TESTIMONY ON IL CENTER FUNDING
Independent Living Centers help Texans with disabilities achieve self-sufficiency goals that reduce the need
for institutionalization or demand for public assistance such as TANF or Medicaid. Examples include:
- Developing family and community support networks
- Learning health management and wellness skills
- Managing personal care services
- Finding personal care attendants
- Applying for housing and rental assistance
- Negotiating rental agreements and accommodations
- Finding roommate arrangements
- Locating assistance for home modifications
- Solving problems related to private insurance
- Accessing resources to pay for prescription drugs
- Advancing in employment to gain health insurance
- Managing personal finances
Work Incentive Planning and Assistance (WIPA) Programs Can Help You Gain
Financial Independence
In 2006 the Social Security Administration awarded an SSA grantee program called Work Incentives Planning and Assistance Projects or WIPAs. Many of the WIPA grantees are organizations that were formerly known as Benefits Planning Assistance and Outreach projects or BPAOs. The WIPA projects were funded to assist SSA disability beneficiaries with information about work incentives, benefits planning, and making good choices about work. cooperative agreements to member organizations of the Texas Association of Centers for Independent Living (TACIL). The purpose of the Social Security Administration's WIPA Projects are to provide statewide benefits planning and assistance, including information on the availability of protection and advocacy services, to SSDI and SSI beneficiaries with disabilities.
By working with a WIPA, SSA beneficiaries are better equipped to make informed choices about work. Each WIPA is staffed with Community Work Incentive Coordinators (CWICs) to:
- provide work incentives planning and assistance;
- help beneficiaries and their families determine eligibility for Federal or State work incentives programs;
- refer beneficiaries with disabilities to appropriate Employment Networks or State VR agencies based on individual needs and impairment types;
- provide general information about potential employer-based or federally subsidized health benefits coverage available to beneficiaries once they enter the workforce; and
- inform beneficiaries with disabilities of further protection and advocacy services available to them.
WIPAs are authorized to serve all SSA beneficiaries with disabilities, including transition-to-work aged youth, providing benefits planning and assistance services on request and as resources permit.
Many individuals with disabilities do not pursue employment goals for fear of losing cash benefits (SSDI/SSI), health insurance through Medicaid or Medicare, or other benefits they need to pay costs of housing, health care, food and other basic necessities. Recent changes in federal and state laws have made it possible for individuals with disabilities to retain life sustaining benefits even after they begin to work.
For example: many federal and state benefits are now phased out only when individuals with disabilities gain enough income and health insurance at work to offset loss of benefits that were provided before they secured employment. Individuals who attempt to work and then find that they cannot meet workplace demands because of their disability, can have their benefits reinstated promptly by calling Social Security. They will not have to go through another SSA disability determination process for the same disability they had before entering the workforce. There are dozens of beneficial programs available via area WIPAs. One such project is called Medicaid Buy In (MBI). MBI is a program that allows people of any age who have a disability and are earning a paycheck to receive Medicaid by paying a nominal monthly premium. The monthly premium is based on earned and unearned income. For information on income and disability requirements, please go to: http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/mbi.html#Q1.
Five CILs in Texas have received funding to enhance SSDI/SSI beneficiary awareness and understanding of Federal, State and local work incentives, and improve their ability to make informed choices regarding employment. Each CIL is working in collaboration with the Texas Workforce Centers (TWC) and public and private organizations serving people with disabilities to implement the SSA-BPAOP WIPA initiative. The TWCs are providing referrals and opportunities for Benefits Specialists to meet with eligible consumers at their facilities.
Specialists will provide personalized benefits planning and assistance services through one-on-one consultations, and, in cooperation with the TWCs, help individuals with disabilities develop plans to improve work-related skills and/or secure employment.
WIPA related information and assistance is provided in English, Spanish, and other languages and alternative formats upon request.
For more assistance please contact a Certified Benefits Specialists who serves your county. The following is a list of contact information and service areas for TACIL member organizations that are providing work incentives benefits planning, assistance and outreach services.