community currents

Monthly Clinics:  Social Security Post-entitlement / Eligibility Issues

I. Clinic Description

People With Disabilities Foundation (PWDF) will hold monthly clinics on the subject of Social Security/SSI disability post-entitlement / eligibility issues at its office in San Francisco.  The clinics will provide legal advice to beneficiaries with mental and/or developmental disabilities.  They will address SSDI Work Activity Reviews and SSI redeterminations based on income, whether earned or unearned, and resulting overpayments.  

The clinic is open to all mentally and/or developmentally disabled individuals who have these social security issues.  At this time, PWDF only has the resources to help people who have overpayment issues that are directly related to a mental and/or developmental disability.  This clinic is not for people who only have overpayment issues.

The Social Security disability work incentive rules are not the same for SSDI and SSI.  The clinics will cover cessation of benefits and some resulting in overpayments. Some of the main issues covered in the clinics will be Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWE), Unsuccessful Work Attempts (UWA), Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) and other special circumstances.

The clinics will be located at PWDF’s office at 507 Polk Street, Suite 430, San Francisco, CA 94102.  These clinics will be offered by PWDF based on a sliding scale from $00.00 up.  Call 415-931-3070 to make an appointment for the next clinic, which will be held on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. The clinics will be offered the fourth Wednesday of every month.

II.  Background

Since 2000 PWDF has focused on advocating for the rights of people with invisible disabilities. Through our work with this population, especially our work with federal court discrimination cases involving the Social Security Administration (SSA), we have discovered a real need for representation and advising individuals on continuing disability reviews, which involve complex work incentive rules and regulations.

The SSA has increased quotas for the number of work activity reviews done by the field offices each year; they have determined that every dollar spent on a work review results in $15 in savings for the SSA.¹  Accordingly, more people are having their benefits ceased due to the increase in the number and aggressiveness of these reviews.  On top of incentivizing the removal of people from benefits, the SSA eliminated funding for the Work Incentive Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program;² thus, there are going to be more individuals on benefits who are attempting to re-enter the workforce without this kind of assistance.

Amongst the population that is affected by the increasing amount of work reviews and elimination of assistive services, those with invisible disabilities are affected disproportionately due to SSA’s lack of training and the beneficiaries’ inability to understand the complex rules and communications from the SSA. Our agency has recently settled two cases that alleged the SSA discriminated against this population regarding work reviews: see Terrence Davis v. Michael Astrue, and John Doe v. Michael Astrue.³ 

PWDF Profile

Who We Are

People With Disabilities Foundation is an operating 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California, which focuses on the rights of the mentally and developmentally disabled.

Services

Advocacy: PWDF advocates for Social Security claimant's disability benefits in eight Bay Area counties. We also provide services in disability rights, on issues regarding returning to work, and in ADA consultations, including areas of employment, health care, and education, among others. There is representation before all levels of federal court and Administrative Law Judges. No one is declined due to their inability to pay, and we offer a sliding scale for attorney's fees.

Education/Public Awareness: To help eliminate the stigma against people with mental disabilities in society, PWDF's educational program organizes workshops and public seminars, provides guest speakers with backgrounds in mental health, and produces educational materials such as videos.

Continuing Education Provider: State Bar of California MCLE, California Board of Behavioral Sciences Continuing Education, and Commission of Rehabilitation Counselor Certification.