Social Security Work Incentives: An Employers´ Guide to Benefits Planning and Management for Employees with Disabilities.

First Edition

Benefits Counselors and how they can assist my employees

Benefit Planners Advocacy and Outreach Program
The Benefit Planners Advocacy and Outreach (BPAO) Program provides trained specialists to better enable Social Security beneficiaries with disabilities to make informed choices about work. Each BPAO Program has Benefits Specialists who will:

• Provide work incentives planning and assistance to Social Security beneficiaries with disabilities;
• Conduct outreach efforts to those beneficiaries (and their families), who are potentially eligible to participate in Federal or State work incentives programs; and
• Work in cooperation with Federal, State, and private agencies and nonprofit organizations that serve beneficiaries with disabilities.

Employers who want to maximize the hours and flexibility of their employees with disabilities should advise the employee to start with accurate information about their own benefits. At the very least, the employee must know what type of benefits they receive.

To improve the value of benefits counseling:

• The employee should request a copy of the Social Security Administration (SSA) award letter, or call the local Social Security office to verify current benefit programs. Office numbers for each locality in Virginia can be found at the following website http://www.ssa.gov/phila/states/virginia.htm
• Contact the Benefits Planning Specialist in their area to assist in determining how their benefits will be affected by an increase in wages.
• The employer might also ask the employee to involve either their own employment service provider or counselor, if any, a family member or perhaps a mentor to help them consider ways to increase their employment hours and flexibility.
• The employee may also use WorkWORLD© Software to assist in determining benefits and available work incentives.

How to Contact a BPAO Specialist:
For a listing of Virginia´s BPAO Specialists and their contact information, please visit the Benefits Assistance Resource Center (BARC) of Virginia Commonwealth University website located at http://www.vcu-barc.org/region3/va.html

The Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy also provides information on employee benefits planning. Their toll free telephone number is 800-552-3962 (Voice/TTY) or e-mail address is general.vopa@vopa.virginia.gov.

WorkWORLD© Software
WorkWORLD© is a free, on-line benefits advisor/decision support software for personal computers that is designed to be used by people with disabilities, advocates, benefit counselors, and others. The software helps people find employment-based paths to higher net income through the best use of Federal and State work incentives and benefits. WorkWORLD© takes into account the complex interaction of earnings, benefit programs, and work incentives to provide individualized recommendations for safe options as well as alerts to possible problems.

To download the free software, go to http://www.workworld.org/ or for additional information WorkWORLD@vcu.edu or by phone: (804) 828-2665.

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