Courses

Work incentives pave the way to work and financial independence for recipients of public benefits. All public benefits programs and pensions provide incentives for recipients with disabilities to return to work. During the first set of 7 webinars (Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income and Work), participants will explore the principal benefits provided by the Social Security Administration as well as the work incentives pertaining to each benefit. While SSA provides some of the most significant cash and health care benefits, reality indicates that recipients with disabilities may receive benefits from a myriad of public sources. The second set of 6 webinars (The Effect of Work on Other Federal Programs and Their Relationship the Disability Programs) participants will review the various federal programs providing benefits to individuals with disabilities, including TANF, Workers Compensation, and Veterans Benefits, as well as how each relate to one another and are impacted by earned income. Finally, the third set of 4 webinars (The Ins and Outs of Becoming a Benefits Practitioner) will introduce the practice to participants by providing suggestions as to how this complex variety of work incentives, critically needed benefits and earnings can be described and explained to an individual with a disability to both encourage work and financial independence.

This intensive certification program for Benefits Practitioners requires participation in 17 webinars, completion of a provisional certification on line examination as well as a file review that, upon successful completion, will result in full certification. The webinars are presented twice weekly over a period of eight and a half weeks. The on line examination will be administered two weeks after the conclusion of the webinar series and participants will be allowed a full work week (24/7) to complete the examination. Finally, within 3 months of successfully completing the examination a file review will be completed by Cornell faculty to ensure that the provisionally certified Benefits Practitioner is actually able to effectively use the information obtained through the webinar courses and written materials.

Full certification can be maintained by securing 60 hours of continuing education units (CEU) over the 5 year period immediately following the attainment of full certification. An on line “portal” will be made available for logging CEU activity.

Work incentives pave the way to work and financial independence for recipients of public benefits. All public benefits programs and pensions provide incentives for recipients with disabilities to return to work. During the first set of 7 webinars (Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income and Work), participants will explore the principal benefits provided by the Social Security Administration as well as the work incentives pertaining to each benefit.

While SSA provides some of the most significant cash and health care benefits, people with disabilities may receive benefits from a myriad of public sources. In the second set of 6 webinars (The Effect of Work on Other Federal Programs and Their Relationship the Disability Programs) participants will review the various federal programs providing benefits to individuals with disabilities, including TANF, Workers Compensation, and Veterans Benefits, as well as how each relate to one another and are impacted by earned income.

Finally, the third set of 4 webinars (The Ins and Outs of Becoming a Benefits Practitioner) will introduce the practice to participants by providing suggestions as to how this complex variety of work incentives, critically needed benefits, and earnings can be explained to an individual with a disability to encourage both work and financial independence.

This intensive training program for Benefits Practitioners requires participation in 17 webinars. At the completion of the 17 webinars, participants will receive a Certificate of Attendance. Credentialing can be received if the participant chooses the Work Incentives Planning and Utilization for Benefit Practitioners Certificate Series (with Credentialing as a Benefits and Work Incentives Practitioner) course.

Participants interested in completing a course in SSA Work Incentive Knowledge and Utilization must complete all seven webinar classes in this concentration area. Individuals considering the delivery of benefits and work incentive planning and assistance should consider also completing the Work Incentive Planning course and the Federal Benefit Programs course. Individuals completing all three courses and passing an online examination will be eligible for the Cornell University Certificate in Work Incentives Planning and Utilization for Benefit Practitioners.

Learn to counsel youth with disabilities to use work incentives as a tool for establishing careers, as you earn Cornell’s Youth-C credential!

You’ll learn about:

• Work incentives that can specifically benefit youths
• Calculating and tracking the use of these work incentives, and planning for periods of time when each may not apply
• Using and understanding the BPQY to ensure a youth receives applicable work incentives
• Counseling youths and parents about the benefits of work—and the benefits of work incentives
• Financial tools to assist the youth and family as the youth begins work
• Assisting with developing good money habits immediately when a job begins

Prerequisite: Either an up-to-date WIP-C™ credential from Cornell University or CWIC certification from Virginia Commonwealth University.

The class will be limited to 40 participants.

Learn to counsel Veterans with disabilities about returning to work, as you earn Cornell’s Vet-C credential.

You’ll learn about

• Disability benefits offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
• How VA benefits and SSA benefits impact each other
• What happens to VA benefits when Veterans return to work
• Tools to verify VA benefits
• Counseling Veterans about the benefits of work and how to leverage VA benefits to support work
• Outreach to organizations serving Veterans

Prerequisite: Either an up-to-date WIP-C credential from Cornell University or CWIC certification from Virginia Commonwealth University. The class will be limited to 35 participants.

People who get approved for Title II Disability benefits – often after appeals and long waits – usually breathe deep sighs of relief to have that nerve-racking ordeal behind them.  Little do they know.  Getting awarded a Title II Disability benefit is just the beginning.  SSA periodically conducts two kinds of reviews to determine whether eligibility for benefits can continue.  Work continuing disability reviews (CDRs) evaluate earnings and allowable deductions to determine which Title II Disability work incentive phase a person is in, and whether they remain eligible for benefit payments.  Medical CDRs consider whether a person has medically improved, and therefore, whether benefits should continue.

This webinar details work and medical CDRs – when and how often they are initiated, which forms and documents are used, tips for people whose work CDRs will determine they are performing SGA and the standard of proof used for medical CDRs.  The session also reviews two work incentives that can enable a person to keep Title II Disability or SSI benefits temporarily even if they have medically improved – the Ticket to Work and Section 301 – and how to prepare beneficiaries to use them, if necessary.

When you provide work incentives counseling, some good things are bound to happen, like enabling people to earn more than they thought they could and to keep their medical benefits even if their cash benefits stop.  Unfortunately, some not-so-good things are also inevitable, like some people having overpayments.  Even when people report their earnings and do everything they’re supposed to, it’s almost impossible to completely avoid overpayments.  SSA is simply too overwhelmed to always stop or adjust benefit payments in a timely way.

But there’s good news.  You can help people decrease overpayments by reporting earnings, reduce or eliminate overpayments by using work incentives, negotiate reasonable repayment plans to make overpayments less painful, and even have some overpayments “waived”.  You just need to know the rules…and some loopholes.

This training covers:

·      How to reduce or eliminate overpayments by reporting earnings and requesting work incentive use

·      Asking SSA to stop or reduce benefit payments, when necessary, to keep overpayments from growing

·      Appealing overpayments

·      Requesting that overpayment determinations be “reopened” when appeals are not an option

·      Benefit adjustment to recover overpayments, and how to request that lesser amounts be withheld from benefits to repay overpayments

·      Installment payments to settle overpayments when benefits have stopped

·      Compromise settlements

·      How and when to request a waiver of an overpayment

·      Resources for helping with overpayments

Update on VA Benefits for Working Veterans with Disabilities from Debora Wagner.

SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley has held his office only since December 2023, but he has arguably already done more to help improve the overpayment process and ease burdens on SSI recipients than any of his predecessors.  O’Malley explained that the changes are incremental, but if you make enough of them, they can result in systemic change.

This webinar dives into the changes to overpayments, SSI in-kind support and maintenance and SSI deeming that have either already occurred or will occur by September 30, 2024.  And if we’re lucky, there will be more to come.