SOAR eNews - February 2014

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February 2014 New Focus for SOAR TA Center: Leadership Academy The SOAR TA Center will facilitate its first Leadership Academy in Atlanta, GA, on February 4-6, 2014. The 3-day SOAR Leadership Academy (LA) will prepare individuals to be SOAR Local Leads whose roles will complement those of SOAR Trainers and State Team Leads. LA participants will learn how to build and sustain SOAR within their community and support and mentor trainees who successfully complete the new SOAR Online Course. Expectations of Local Leads include: Conduct 6-hour SOAR Fundamentals refresher trainings to individuals who have successfully completed the SOAR Online Course Hold monthly SOAR Steering Committee meetings to address systems-level issues Facilitate monthly meetings with trainees to answer their questions as they assist others with SSI/SSDI applications Work closely with the SOAR State Team Lead, Trainers, and SOAR TA Center to implement SOAR in their community A note to current SOAR Trainers: Stay tuned for information about webinars and calls geared specifically to Trainers about this new SOAR direction. The SOAR TA Center will continue to support your efforts to provide two-day Stepping Stones to Recovery trainings, but if you would like to expand your role, we will have options for you to do so in a series of Learning Community calls or by attending an in-person Leadership Academy (LA). Please contact your State Team Lead if you are interested in an LA spot. In This Issue Leadership Academies Success Stories SSA Updates Center Events Quick Links SOAR Website Contact us Trainings SSA Webinars Sharing Our Successes SOAR News and Accomplishments Atlanta, GA: Congratulations to Sherry McGlown on the approval of her first application! Sherry is a Medicaid Entitlement Specialist with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Sherry advised the SOAR TA Center, “Just so you know, I revised the first summary I sent to the TA Center, and yesterday the DAS adjudicator informed me that it is approved for presumptive disability!” Way to go Sherry! Oklahoma, WV: Yvonne Jackson writes: “In 2012 when I worked for Family and Children Services, I attended the SOAR training so that I could help our clients apply for SSI/SSDI. My dad who is a veteran and who has had a lot of medical issues was thinking about applying for SSDI. He was making the common mistake of going to SSA.com [instead of SSA.gov] and almost called a lawyer. I told him not to do anything, and that I would help him complete his application. We started the process in June and within 3-4 months he got approved. If I had not gotten the SOAR training, I would not have felt confident enough to help him apply, and he would have had to hire an attorney because my parents would have gotten frustrated with the process.” Cheyenne, WY: Jessica Fancher shared a few creative training activities she developed during our last SOAR Trainers Alumni Group (TAG) call. Based on the popular TV game show Family Feud, Jessica developed a fun way to test participants’ understanding of the material after each module. Jessica made the Stepping Stones to Recovery training video more interactive by having participants use the "Interview with Andrea" to complete an SSI application during the training. Jessica is developing a handout describing each activity's steps and guidelines that will be shared at our next TAG call. If you have a SOAR-related success story to share, email pheine@prainc.com. Consider SOAR State E-Newsletters to Promote Success! The SOAR TA Center is not alone in the effort to promote SOAR success stories using electronic newsletters. Creativity abounds across the country with newsletters that are interesting, informative and humorous! Many states use monthly newsletters to broadcast announcements, offer training tips, and provide updates to their SOAR communities. Julia Welle Ayres (MN), often injects humor to get her message out, while Jessica Fancher (WY) uses inspirational quotes of encouragement and recipes of chocolaty goodness to hook readers. Maryland, Illinois, and Michigan also use newsletters to keep their SOAR communities informed. If your state issues newsletters, please share them with the SOAR TA Center. We’d love to hear from you! Email us at soar@prainc.com. Social Security Updates Social Security Administration (SSA) Announces New Compassionate Allowances Conditions In January, SSA announced 25 new Compassionate Allowances conditions, including a dozen cancers. This brings the total number of conditions to 225. The Compassionate Allowances program identifies claims where the applicant’s disease or condition clearly meets Social Security’s statutory standard for disability. To date, almost 200,000 people with severe disabilities have been approved through this fast-track disability process. “We are dedicated to providing vulnerable Americans with faster access to disability benefits through our Compassionate Allowances program,” said Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin. “Social Security disability benefits are a vital lifeline for individuals who are facing severe diseases and we must ensure that they receive the benefits they rightly deserve.” For more information on the program, including a list of all Compassionate Allowances conditions, please visit http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances. Social Security Online Application Process Revision How to apply for “disability” for an adult has changed on SSA’s website: http://www.socialsecurity.gov. Beginning January 25, 2014, there is no longer an online “Adult Disability Report” but rather an SSA web page titled: “Apply Online for Disability Benefits.” The “Adult Disability Report” and “Filing for Disability Benefits” will no longer be separate websites. The goal of the changes to SSA’s website is to create a seamless pathway for online customers to file for disability benefits via a single access point. Here’s how it will work: Start applying: Online disability applicants will first complete the “iClaim”(the SSDI application or SSA-16) before receiving the i3368 (also known as the “Adult Disability Report”) screens. Exiting and re-entering the application: Claimants will receive one re-entry number to restart, complete, and submit the iClaim and i3368. The re-entry number is an eight-digit numeric code. The re-entry number replaces the prior “application” number for iClaim. Claimants who started but did not submit an iClaim or i3368 prior to 1/25/2014 will be redirected to their iClaim or i3368 upon re-entry. First or third party status can be changed when reentering the i3368. Reduce data-entry: Some information from the iClaim will auto-populate the i3368, but information edited in the i3368 will not impact the iClaim. Third party applications will NOT receive a confirmation number! If you have any questions, please contact your SOAR TA Center liaison, your State Team Lead, or your local Social Security office for more information Elimination of SSN Printouts and Benefit Verification Letters Implementation Postponed The Social Security Administration announced in December 2013 that the agency would be phasing out two field office services: (1) Social Security Number printouts (“SSN printouts”) and (2) benefit verification letters. The tentative new rollout dates are June/July for the elimination of SSN printouts and Sept/Oct for the elimination of benefit verification letters. These dates will replace the previously announced February 1 "soft rollout" start date. Upcoming SOAR TA Center Events The SOAR TA Center will be holding its first Leadership Academy (LA) on February 4-6, 2014 in Atlanta, GA. Although the LA scheduled for March 4-6 in Phoenix, AZ is full, three others are planned: May 6-8, Baltimore, MD; June 3-5, Portland, OR; and Sept. 10-12, Pittsburgh, PA. Please contact the SOAR TA Center or your State Team Lead if you are interested in attending.