SOAR Collaborations for Change Building Community Partnerships to Expedite

1. SOAR Collaborations for Change Building Community Partnerships to Expedite Benefits Acquisition for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness Housing Virginia’s Most Vulnerable Conference June 12-13, 2019

2. Georgi Fisher – Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services Jackie Weisgarber– Virginia Social Security Administration Alvin Gritz – Virginia Disability Determination • Samantha Shoukas – George Washington Regional Commission • Lauren Dracoules– Micah Ministries

3. Objectives • Share the importance of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits • Including income, health insurance, education and employment supports, and housing stability • Offer examples for how community partnerships can assist with SOAR implementation in community • Leveraging community partnerships, Connecting to local SOAR efforts, the SOAR Online Course, and the SOAR Online Application Tracking (OAT) program

4. What is SOAR? • A model for assisting eligible individuals to apply for Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits • For individuals who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness (not HUD definition) and have a serious mental illness, co-occurring substance use disorder, or other physical disabilities • Sponsored by SAMHSA in collaboration with the Social Security Administration (SSA) since 2005 • All 50 states and Washington, DC currently participate

5. A Foundation for Recovery and Resiliency More Than Income SSI/SSDI: One Brick in Foundation • Access to health care and housing • Increased education and employment opportunities • Decrease in incarcerations and hospitalizations

6. How do States and Communities Benefit? SSI and Medicaid bring federal dollars into states, localities, and community programs: • Health providers can recoup cost of uncompensated care. • States and localities can recoup the cost of public assistance. • Cash benefits and back payments received by individuals is spent in the local community (2018: $406 million*). * https://soarworks.prainc.com/article/soar-outcomes-and-impact

7. SOAR Works! *National SOAR outcomes as of June 30, 2018 https://soarworks.prainc.com/article/soar-outcomes-and-impact

8. SOAR Partnership for Success

9. VIRGINIA Social Security Administration Application processing

10. Social Security Administration Responsibilities • Evaluate all applications for benefits (SSI, SSDI, Retirement, Survivors, Etc) to determine (1) if they meet criteria for benefits and (2) what benefits they qualify for • Cases are assigned to workers in a local field office based in your community

11. VIRGINIA Disability Determination Medical decisions

12. Social Security Administration Partnership for Success • Dedicated SOAR contacts – Regional Representatives • Dedicated contact for questions/assistance • Attend community SOAR meetings • Knows/is in contact with SOAR representatives • Assist with application tracking/movement • Provide technical assistance

13. Disability Determination Responsibilities • Evaluate Disability applications (SSI, SSDI) to determine if they meet criteria to approve an applicant for benefits • Cases are assigned to an analyst that covers a specific region; Analysts communicate directly with SOAR workers and their clients

14. Disability Determination Partnership for Success • Dedicated SOAR contacts at Disability Determination (PROs) • Dedicated contact for questions/assistance • Attend community SOAR meetings • Knows/is in contact with SOAR representatives • Technical assistance • Some DDS SOAR units • Analysts who know our client population process cases • Develop relationships with SOAR workers in their communities for expedited processing

15. Examples of DDS Collaboration 1.    The regional PRO and the new SOAR worker (better yet, the entire team) need to be on a first name basis and comfortable with phone calls between the two: • a.   Scenario #1 -SOAR Worker – “What records do I need to send to DDS? This is what I have sent for this case….” • PRO – Able to constructively dissect what records have been sent and explain what is not necessary and what is necessary • b.   Scenario #2 - SOAR Worker – “This is what I heard from the DDS analyst. I am not sure we are on the same page.” • PRO – “You are correct and what you are being told by the analyst is not correct or……..let me interpret what he/she is telling you. In such a situation, speak softly, informing the analyst you have been told otherwise and wish to run this by me, the liaison between the two agencies.”

16. LOCAL LEAD CoC LEAD Application processing and medical decisions

17. Fredericksburg Regional CoC

19. GWRC’sRole in CoC • CoC Lead Agency • Inform CoC of best practices and national or state-wide goals and initiatives • Submit collaborative grant applications on behalf of CoC members • Plan and conduct an annual point-in-time count • Coordinate special initiatives • Coordinate meetings and maintain records • HMIS Lead Agency • Oversee regional database • Submit data to state and federal funders

20. CoC’s Role in SOAR • Inform community of SOAR best practices and national or state-wide goals and initiatives • Develop data on community’s SOAR work • Build coordination among community members around SOAR • Identify ways to fund SOAR needs in the community • Develop a capacity of SOAR in the community • Coordinate meetings and maintain records

21. Building a Strong Local Team • Bi-Monthly Local SOAR meetings • Update workers on process changes • Identify ongoing SOAR needs in the • Troubleshoot challenging SOAR cases • Constant coordination and communication • MSR peer reviews • Coordination of client centered services • Ongoing troubleshooting and communication between SOAR worker, DDS, and SSA

22. Increasing SOAR Capacity • Current Capacity: 7 SOAR workers (1 full time) • 2 SOAR workers do 95% of applications • Understanding SOAR Need • HMIS Data Analysis • Building Community Buy-in • Identifying providers with potential for SOAR • Identifying potential funding for SOAR positions • Developing referral process for SOAR clients

23. SOAR Workers Application processing and case management

24. What does the local lead do? • Submit SOAR cases • Lead local steering committees with other SOAR workers in the area • Offer support to other workers on their SOAR cases • Input SOAR data into OAT • Outreach and education on SOAR to get community buy-in • Ongoing communication with DDS and SSA contacts

25. How did we start building relationships? (1) • With Disability Determination Services: • Identify who the Professional Relations Officer is and how to contact them • Once you know who this is, don’t be afraid to call and ask questions! • With Social Security: • SOAR can be done with Social Security before you have a dedicated contact there • Over time they will recognize your applications for their thoroughness and organization thanks to your SOAR training • Call and ask questions

26. How did we start building relationships? (2) • With community partners: • Possible partners include agencies/providers with similar missions, values, and clients • Request to meet in-person with possible contacts and paint the big picture of SOAR: to help people experiencing homelessness gain stability and access to housing • Have a clear idea of what the partner can do to help with this: psych evals, waive the records request fee, assist with processing the claim, transport the person to appointments, etc • With the CoC: • The mission of SOAR mirrors the mission of CoC’s: to end homelessness in the area • When housing is not an option, increasing income is a viable and effective way to reduce homelessness • CoC may have more influence in bringing other providers together to facilitate SOAR meetings

27. How do we maintain relationships? • SOAR meetings every 2 months to maintain face to face contact with key players (DDS, SSA, other SOAR workers, local lead) • Great opportunity to staff cases/offer support for workers • Sharing information • Ongoing contact w/ DDS and SSA on each case through email, phone calls • Sharing success stories w/ your partners

28. What other relationships do we want to build? • Private doctors • Doctors with similar values and missions • Jail case managers • Reentry council • SOAR capability with community partner case managers • Case managers know a person’s functioning and limitations better than most!

29. Virginia Outcomes

30. Next Steps • Learn more about SOAR • Get in touch with your SAMHSA SOAR TA Center Liaison • Reach out to your local or state SOAR leads • Register for the SOAR Online Course

31. Additional Resources • SOAR Works Website and Online Course: https://soarworks.prainc.com/ • SSA Disability Information: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/disability/