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.

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.

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.

A representative payee (or rep. payee) manages benefits from Social Security for a beneficiary who is not capable of managing the funds independently. The proper role of rep. payees is often not clearly understood…even by rep. payees themselves. Many

beneficiaries need rep. payees, but many advocates believe that rep. payees are overused, and that many individuals who have rep. payees don’t need them - they could manage their own funds adequately. In the course of your work, you are likely to encounter individuals who have rep. payees, but would like to (and are capable of) managing their own benefits. You’ll also meet people who need payees, but whose payees are not doing a good job serving them. You may be uncertain about how to interact with rep. payees; which issues should you address with them and which issues should you not? What is a Work Incentive Practitioner to do?

This webinar plunges into the most common and important questions about rep. payees, including:

· When does (and doesn’t) a beneficiary need a rep. payee?

· How does SSA determine whether a person needs a rep. payee?

· Who are preferred candidates to be rep. payees?

· How does a person apply to be a rep. payee?

· How does SSA evaluate an applicant to be a rep. payee?

· How is a rep. payee appointed or changed?

· What are the duties of a rep. payee?

· What kind of bank account should a rep. payee use to receive a person’s benefits?

· How is a rep. payee’s performance monitored?

· How can a person with a rep. payee request to receive their own benefits directly?

· When can a rep. payee charge a fee?

· How should a rep. payee use (and not use) a person’s benefits?

· What should a rep. payee do with benefits not needed for a person’s current expenses?

· What can be done if a rep. payee is inadequate?

· Which issues should (or shouldn’t) a Work Incentive Practitioner address with a rep. payee?

SSA’s rules regarding the impact of earnings on Title II Disability and SSI benefits are substantially different for self-employment income than for wages. This topic has grown increasingly important in recent years as more workers have been classified as self-employed, including private contractors (who work for an employer but are technically self-employed) and gig workers. Self-employment has also become a more popular work option for many people with disabilities for whom regular wage employment is impractical or undesirable. Now more than ever, Work Incentive Practitioners need to know the self-employment rules.

Self-employment generally involves some advantages where benefits are concerned. However, it also entails more responsibility. Self-employed beneficiaries need to keep better records than wage employees, tracking earnings, business expenses and other details. Work Incentive Practitioners not only need to understand the rules, but also know how to advise self-employed workers about tracking information, reporting earnings and filing tax forms.

This webinar covers all the self-employment basics:

· What constitutes self-employment?

· Tracking business expenses

· Calculating “net earnings from self-employment (NESE)”

· How NESE are counted during the Trial Work Period, SGA determinations and for SSI purposes

· Reporting self-employment earnings to SSA

· Differences in SGA determinations and work incentives for self-employment

· Importance of business structure (sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC) or corporation)

· Differences regarding SSI work incentives for self-employment (IRWE, BWE, PASS, Property Essential to Self-Support (PESS))

Have you wondered why many of SSA’s rules refer to “disability or blindness”? While blindness is certainly a disability, SSA rules treat it differently from any other disability. This is true because blind advocates were able to carve out special advantages for blind beneficiaries early in the history of the Title II Disability and SSI programs. The matter is complicated by the fact that some people can qualify for Title II or SSI based on vision impairments that don’t meet SSA’s definition of “statutory blindness”, but they can only use the more generous rules if they do meet this definition.

The training covers the key issues and differences for statutorily blind workers, including:

· Definition of statutory blindness

· How to establish blindness on SSA’s record

· Differences for blind SSI beneficiaries (assessing blindness, work incentives)

· Differences for blind Title II Disability beneficiaries (disability duration, insured status, SGA earnings guideline, SGA determinations, disability freeze, waiting period, SGA rules for blind workers aged 55 and older)

· Randolph-Sheppard Act (provides self-employment for blind workers in food service)

A 15-week online course requiring an investment in an “inside-out” approach to working with people with disabilities. Participants actively commit to sit throughout 15 weeks of discovery and exploration of what it means to be person-centered and inclusive.

A ONE-OF-A-KIND LEARNING EXPERIENCE

A provocative 15-week program that combines interactive webinars with a self-paced online theory- to-practice curriculum. This course is designed to take the guesswork out of what it means to be truly person-centered and to build social inclusion with people with disabilities.

Participants will be immersed in a learning experience that is guided by people with disabilities, recorded interviews with experts, reflective and field-based applied learning, facilitated discussion and more. Be prepared for an “inside-out” experience. Participants are required to work with a minimum of two learning partners,* one of whom must be a person with a disability—throughout the course. These partners, along with the other participants in the course, serve as guides and supporters throughout the learning journey.

*Participants are responsible for finding your own learning partners.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Value-driven principles like inclusion, belonging, contribution and leadership are universal, and as such, this course is appropriate for anyone wishing to explore or study them. It is important to note that this course was written to provide disability service providers and practitioners a safe place to return to the roots of person-centered planning and practice; to listen to the voices of experience; apply theory to practice; and to share thoughts and ideas with others on a similar quest. This course is especially recommended for:

• Executive directors
• Program managers
• Service and/or program coordinators
• Direct support professionals
• Social workers
• Counselors
• Community inclusion practitioners/specialists
• Person-Centered Planners