News and Press Releases

Seeking claimants – Section 504 – Social Security Administration

Posted 5/22/2013

People With Disabilities Foundation (PWDF) and Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center (LAS-ELC) would like to communicate with individuals with mental and/or developmental disabilities, who have been on Social Security SSDI and/or SSI disability benefits, and who continue to be entitled or eligible for such benefits.  We are interested in assessing timely (within the past two years) issues of discrimination post-entitlement regarding SSA proceedings or interactions related to work reviews and medical reviews (including non-disability income and/or resource eligibility requirements).

Such discrimination might include:  a failure to provide reasonable accommodation during post-entitlement communications and proceedings; a failure to effectively communicate with the beneficiary; and the use of eligibility criteria (e.g. confusing procedural requirements) that exclude or screen people out on the basis of disability.

Post-entitlement work review proceedings include a host of issues relating to:  a trial work period (TWP); an extended period of eligibility (EPE); a ticket to work; expedited reinstatement (EXR); the calculation of SSI benefit (the $1.00 deduction for every $2.00 earned); a PASS (plan to achieve self-support); payments under section 1619(a); the consideration of “special conditions” and/or “employer subsidies” relating to disabilities; the deduction of impairment related work expenses (IRWEs); and additional matters.  Other post-entitlement issues include medical reviews and related resource and income reviews.

We want to determine if there are enough people who reside in California and who can be Complainants in an administrative disability civil rights case against the Social Security Administration (SSA) and perhaps, if legally indicated, Plaintiffs in a civil rights case under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (precursor to ADA) in Court.  The administrative process could be private.  Identifying information such as name and address could be private even in a court.

To recap, specific criteria for possible claimants include:

1. A resident of the western states, including California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska and Hawaii, who has already been found eligible for SSDI and/or SSI benefits;
2. Who has severe mental and/or developmental disabilities as a primary impairment for receiving benefits; and
3. Who has been discriminated against within the past 2 years during post-entitlement procedures.