Legal Clinic: PWDF continues to hold a monthly Legal Clinic for Social Security beneficiaries (SSDI & SSI) with post-entitlement/eligibility issues. The next clinic will be held on Thursday, December 29, 2016 from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Please see our website for additional future dates. Attorneys will be available to answer a wide range of client questions, from work reviews and SSI continuing eligibility reviews, including earned and unearned income and resource limits, to CDRs. PWDF advises on cases where the Social Security Administration (SSA) discriminates against people with mental and/or developmental disabilities, especially in work review cases. Please call us at (415) 931-3070 to make an appointment.

Updates: PWDF filed a lawsuit (PWDF v. Colvin, Case No. 3:15-cv-02570) in response to SSA’s withholding of attorney fees owed to PWDF. SSA repeatedly refuses to pay PWDF fees approved by a judge. The SSA’s position violates its obligations under the Social Security Act, as amended by the Omnibus Reconciliation Act (OBRA) 1990, and is inconsistent with IRS rules related to § 501(c)(3) corporations. Specifically, IRS Revenue Procedures state: “Attorney fees must be paid to the organization not to individual staff attorneys. Staff attorneys and employees must be compensated by a straight salary that does not exceed reasonable amounts and is not established in connection with case fees received for cases handled.” (Rev. Proc. 92-59, 1992-2 C.B. 411.) A hearing on the motion is scheduled for January 5, 2017.

PWDF Advocacy Outreach: PWDF staff continue to attend various outreach events to forge community connections and provide information about PWDF’s services.

• Advocacy Program Manager Farrell Goodman now attends the San Francisco Mayor’s Disability Council meeting. The meeting for November 2016 was cancelled, and there is no meeting scheduled in December. Normally, these meetings are held monthly, and attended by staff from the Mayor’s Office on Disability (MOD) and members of the public. They are broadcast on SFGTV channel 26 and live streamed over the Internet. PWDF appreciates the mission of the MOD, to ensure that every program, service, benefit, activity and facility operated or funded by the City and County of San Francisco is fully accessible to, and usable by, people with disabilities. PWDF welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing pursuit of this mission.

• On September 23, 2016, Advocacy Program Manager Farrell Goodman attended a meeting of the S.F. SSCR (Social Security Claimants’ Representatives). These meetings are held monthly, and are moderated by Gail Silverstein, Clinical Professor of Law, University of California Hastings College of the Law. At this meeting, members shared their claims experiences before some of the recently-appointed Administrative Law Judges, and discussed some of the expected changes in policies and procedures when new SSA rules concerning criteria for evaluating disability claims involving mental disorders go into effect on January 17, 2017.

• On October 19, 2016 and December 7, 2016, PWDF was a service provider at the 65th and 66th Project Homeless Connect (PHC), respectively, at the San Francisco Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. PHC enables nonprofit medical, social service, and other providers to serve homeless San Franciscans with comprehensive services.

Local News: On November 8, 2016, the people of the City of San Francisco passed Issue I, a Charter Amendment establishing a Dignity Fund to support Seniors and Adults with Disabilities. Although the measure includes mechanisms for funding and administration, the city still must put details in place. As the city implements the measure, PWDF will report on its implications and effects.