Benefits: Training Options
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People receiving Social Security disability benefits often have concerns around losing those benefits if they start working. However, the Social Security Administration has rules called "work incentives." These allow beneficiaries to work for a certain period of time and/or earn certain amounts, and retain some or all of their cash and medical benefits. Special provisions can also help working beneficiaries retain their health care.
Benefits and work incentives are complex, but they're essential to understand. Here are some training options and other resources to help you and the job seekers you serve.
BenePLAN in partnership with Work Without Limits, with support from DDS, is providing a 1�-day Nuts and Bolts training in each of the DDS regions for DDS staff and providers. Training has already been held in the Northeast and Metro Regions. Contact the regional office for more information about training in the Central/West region (March 30 and April 1) and the Southeast (to be scheduled).
Through the Massachusetts Disability Employment Initiative, BenePLAN and Work Without Limits will also be conducting the Nuts and Bolts training for the One-Stop Career Centers and their partners in the Lowell and Franklin/Hampshire regions in March. Contact the Career Center of Lowell or the Franklin Hampshire Career Center for more information.
The New England TACE Center is offering an online course in May: Earnings and Benefits: Using Social Security Work Incentives.
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WIPA Experts Offer Benefits Planning
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The Social Security Administration funds a network of Work Incentives Planning and Assistance programs (WIPAs) that provide expert benefits counseling and planning services to people with disabilities who are working or seeking employment. You can schedule a one-to-one consultation with a WIPA expert to talk about how earnings and benefits relate to a specific individual's situation.
In Massachusetts there are two WIPA programs:
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Available in English and Spanish, this guide makes Social Security disability benefits and employment easy to understand. The purpose of this booklet is to give families and professionals practical, hands-on information about work incentives, and benefits planning resources.The Social Security Red Book provides comprehensive information about the impact of earnings on Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance.
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