YES, Your Youth CAN Work ! Helping Families Understand Benefits April 10, 2019 10:00am EST

1. YES, Your Youth CAN Work! Helping Families Understand Benefits April 10, 2019 10:00am EST

2. Today’s Presenters Raymond Cebula National Benefits Counseling Expert Jade Gingerich PROMISE Project Director Dana Hackey Program Director, Way Station, Inc. Kelli Crane Moderator

3. MD PROMISE • Purpose: improve the education, career, financial outcomes of low-income youth with disabilities receiving Supplemental Security Income. • Design: Randomized Control Trial • Sample: 997 youth enrolled in treatment condition; ages 14 – 16 years old • Services: state-wide intervention program; 997 youth assigned to 27 teams in 5 regions

4. MD PROMISE Key Features • Project Interventions: • Assertive case management and Family Plan • Career and work based experiences, at least one paid job for youth • Benefits counseling and financial literacy services • Intervention Teams: • Case Manager • Family Employment Specialist • Benefit Counselor • School Personnel

5. What is Benefits Counseling • Provided by certified professionals • Assists individuals with disabilities to understand how earnings from work impacts their public benefits such as SSI and benefits them • Supports individuals in accessing SSA work incentives that allow them to work and earn money without negatively impacting benefits • *also known as work incentives counseling

6. Why Benefits Counseling • Allow youth to learn early that they are always better off working • Important because many will not qualify for benefits as adults • SSI potentially keeps families trapped in poverty • Engaging Pre Employment Transition Services for work and planning for the future will have NO IMPACT on the youth’s eligibility for SSI • Benefits will not automatically be lost when a youth or even an adult begins to work

7. MD PROMISE Benefits Counseling • Traditional Benefits Counseling • A family and/or youth has received counseling on work incentives directly from a benefits counselor via face-to-face meeting • a one-time meeting with the benefits counselor or on-going counseling and management • Alternative Benefits Counseling • Phone or email consultation from lead BC or contractor • Focused on a specific family need

8. Staff who work with youth • Need to ask why when a youth or family member says a youth can’t work • Should be prepared to respond with information and resources when a youth or family says they are unable to work due to benefits. • Proactively engages them to a benefits counselor.

10. Weighing the Options to Work • Every decision involves positives and negatives. • This is often complicated for youth who receive disability benefits like SSI and their families. • Making a list of pros and cons can be a helpful way of exploring feelings about different options.

11. Myths About SSI • I will lose my cash benefits if I start working. • I will lose my Medicaid or Medicare insurance if I start working. • If my checks stop coming because I go to work and then I am unable to continue working because of my disability, I will have to go through the whole application process from the beginning again • There isn’t a job out there for me.

12. Myth #1 I will lose my cash benefits if I start working.

13. Work Incentives & Other Resources Exclusions Expenses Impairment related Work Expenses, i.e., medicine, medical supplies, medical services, service animals, and other supplies and services. Blind Work Incentives, i.e., service animals, transportation to/from work, licenses, work taxes, attendant care services, meals eaten during work, medical equipment • Basic Income • Other Income • Student Earned Income • Plan to Achieve Self Sufficiency • ABLE (resource exclusion only) • Fact Sheets explaining many of these work incentives are available at https://mdtransitions.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Financial-Aid-Fact-Sheet-Combined.pdf

14. Example June, July & August $1,950 Gross Earnings - $1,870 SEIE $ 80 Balance - $ 20 General Exclusion $ 60 Balance - $ 65 Earned Income Exclusion $ 0 - $ 0 One Half Remainder $ 0 = Countable Income Sarah is a high school junior, who works as a cashier at a local grocery store. During the months of June, July, and August, she earns $1,870 per month and does not have any unearned income.

15. SSI RECIPIENTS CAN’T LOSE! • Sarah now has $1950 in earnings and a full SSI benefit of $711; creating a monthly total of $2661. • SSI still has a $2000 resource limit so savings must be moved to a protected savings vehicle, such as an ABLE account. • ABLE Accounts are recently created “protected savings vehicles” that can be used by an SSI recipient whose disability began before at 26. No SSA determination is needed.

16. Myth #2 I will lose my Medicaid/Medicare if I start working.

17. Continued Health Care A benefits counselor will go over this with youth and families in more detail. In Maryland, if a person gets as little as $1 in SSI benefits, Medicaid is automatic. Section 1619 (b) providesprotection from the loss of Medicaid coverage when cash benefits stop. In Maryland, people receiving SSI can earn up to $40,869 before losing health insurance coverage. 1619(b) is suppose to be automatic, but… Recipients should call SSA to ensure they are coded properly. An “individualized threshold” can be requested if the recipient has very high Medicaid usage.

18. Employed Individuals with Disabilities Program (EID) • Allows working people with disabilities in MD to apply for Medicaid under the Medicaid Buy-In for Working Persons with Disabilities. • Premiums are based on a sliding scale according to income and are currently $0 - $55 monthly. • An SSA disability finding is necessary. • Under the Buy-In program, the higher resource level is $10,000 for an individual and $15,000 for a married couple, potential providing a savings opportunity for those individuals who were limited to the SSI $2000 individual and $3000 married couple limit. • Serves as an important safety net for those who are working but unable to afford health care.

19. Section 301 for Youth & Age 18 Redetermination • EVERY SSI youth must undergo an Age 18 Redetermination. Childhood disability standards and Adult standards differ greatly. At age 18, the youth is considered and adult and must now be unable to work at SGA levels. • If the youth is determined to be no longer disabled but has an IEP, SSA will continue to pay both SSI cash and healthcare until the IEP is completed.

20. Section 301 for Adults • Adults can also use section 301 to protect benefits despite a finding of medical improvement. • If the disabled adult has a vocational plan, it will be completed in a reasonable time and will create a likelihood that benefits will not be needed if the plan is completed, SSA will pay cash and health care until the plan is completed.

21. Myth #3 If my checks stop coming because I go to work, and then I am unable to continue working because of my disability, I will have to go through the whole application process from the beginning again.

22. Re-StartingBenefits Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) • Allows you to restart benefits without having to begin the application process all over again. • SSI will provide you with provisional benefits for up to 6 months while they are making a decision about EXR approval. • This applies for up to 60 months of working, if your income falls below the income cut-off for SSI and SSI was terminated because of work. Also applies to SSDI.

23. Other Resources That Can Help… Legal Serviceswww.lsc.govDisability Rights Agencywww.ndrn.orgBenefits Plannerswww.SSA.gov/findhelpMaryland ABLEwww.marylandable.orgCenters for Independent Livinghttp://msilc.org/map.html

24. College Disability Services • Available on all campuses that receive state/federal funding including most private colleges, including community colleges. • Serve adult college students who have a documented disability that requires they need accommodations in order to have equal access to education. • Is not special education services. • College attendance may also qualify as a §301 program. • Costs related to disability can be included in Federal Financial Aid. For more details visit https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/college-planning/financial-aid/financial-aid-disabled-students1.htm or www.ed.gov

25. Working with Staff around Benefits Counseling

26. How PROMISE worked with Staff • Oriented staff to Benefits Counseling by the Benefits Specialist • The Benefits Specialist prepared handouts for staff to increase their knowledge and alert them to specific opportunities to discuss a Benefits Counseling referral. • Integrated Benefits Counselors into each Regional team.

27. Meeting the Families Where They Are • In person meetings at the youth/family home was preferred method • some telephone benefits counseling assessments were conducted for various reasons. • Staff assisted in a warm hand off to the benefits counselors • Attending the in person meeting with the benefits counselors was preferred

28. Hesitancy of Youth and Family • Discussion of personal finances was a challenge. • Difficult for many families to see the need for benefits counseling. • Efforts to increase families participation of benefits counseling.

29. Promising Practices • Help families and youth access necessary information and support services • Educate and connect youth and families on the basics of SSI work incentives • Support youth in taking advantage of all opportunities to that promote work • Provide opportunities for youth to practice independence when working

30. PROMISE Premise Hearing someone say a youth can’t work should NEVER be a barrier to a transition plan that includes work as an outcome Everyone can work, with the right supports.  It pays to work!

32. Resources • Promising Practices: Understanding Work Incentives • Work Incentive Fact Sheets • 1-page briefs • Maryland ABLE Accounts • www.marylandable.org • March webinar: Stories of Engaging Youth in Work Experiences

33. For More Information:https://mdtransitions.org/https://education.umd.edu/CTCI The contents of this webinar were developed under a grant from the Department of Education (cooperative agreement #H418P130005). However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal government.