifying all
benefits information when we're going to be providing pay specific
advisement and individualized WIPA services. So that's when WIPA services
are provided it's absolutely a non-negotiable there must be benefits
verification, and not just of the Social Security benefits but of the other state
and local benefits as well such as (SNAP) or subsidized housing and others.
The BPQY though is the most important tool to begin the verification
process.
So let's move to the next slide and talk about the BPQY. Oh but first on the
next slide, we're going to talk a little bit before we talk about the BPQY about
how CWICs are encouraged to use a family systems approach when they are
gathering information and when they are working with individuals. Often
when an individual's going to return to work their decision may affect
benefits of other family members that may be receiving auxiliary benefits, or
in the case of SSI additional work income may affect individuals in the same
household such as with an SSI eligible couple or in the case in which there's
deeming from a parent to a child.
So it's important to look – to ask the questions to find out who else may be
tied to the benefits that there may be some ripple effect. In addition to that,
what happens sometimes there may be somebody in that family that
wouldn't necessarily have you know a monetary ripple effect on other
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benefits but the family may all be benefitting from that benefit check coming
in. And the family could have some influence on the individual in terms of
whether they think it's a good idea or a bad idea to be working and have
some changes in those cash benefits.
And so we encourage the CWICs to address the effect of return to work on
Social Security benefits and on the other federal and state programs of the
family system rather than just the individual. Now of course if the individual
is an adult and says no, I don't want to give you any information about my
family, I don't want to involve my family in this process they certainly have
the right to do that. But they're encouraged to look at the benefits of a
family system approach and to go that way.
In addition CWICs explore financial stability goals of the beneficiary during
the information gathering part. (Becky) discussed this in some detail in
session one if you remember, and slide 15 just reminds us of some of the
types of questions that assist a CWIC to know what's important to the
beneficiary in terms of asset building. Again, (Becky) discussed these but
let's just take a look.
Beneficiaries often come in for benefits counseling with one question; how
much can I earn? And what they're usually are meaning by that is how much
can I earn and still keep my benefits? And so the question as they state it is
focused on what are my limits because they think that they have to limit to a
certain level.
There's this belief that income and resource limits are just an arbitrary
number and that if you go over those limits then somehow you're just going
to lose everything that you have. And CWICs have to really work on focusing
on the person's potential not on benefits limits by focusing on financial
stability. So for instance a CWIC may say, let's just pretend for a moment
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that you didn't have benefits coming in. Let's just set that aside for a
moment and think about what are you interested in doing?
What's reasonable to expect that you could earn in the way of earnings in a
job? And exploring with the individual what their monthly financial
requirements are and what they would desire in the way of an earnings goal
if it wasn't for their concerns about their benefits. And then coming back to
saying, well now that we've looked at that minus the benefits we're going to
look at how can you get as close to that as possible and still feel like you're
taking a reasonable amount of risk versus everything having to go as soon as
you go to work.
We often are referring the individual to appropriate resources for assistance
and achieving goals and addressing financial stability needs because
sometimes people are limited in their employment goals because they don't
think they could do anything more than what they've been told. So many
times we're referring for vocational rehabilitation services so that they can
look and see well, with education and training maybe I'd be able to earn
more. And many times an individual doesn't know how to establish financial
stability goals and asset goals because they've been so busy just trying to
stay alive. So many times part of this process right up front is not only trying
to figure out what does the person need, what would the person desire but
also what kind of support do they need to learn more about what would be
appropriate an employment goal and how can I save for my future?
So let's look at slide 16 and we'll look at some of the other kinds of
information gathered during the initial information gathering part of the
process. So we've been talking about how we'd be gathering – the CWIC
would be gathering basic beneficiary information and what types of benefits
they have and dependants and all those types of things. We've already
talked about that we would be looking with them at employment
information whether they worked before, whether they're currently working,
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outcomes, goals for the future, what benefits they currently get and are
looking at getting in the future, work incentives that could be used, services
that could be used so that we know what we need to incorporate and
encompass when starting to write a benefits analysis and counseling with the
person.
Social Security requires that the WIPA projects collect and analyze and
summarize information in all of those areas. And all of that information that
they collect some of them required data, others that they just feel they need
to know are entered into the efforts to outcomes database. And that
enables Social Security to track the overall outcomes of the WIPA services.
I know we had a couple of questions in a couple of the sessions before in
terms of how does Social Security track outcomes from WIPA? And this
efforts to outcomes database really helps with that. Once needed
information's collected then the verification of benefits process begins.
And so let's look at the next few slides where we talk about that verification
of benefits. So as I mentioned before, it's absolutely required prior to
offering any specific advisement and writing a BS&A that benefits are
verified. All other federal and state and local benefits have to be verified as
well as the Social Security ones, right. And CWICs often find some
inconsistencies or abnormalities in the information that's gathered and have
to then go back and get clarified or identify problems that need to get fixed.
Now in terms of starting the process of gathering this verification from
different agencies, CWICs use the signed consent forms (3288) to verify
Social Security benefits and to request a BPQY. And then they use other
agency's release forms (that) by other state or federal benefits agencies are
preferred by the other ones. OK, so this process has been discussed to some
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extent in the last two sessions by (Lee) and (Laura) as well as the information
listed on the next three slides.
So let's just look at the next slides and I'll point out a couple of items rather
than covering them all in detail where it would be redundant. So on slide 18,
the most important piece of verification that the CWIC obtains really is the
BPQY because it's just (chalk full) of information about Social Security and
Medicare and sometimes at least in the (1634) states about Medicaid that
the CWIC needs in order to do accurate and comprehensive work incentive
counseling. We encourage CWICs to ask for guidance from the local office as
to who to send request to and other protocols to follow in terms of getting
the BPQY, and then who to contact if you have more questions et cetera.
And then occasionally the CWIC or beneficiary is told for whatever reason
that there's a charge for a BPQY. So we give this CWIC the POMS reference
that's listed on this slide in order to clarify this if needed. That doesn't
happen real often but occasionally it does. Sometimes the information on
the BPQY leads to other questions that have to be answered before providing
work incentive counseling. So let's look at slide 20 so I can point out a couple
of those to you.
You have here a list of some of the common areas where CWICs can may
request information or assistance. And the ones that occur the most
frequently are I think it's bullet number four there where there's work
activity that's not listed on the BPQY. That one happens often where maybe
through the information gathering process the CWIC has learned that the
individual has been working for last six months or maybe worked for six
months two years ago or something of that nature. And now they're looking
at the BPQY and it's not listed, or maybe there's some annual income figure
that's there but there hasn't been a work review in some time. And it looks
like it could be meaningful in the sense of having maybe used up some of the
trial work month or could even possibly be an indication of (SGA).
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So that's probably the most frequent area that a common area where CWICs
will request information or assistance from the local office or from an AWIC
or a (WIL) to find out is this on this record? Is a work activity review needed?
What can we do to help with that process?
In addition, another area that's done a little ways on that same slide is there
sometimes needs clarification of (garnishments) or taxes or child support
that's been – that's being withheld. Over on the Title II side, when there's a
Title II person and the full amount and the net amount just don't add up and
we've looked and we've figured out whether or not there maybe Medicare
part B and D premiums being taken out and we've looked down a little lower
to see if maybe there's a overpayment being collected it's still not adding up,
and the beneficiary doesn't seem to know why there's other money being
withheld. Then in those cases many times the CWIC will come back to Social
Security to find out, to clarify you know if there's something else coming out
here and can you tell me a little bit about what that is.
And the reason for that is because if particularly like with child support, if
that's being taken out of the check and the individual then goes to work at a
level that's going to suspend their check, one of the things that the CWIC's
going to do is advise that beneficiary to go back and look at their child
support order or to recontact their lawyer or whomever to find out what are
going to be their responsibilities around paying child support when there's no
check for it to be taken out of anymore. So often CWICs will need to consult
with the AWIC or the (WIL) and to try and figure out some of these kinds of
information.
Let's turn to slide 21. And again here are some other areas and I think you
covered pretty much all of these in session two and three. But again, some
of the most likely ones are when an individual maybe is already working and
we're doing information gathering and verification and the individual has
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reported to us that they think they turned information about subsidy or
IRWE but they don't know whether it's being taken into consideration or not
and we can't figure it out from the BPQY. That may be a request for more
information that goes to the AWIC or to the (WIL). And of course as – excuse
me – as I mentioned before, indications that there may need to be a work
(CDR) or an (SGA) determination. I'm having (inaudible) particularly out my
throat, sorry.
And then also changes in income support and maintenance because
sometimes we'll note that it's obvious that the individual's receiving some
sort of income support and maintenance on their SSI but they're reporting
that maybe three months ago they moved out in their own apartment and
they're paying their own way. So many times the CWIC will be in touch with
the (WIL) or the AWIC to determine whether maybe that's already in process
or maybe the information hasn't been gotten to Social Security that that
needs to be reviewed. Excuse me.
So let's move ahead to slide 22. And so just in summary and as mentioned
before, often a CWIC is going to learn about past work activity that's not
recorded in the SSI record for whatever reason. And CWICs can help guide
that beneficiary in getting information up to date and may consult with AWIC
on a specific issue for a beneficiary.
You know it's again amazing to me how many times do we run across an
individual who thinks that they didn't need to report employment because
cycle was being taken out of their check and so therefore of course Social
Security knows I'm working. So many times because we're asking these
questions or sitting down with the individual, the CWIC may be the first to
discover that there's been work in the past few months and that that hasn't
been reported yet. And so that's one of the reasons why they may be
consulting with that AWIC in terms of do we need to do anything at this
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point? How should we advise the beneficiary? Can we send you some pay
stubs? How can we expedite this process?
And again, I know that was discussed a good bit in session two so let's move
ahead to slide number 23. Because every region and Social Security office is
just a little bit different, CWICs can provide services more efficiently and
support the role of the AWIC and the (WIL) more effectively if they have
information on how to get in touch with the designated Social Security
personnel and the reasons for contact. Excuse me just for a minute.
So some of the helpful information for CWICs would include a current list of
AWICs with contact information; telephone and fax information. And again,
we try to keep up on that via the website but sometimes it's really helpful if a
(WIL) or a AWIC knows that there's a change that's come about if it you could
help us let the CWIC know about that or that WIPA in that area just to stay
current. Also a current list of (WILs) Title II or Title XVI or both is very helpful
and we know that that changes from time to time. I know there's been times
when AWICs have been very helpful to WIPAs by sharing new updated list of
(WILs) in their particular area so that they know who to contact again, with a
list of coverage of those area offices is really helpful.
And then information on who to contact around other specific issues. CWICS
really want to try to do the best job they can and so sometimes they may
contact the wrong person which kind of slows the process down and also just
adds to inefficiency on Social Security's end by having to answer phone calls
when you're terribly busy only to find that that was something that
somebody else needed to do – to deal with. So learning about who to
contact around specific issues can be really helpful not only to the CWIC in
doing their work but also to local Social Security field office staff who may be
getting asked to help with things that aren't appropriate questions for that
particular person.
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And then best times to reach AWICs or (WILs), that can be real helpful too.
So you know if you are an AWIC or a (WIL) and there are times that would be
better times in the day or better times in the week for a CWIC to call you if
they needed to ask you a question about a beneficiary, don't hesitate to let
them know that. (That) I think that I could speak for all the CWICs that they
would be delighted to have that kind of information. And then the best
method for contacting; whether the phone's the best way to go, is there a
direct line or if it's not about personal identifying information is email better?
So any way that any of you can help the WIPAs in your area to know how to
utilize you all better and more efficiently and what kind of questions not to
bring to you but where to take those, those would be I think helpful for
everyone in the long run.
So, that was a little bit of a review of some of the things we covered in the
last sessions about what kind of information gets gathered, the BPQY
verification process. And where we are now is we're going to them move
into looking at and talking about what the CWIC does with the information in
terms of providing individualized and customized benefits analysis and
information and ongoing support. Before we do that though, I want (Angel)
to help us to open up the question and answer lines and if you would like to
ask a question, jump in there and ask. And then when we're done I'll be
turning over to (Becky). (Angel), (Angel).
Operator:
Yes ma'am. To ask a question, press star 1. There are no questions at this
time.
Connie Ferrell:
No questions at this time. OK. Well if – since there are no questions, then
I'm going to hand over to (Becky Banks) who's going to talk about writing
BS&As and WIPs and providing ongoing support services. And I apologize for
my cough. (Becky).
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(Becky Banks):
Thank you Connie and welcome everyone. And now it is time to talk about
the kinds of information that comes out of all of the process that CWICs do
after they gather the information. And so we'll talk about that and the
ongoing case management that beneficiaries receive under the WIPA
program. Let's move onto slide 25.
So the first question is, what is a BS&A or a benefits summary and analysis.
And it's actually a formal written document that is provided for those
beneficiaries enrolled in intensive WIPA services. Now as Connie alluded to
earlier, to develop that BS&A an individual has to have an earnings goal or an
idea of a range of earnings they'd like to achieve. And in this way the BS&A
can be written so that it provides specific and customized information on
how that earnings goal will affect the benefits that the individual receives.
And it's not only Social Security benefits but as a reminder, it also focuses on
the other federal and state benefits.
This written report summarizes the current benefit status, it answers specific
questions the beneficiary may have and it documents the path used to work
incentive as well as work incentives that they currently could use, and also
touches on the future work incentives that support that work and earnings
goal. It helps the beneficiary to prepare for any changes that might occur as
they continue with employment. So for whom does the CWIC write the
BS&A? In slide 26 we define this.
Now, beneficiaries come with a whole bunch of different questions about
return to work. And there are many examples of the kinds of scenarios
people have about their work and earnings goals. Some beneficiaries contact
the WIPA when they have a goal for employment or a career goal such as, I
want to be a nursing assistant or I want to work in information technology or
I want to work in food service. And from there with those occupational or
job type of goals, the CWIC would help the beneficiary determine what's the
prevailing wage for a particular occupation and get an idea about how many
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hours the beneficiary plans to work so that they can get an estimate of
earnings.
Other people may come with a specific job goal and have a clear idea of –
may not have a specific job goal but really have a clear idea of about how
much money they need to meet their financial needs or pay their bills. And
some again may come to the CWIC without a job goal but have an idea about
how many hours they want to work per week or how much work they can
tolerate per week and maybe have an idea that they want to at least make
minimum wage or $10 an hour or somewhere around that range. So the
CWIC kind of takes that target number of hours that they'd like to work per
week and how much they'd like to earn, and then helps them kind of focus
on well, what services do you need to actually develop a specific job goal?
Some beneficiaries may indicate they just want to know what would happen
if they worked a certain amount of hours of week at a certain range of pay.
Or and for other beneficiaries who want to know how work may impact their
benefits and they don't have a specific employment or earnings goal, the
CWIC will help them narrow down their interest and their financial need and
focus on how work can meet their needs. We often as Connie mentioned,
we often hear how much can I earn before I lose benefits? And we never
really have a straight answer for that, rather the response is it depends. Let's
look at your individual situation and see how we can maximize your
employment and meet your financial needs and help you determine what
your employment goal may be.
The CWIC sometimes finds beneficiaries that come to them that say, I just
want to get off of benefits. And those beneficiaries may want guidance on
how the work incentives will help them reach their goal of self sufficiency. So
the CWIC guides the beneficiary on how to reach their goal. Each of these
areas are really important because when beneficiaries come with a variety of
different questions, the CWIC's job is to really focus on that earnings goal so
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that they can develop the BS&A and be real specific about how employment
will affect their benefits.
Now, not all beneficiaries may require a formal written BS&A. So let's turn to
slide 27. When a beneficiary has no immediate plans to pursue employment
or only wants general information or really after some questions and
interviewing with the beneficiary they can't really identify an earnings goal or
target, then the CWIC may only provide some general information or they'll
make referrals to employment services or other supports as Connie
mentioned and provide the beneficiary with information such as the red
book or other Social Security publications or fact sheets that help to describe
the work incentives in general. But in order to develop that BS&A, all of the
benefits must be verified.
And some beneficiaries actually refuse in terms of WIPA services, or others in
some cases really don't follow through with verification of benefits or
sending back a signed (3288) to allow the CWIC to assist with their assigned
benefits. And as mentioned earlier in these trainings, the BS&A cannot really
be developed without benefit verification. Instead if they don't have an
earnings goal or they don't allow for verification of benefits, CWICs may just
send them a short work incentive summary or some just general information
that answers some basic questions and then make recommendations for
employment services. And then of course invite them to return to the WIPA
when they do have an earnings goal developed or when they're ready to
receive more intensive services at a later date.
On the next slide, we talk about the considerations involved in developing a
BS&A. So the CWICs really ask the series of questions to get an idea where
the individual is in relation to their journey to employment. And as Connie
mentioned some people are in the preparatory phase, others are
contemplating work, others are actually employed. So it's really important
for the CWIC to understand that so that they can tailor the kinds of
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information they provide to the beneficiary at whatever phase of
employment that they are in. And in doing so, they look at the next kinds of
support that the person needs to move forward and what other steps that
the beneficiary may need to take.
So how much information is needed or how much information do the CWICs
give in the BS&A? Well, they don't necessarily give detailed information
about every work incentive that's available out there. We encourage CWICs
to give enough information at the right time. For example if the individual is
just now using trial work or service months for the first time since becoming
entitled to benefits, the CWIC would thoroughly explain the trial work period
and advise the beneficiary on how to track their earnings in detail, and then
briefly introduce information of what to expect during the next several
months to a year.
We teach CWICs to avoid giving too much information or to overwhelm the
beneficiary with detailed information that's not pertinent to them in the near
future, but instead to describe the applicable work incentives that are
pertinent to their situation and give some brief information about other work
incentives that are available to them ongoing. And then in follow up
contacts, to provide more detail about work incentives that apply to them
over time. Now CWICs may also identify any barriers to employment such as
vocational services needed or other issues that may come up for example
transportation or financial education services or a number of any problems
that could be addressed. And CWICs will make referrals to other agencies to
assist the beneficiary with services they need to reach their goal.
And often beneficiaries have (others in) the employment support team that
are involved with the beneficiary and helping them achieve and maintain
employment. And this may be a service provider or a case manager or a
therapist or someone within an employment network, a vocational
rehabilitation counselor or a representative (PAYE) or even a family member
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that helps make decisions that guides the beneficiary through employment.
And we often find that all of these other people that may be involved in
supporting the beneficiary don't understand work incentives as well and may
be confused about what the rules really are. So CWICs often find that that's
an opportunity to educate the other providers or other people in that circle
of support for that beneficiary. And in those instances, the CWIC will request
the beneficiary to sign consents or releases of information so that they can
involve the others and everyone has an understanding of the work incentives
available to the beneficiary so that they can all work together in a concerted
effort.
Let's move onto slide 29 where we describe in more detail how the BS&A
developed. CWICs first need to gather information from the beneficiary on
all their federal and state benefits as mentioned in the earlier presentation.
And this is generally done through a thorough intake interview or it may
occur through a series of interviews with the beneficiary. And through this
process they really identify the problems with benefits or other barriers that
are getting in the way with employment. And as I mentioned earlier,
everything has to be verified to provide accurate information so that the
beneficiary has enough information available to them on both Social Security
benefits and other federal or local benefits that they received. And as
Connie mentioned, they will be getting releases from other benefits entities
so that they can contact them and verify their benefits as well.
So the next step that they do is review all of this information that they've
gathered and analyze the impact of a specific earnings goal on the disability
cash benefits and the continued eligibility for Medicaid or Medicare, and
whether there'll be an increase or a decrease in rent or food assistance to
name a few. And the CWICs must describe how each work incentive whether
it be Social Security work incentive or healthcare programs or other benefits
such as supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits or subsidized
housing and or veterans benefits or worker's comp or unemployment
insurance or any other kind of benefit that an individual receives, all of that
26 | P a g e
must be analyzed and explained to the beneficiary so that they can
understand how work will affect those benefits.
And for illustration purposes, along with the BS&A the CWIC may attach any
supplemental documents such as work sheets that describe how trial work
months have been used and when the (EPE) will begin and end or work
sheets that help the beneficiary track their earnings. There may be SSI
calculation sheets to show how the work or earnings may impact the SSI
benefits. Or they may attach documents that will help to educate
beneficiaries on how to gather and manage information for impairment
related work expenses or blind work expenses or even (path) to name a few.
So, what does the benefits summary and analysis look like? We're now on
slide 30. And also attached with this PowerPoint you should have received
from (Julie Schall) a sample BS&A and work incentives plan on a beneficiary
named Jane Doe that you might want to scan and follow along as we go over
the sections of information in the BS&A so that you can see what that
document actually looks like.
The template used by CWICs is a standard template that provides an outline
of how the information is organized and presented to the beneficiary. The
first section of the template as you can see in the sample with Jane Doe
provides a way for the CWIC to document all of the benefits verified and
anything else that needs to be resolved such as findings of information that
needs to be clarified or corrected, if the beneficiary has past work that hasn't
been developed or if the beneficiary's simply receiving assistance through a
specific type of benefit and isn't getting it such as a Medicare savings
program through the state. So that first section is the benefits verification
section.
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And the next section which actually describes the current employment
situation or future plans for employment, and they've identified the job and
the earnings goals, the rate of pay and hours per week the beneficiary will
work. And this actually is the starting point or sets the stage for which the
CWIC will outline the information in the rest of the sections of the BS&A that
pertain to that job and earnings goal.
The third section of the BS&A is what I call the meat of the BS&A. And that
actually provides an analysis of how their earnings goal will affect first their
Social Security cash benefits and then other federal and state benefits. And
it also provides an opportunity for the CWIC to list the work incentives that
apply to the beneficiary as well as address the impact of current earnings on
the goal on each of the benefits received.
So if they receive for example in the healthcare section Medicaid and
Medicare, there would be a subsection under there talking about the
earnings goal and how's that going to be specific to that individual based on
the Medicaid work incentives that are available to them. And then it would
also address the Medicare and how Medicare will change and describes the
Medicare programs that they have and what incentives are available for
them. In these particular sections, all of these sections the CWIC often
include a paragraph that is entitled specific to your situation or this is how
this applies to you, or this is what this means for you at this point in time
based on your current benefits and your employment goal and your
situation. So it not only describes the work incentive that's available but it
also says and this is what this means for you.
On the next slide we continue with the information in the BS&A. And besides
addressing the Social Security, healthcare and other benefits the individual
may have and identifying the work incentives specific to the individual, this
next section talks about how any other benefit issues that a beneficiary may
have that are not related to employment. And so examples of this may be
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exploiting overpayments or (garnishments) or potential eligibility on another
work record, or perhaps transition to retirement if someone is getting close
to retirement for Title II beneficiaries. Or for Title XVI beneficiaries,
addressing (in time) support and maintenance or excess (resources),
deeming or suggesting to address other benefit issues.
The BS&A also has a section for the CWIC (inaudible) performance services or
other supports that will help the beneficiary. And this could include anything
in the community that will help the beneficiary succeed and (clearly it)
involves referrals to employment networks or vocational rehabilitation or
American Job Centers or transportation providers, assisted technology
services or where even to get some support for assisted technology they
already have. Maybe helping to link someone with childcare providers or
getting assistance for childcare to pay for those – to pay for child care while
they're working. It may involved describing the earned income tax credit
that a beneficiary may be eligible for and a referral to the volunteer income
tax assistance program, or any other service or support provider that can
help the beneficiary in meeting their employment and their financial stability
goals.
And the last part of the BS&A is the important things to remember or the
next steps. This is kind of like a precursor to the work incentives plan and it
has a list of reminders and the next steps to help the beneficiary plan for
success. And there may be issues that the beneficiary needs to act on
immediately and here the CWIC my provide some timeframe for other
instructions for the beneficiary to move forward. Examples might be in this
section may be reporting requirements for Social Security or Medicaid or
other agencies or list – they may list out how to contact Social Security at the
local office and how to report their earnings or their work activity, and may
include some follow up steps or things that need to be done if there are
issues with their benefits that are identified.
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So that describes what's in BS&A. Let's move onto slide 22. After the BS&A
is developed the next step for the CWIC is to schedule some time to go over
the BS&A with the beneficiary and anyone else in the employment support
team that the beneficiary requests to participate. And this is really important
because we want the beneficiary to understand what's written in the BS&A,
to ask questions about it, to get some answers. And also that others involved
understand the analysis if the beneficiary wants them to participate, so that
everyone knows what comes next and what steps to take to be proactive in
managing their benefits and work incentives.
Now this appointment as Connie mentioned earlier is done face to face if
they're lucky and they're in close proximity to where the CWIC is or it's done
over the phone. And it really is done to ensure that there's a lot of
understanding. It also becomes the starting point for the specific action
steps for planning the (use) of work incentives. So this is usually an hour or
sometimes even more longer sessions sometimes that occurs if they go over
the BS&A and a couple of sessions with the beneficiary based on what their
needs are.
Now on slide 33 I want to describe the work incentives plan that we also call
the WIP. And together after going over the BS&A and ensuring that the
individual understands how their benefits may change with work, the CWIC
and the beneficiary plan action steps together. So they work together to
come up with that to do list and they identify the timeframes to get things
done and they may include steps for the beneficiary to take or things that the
CWIC can help with or anyone else involved such as the representative
(PAYE) or someone else in the employment support team.
So the WIP is like a handy tool that the beneficiary can keep close by or post
on their refrigerator or keep on their desk or their coffee table, and really
marks off and follows the to do list based on the choices and the options that
are presented to them in the benefits summary analysis. And it helps to
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serve as a reminder of all of the next steps to manage the benefits and work
incentives as they work toward achieving their employment goals. Now
CWICs designed the WIP with specific measurable, action oriented and
realistic steps and these steps include targeted timeframes to get things
done. And it is based on the content or the template of the BS&A that we
discussed earlier.
So what is the purpose of the WIP? In the next slide we give you a
framework of the WIP and guides (inaudible) ongoing use of work incentives.
It's very outcome focused and it refers to what's discussed in the BS&A as I
mentioned earlier. And while we find that it's very helpful tool because
while individuals have the written explanation from the BS&A, the WIP
becomes the tool that helps beneficiaries manage their benefits and work
incentives.
Now not all beneficiaries will need a WIP. Some are OK with the information
in the BS&A and they can move forward without a work incentive plan.
However, it's helpful for many beneficiaries to help provide that structure to
move forward in their journey through employment. Work incentives plans
aren't intended to be static in nature and they are often periodically
reviewed with the beneficiary and revised and updated to reflect any
changes in the beneficiary's situation. And because the WIP represents just
(inaudible) in time just as the BS&A does, each time the WIP is revised a new
date is entered and an estimate is made as to when the plan will be reviewed
again in the future.
So it becomes kind of like a cycle of developing action steps and checking
progress as target dates are reached and establishing new action steps or
new to do lists. And it becomes an ongoing process and it really does depend
on the unique circumstances of (the). Some individuals will need their plans
updated frequently while others will not. The process of updating the WIP is
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highly individualized and is actually driven by the beneficiary's employment
goals.
On slide 35, I want to show you the WIP (inaudible) section and some kinds
of information that's contained in the WIP. Now, in the handout of Jane Doe
you may want to follow along with that so that you can see an example of
the kind of information provided. The first section of the WIP involves
accessing employment services and support. And some examples that are
often included in this section may be exploring employment services to meet
their specific needs such as attend vocational rehabilitation, or contact the
list of employment networks available to you to determine if any meet your
needs, or consult with transportation providers to help you as you start your
job to get transportation to and from work. Those are some of those
examples, excuse me.
The next area is resolving if there's a benefit issue. An example of the benefit
issues that may be resolved could be contact the state about the Medicare
savings program and your eligibility for that, or report your recent marriage
to your SSI claims representative. Another very important area in the work
incentive plan is managing Social Security benefits. And this section may
include instructions for tracking earnings or developing or managing work
incentives.
For example a CWIC may write contact Social Security to report your earnings
for your new job or complete the work activity report the (SSA 821). Other
examples may involve steps for implementing and maintaining work
incentives and action steps may be create a folder to maintain your receipt
for your impairment related work expenses, or keep your paycheck stubs in
the file folder and keep your Social Security letters. Or it may be submit
receipts for (BWEs) to Social Security.
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The other section of the WIP simply talks about managing federal or state or
local benefit programs. And examples of this may be, report your earnings to
the housing case worker or report your earnings to the supplemental
nutrition assistance program eligibility worker, or even perhaps instructions
to apply for a state specific or local benefit that the beneficiaries could be
receiving. There is a section for planning future healthcare needs and this
may include enrolling in employer sponsored health insurance if it's available
to the beneficiary, or enroll in Medicare at the end of the Medicare
qualifying period, or apply for the state Medicaid buy in program as many
states have a way for employed persons with disabilities to buy into
Medicaid in their states.
Then there's the follow up context plan. And that part of the template really
has follow up about expected changes in the beneficiary's situation such as,
call the CWIC to review the impact of work on Medicare once Medicare
begins or meet with the CWIC to review work incentives. These are just a
few examples but as you can imagine, based on the beneficiary's situation
there could be all kinds of action steps that could be developed that will
support their employment plans, work incentives that pertain to them and
their employment goals. And one final word about the WIP is the (inaudible)
document. And so it is usually updated and reviewed at critical touch points
with new action steps reflecting any changes that the beneficiary has.
Let's move on to ongoing follow up because the WIP is actually the tool that
helps to guide that follow up. And WIPA services are not designed just to
advise people about the work incentives available to them but to support
beneficiaries over time as they move through their various stages of
employment and the various stages of work incentives.
On slide 37, we really make a note that services don't necessarily stop once
the BS&A and WIP are developed. The BS&A often times needs to be
updated for beneficiaries. For example when a person is has completed their
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trial work period they may need to have an update and some more detailed
information about the extended period of eligibility and what (SGA)
decisions, work incentives available for them. And the WIP at the same time
may likely need new action steps to make sure that everything with
managing benefits and work incentives is progressing as planned.
Now, not all beneficiaries need ongoing follow up. Some may be able to take
that BS&A and go with it and be able to manage things as Connie mentioned
earlier. The intensity, type and duration of assistance really depends on the
needs of that person that's detailed in the WIP. May involve intense
assistance for a short period of time for a few months or it may involve lower
level assistance spread over out over months or years.
So there's no minimum or maximum timeframe for case management
services that's provided by the CWICs. And not all work incentive plans and
not all follow up services look alike. It all depends on that particular
beneficiary.
On slide 38, let's talk about proactive benefits management. The goal for
follow up is to address the beneficiary situation as time goes on as they
progress through employment and their use of various WIP incentives. And
as I mentioned earlier, this might involve updating and keeping the WIP
current, checking in with the beneficiary to see that they completed action
steps that they've identified jointly with the CWICs, or calling the
beneficiaries for periodic wellness checks to determine if their plans are
progressing without problems or to you know ensure that there are no
critical issues that are missed.
The CWIC may also contact the beneficiary at what we call critical transition
points. And these are points in time through events that would potentially
cause changes in the benefits status and require some assistance from the
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CWICs. They're identified in the BS&A and also addressed again in the WIP
when they become relevant to the beneficiary. The CWIC might have routine
contact with beneficiaries in the form of just letters or newsletters or phone
calls or email messages and try to keep the lines of communication open
through updates to the beneficiary. The more contact the beneficiary has
with the CWIC, the more likely he is to ask questions and provide the status
updates and avoid any problems.
So beneficiaries are also encouraged to contact CWICs whenever they
receive they receive correspondence from Social Security or other benefit
programs. And that way the CWIC can help explain what the correspondence
means and if there are any actions that might be needed or required. The
follow up becomes really important because it helps to anticipate any
changes in advance and it reduces the likelihood for negative effects or
benefits complications that may arise.
There are several points in time when CWICs will preplan their follow ups
and I want to describe these on slide 39. I mentioned earlier the term critical
transition points or touch points. So when a change or transition may occur
for example completing the nine month trial work period or attaining (SGA)
or moving into (1619b) status or an SSI beneficiary attaining age 18, or if
there are changes in the housing subsidy or even getting an increase in
earnings. Those are all examples of critical transition points.
And we encourage CWICs to be proactive in anticipating when these may
occur so that they can put in their calendars and there's also in the efforts to
outcomes data system. It's like a to do list in the calendar that helps to
trigger CWICs when a transition point may occur for a particular beneficiary.
Because they manage so many beneficiaries, that's a helpful tool for CWICs
as well to keep on top of things when they're working with such a high case
load.
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So what kinds of support do the CWICs provide related to work incentives?
This next slide provides a few examples related to Title II. CWICs often spend
a great deal of time helping to develop (past work) as Connie mentioned
earlier. They may work with the beneficiary to help them gather pay
information or verify the use of trial work month or even preparing
information to submit to Social Security.
They may teach beneficiaries how to track the use of trial work month or
where they are in their extended period of eligibility. And they help the
beneficiaries know when and how to report work activity and earnings. They
may help the beneficiary prepare for the end of the trial work period and
understand when they've moved into the (EPE). They might help
beneficiaries in completing the (SSA 821) or the (820) for those who are self
employed. And they might help beneficiaries understand patterns of work
activity that may indicate substantial gainful activity, and help the beneficiary
understand what it means to when they receive a notice that they've
attained (SGA). All of this becomes part of educating beneficiaries about
how to manage your benefits and it teaches benefits literacy, and it helps the
beneficiary work through developing new steps as they continue to move
forward.
Let's look at slide 41. It's really important that the beneficiary understands
what an (SGA) decision means or other factors that play into the decision of
whether (SGA) was determined or not such as when Social Security uses
unsuccessful work attempt or income averaging. Often times beneficiaries
don't understand that and what that means for them.
If subsidy or special conditions are evident, the CWIC might help to identify
this and make sure that it's reported to Social Security. And often employers
as well as employment specialists or job coaches or case managers don't
realize that the workplace accommodation or the on the job support that
they provide are indicative of subsidy or special conditions. So CWICs meet
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with the employers or the employment specialists if it's needed to help
identify and develop this information for Social Security. They may also help
the beneficiary develop IRWEs and educate them about what's needed to
submit an IRWE request to Social Security. And if there are changes in the
IRWE or changes in expenses, a CWIC might help the beneficiary with
verifying and reporting those changes to keep things up to date.
On the next slide we talk about how CWICs, beneficiaries and the supports
they provide related to specific work incentives. They may help beneficiaries
document and submit work incentive for SSI benefits including student
earned income exclusion or (blind) work expense. And help them
understand for example what might be needed for a (path). And once that
(path) is approved, CWICs spend time helping the beneficiary manage their
(path) over time and they quite frequently work with the (path) specialist in
their local area.
Now if you participated in the previous call, you'll understand especially as
(Laura) and (Lee) talked about the changes to healthcare and the other forms
of federal and state benefits that are so critical to beneficiaries. CWICs really
help beneficiaries understand how their earned income may affect their
other federal benefits in particular their healthcare. Changes with Medicaid
such as (1619b) or changes in the Medicare savings program such as moving
from (plan D to a plan B) would occur and what that means for them as far as
their premiums, deductibles and co-pays. Or when individuals may become
responsible for paying their own Medicare premiums if their accountable
earning (inaudible) to move in or out of programs or even the low income
subsidies.
Those are critical issues for beneficiaries and often times they are far more
concerned about their healthcare than they are about their cash benefits.
With expedited reinstatement of benefits a CWIC may provide information
on the (safety net) especially when a beneficiary is progressing towards
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benefit termination. Or when a beneficiary becomes entitled again through
(EXR), the CWIC may help the beneficiary track the 24 months of the initial
reinstatement period and may help the beneficiary again understand the
work incentives rules that are available to them. And another piece that the
CWICs work quite a bit with is promoting participation in the ticket to work.
And they may explain how to choose an employment network that helps
them meet their goals and they may educate them on what it means to have
timely progress, what those requirements are and what that means for them
with continuing disability reviews.
On slide – I'm sorry. On slide 43, reporting earnings is probably one of the
major activities that CWICs are involved in providing education or assistance.
And we know that failure to report work activity can lead to a number of
problems for beneficiaries and end up with some unexpected surprises when
beneficiaries aren't aware of the importance of timely reporting.
So CWICs spend a great deal of time and energy not just developing the
BS&A and working with the beneficiary to create that work incentive plan,
but they spend a lot of time helping beneficiaries understand how to
organize information, prepare and submit earnings. And this includes work
resource in the Title II program or resolving issues that show up on the BPQY
when work reports are not timely and helping beneficiaries develop that
(past work). They help beneficiaries with reporting for the SSI program as
well, and when appropriate connect the beneficiaries with the automated
reporting system so that beneficiaries can use that system as well.
So let's move to the last slide. As you can see, the CWIC is not only a partner
with the beneficiary but also a partner with a variety of entities that encircles
the beneficiary with their return to work benefits. And this linkage includes
not only you the Social Security AWIC, (WIL) and claims reps but also
employment service providers, vocational rehabilitation counselors,
Americas Job Centers, other entities that are involved in employment.
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They may be involved with community rehabilitation agencies that serve
people with disabilities. They may be involved with other state and federal
benefit program agencies that we've talked about in the previous sessions.
They may work with public schools and go to work transition programs and
any other community support that is out there that can support the
beneficiary. All the efforts and the collaborations with all of these partners
is essential in the return to work efforts for the beneficiary to help them
achieve their goals for employment and financial stability. There's a lot of
work that CWICs do and they're very happy and very pleased when they have
the opportunity to partner with all of you.
That concludes my part of the presentation. And now, I want to have (Angel)
open up the lines for any other questions that you may have.
Operator:
and as a reminder, to ask a question please press star then the number 1.
We will pause for just a moment. And you do have a question from (Nicole
Manda).
(Becky Banks):
Hi (Nicole).
(Nicole Manda): Hi, good afternoon. I was just wondering we've gone for a while without a
(WIL) in the (Greenbay) Social Security office, and initially there was the talk
about the list of AWICs and contact information. Do you know how we go
about getting that communication between one another?
(Terry): This is (Terry) and that would probably be something that you would ask access
headquarters (Lauren Salimone) if you want to know who the AWIC is and
who – that would be the best internal communication.
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(Nicole Manda): OK, thank you.
Operator:
Again to ask a question, please press star 1. There are no further questions.
(Terry): Well operator, thank you very much. And thank you very much (Becky) and Connie
and (Susan) and everyone who participated. Be sure to put in your
evaluations and thank you for your time. I know that everyone is very busy
so it's really great that you were able to participate. And operator if there
aren't any other questions I guess we'll close.
Operator:
OK. This does conclude the conference. You may all disconnect.
END
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