Benefit-to-Work (B2W) Benefits to Work
Many people with disabilities choose not to work or limit the amount they work because of a fear that work will cause a loss or reduction of cash benefits and a loss of health insurance with no safety net if the job ends. The goal of this training series is to increase the number of professionals in disability services who can help people with disability address basic questions about benefits and work and to dispel these fears. It’s important to understand that this training will not make you an expert on public benefit work rules. When you work with a person who has a complex set of benefits issues or questions, you’ll still need to get a certified benefits planner involved. Certified benefit planners are sometimes called Community Work Incentive Coordinators or CWIC for short. They have received extensive training on public benefits and are able to address complicated situations. Throughout this web course, we’ll point out examples of when you should refer someone to a benefits planner. Then during the classroom training we’ll review the decision-making process so you can have a clear understanding of when you should make this type of referral.
Title II Disability and Supplemental Security Income Benefits.
This course has been updated to represent the most up to date information regarding Title II and SSI benefits. The course experts have created this course to provide the updated information in a format to help direct care workers understand and communicate these benefits to their end clients.
- Develop an understanding of the eligibility criteria for Title II disability benefits and SSI.
- Gain insights on how to dispel myths and provide estimates for those who desire work and more financial security through employment.
- Understand and communicate the application processes for each benefit system.
- Understand and communicate the appeals process for each set of benefits.
Beth Keeton
Chief Operating Officer of Griffin-Hammis Associates
Beth Keeton is Chief Operating Officer of Griffin-Hammis Associates and the Executive Director of The Center for Social Capital. For the last 20 years, Beth has provided training and technical assistance on employment-related projects throughout the country, specializing in customized employment, self-employment, public benefits and work incentives. On these projects, she works closely with Community Rehabilitation Providers (CRPs) to address benefits concerns, increase work incentives utilization, and embed benefits-related planning and supports into their employment services. She co-created Fast PASS, a series of trainings and workshops designed to support CRPs with identifying PASS candidates and completing/submitting PASS applications. Beth also worked extensively with Florida’s Agency for Persons with Disabilities to develop the SSA Electronic Toolkit (SET), which included both a narrative manual on SSA Benefits and Work Incentives as well as series of integrated spreadsheets to run basic benefits analysis. Beth serves as a course instructor for the VCU- WIPA National Training and Data Center and co-created the online Financial and Benefits Navigator curriculum for the state of Alaska. She is currently working closely with the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency on a statewide project to provide benefits and work incentives training and technical assistance to GVRA counselors and employment providers and to support GVRA’s network of CWIC trained counselors to increase PASS utilization. Beth co-wrote Navigating Government Benefits & Employment: A Guidebook for Veterans with Disabilities and co-authored the recently released revised edition of Making Self-Employment Work for People with Disabilities.
Molly Sullivan
For 20 years, Molly Sullivan has been assisting people with disabilities pursue wage and self-employment. She has worked in direct service and program management for both non-profit and government agencies. For the last decade she has also provided training and technical assistance under numerous innovative projects at the local, state, and national level including the Social Security funded WIPA National Training and Data Center, state Medicaid Infrastructure Grants, and state Disability Employment Initiatives.
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This course is unavailable for direct enrollment, please contact the Community Mental Health Association of Michigan.
What People Are Saying
The course flowed smoothly. I appreciated the mini quizzes in the lecture to help make sure I was understanding concepts before moving on to new concepts."
