Employment Services And Disability Benefits

Social Security Disability Programs

• SSDI beneficiaries lose their entire benefit if they earn even one dollar over the allowable limit of $800 a month. Consequently, people on SSDI are forced to limit the hours they work, turn down raises, and refuse better paying jobs. Congress can invest in the recovery of persons with mental illnesses by changing the SSDI benefit to resemble SSI, where a person loses one dollar in SSI benefits for every two dollars they earn. This will encourage beneficiaries to enter or reenter the workforce without fear of losing immediate access to income supports and medical benefits.
  
  
• Many beneficiaries who work accrue thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of dollars in overpayments through no fault of their own because the Social Security Administration (SSA) does not track and record earnings. SSA must adopt an income reporting system so that checks are not sent to beneficiaries who have reported that they are ineligible due to work. Until then, SSA should be prohibited from collecting overpayments from beneficiaries who follow the rules and report earnings.
  
  
• Individuals with mental illnesses and other disabilities have a great deal of difficulty getting accurate information from SSA about rules pertaining to work incentives and return to work. SSA should fully implement the Employment Support Representative Program, which is designed to provide beneficiaries with accurate information about work and work incentives. Further, Congress and the Administration should significantly increase funding for the Benefits Planning, Outreach, and Assistance Program that is a part of the Ticket-to-Work law.
  
  
• Under the Ticket-to-Work program, a rehabilitation provider is paid a share of the savings that accrue because a person is no longer receiving cash benefits. Under the SSI program, benefits are reduced one dollar for every two dollars earned by the beneficiary. But SSA doesn't make payment to providers until all SSI benefits have ended, even though the person may have offset earnings by fifty, seventy-five or even ninety percent of their SSI check. SSA should change the payment system to providers so that providers get a partial payment for savings that occur because a working SSI beneficiary partially offsets their SSI benefit due to work. This will provide a strong incentive to rehabilitation providers to participate in this important program.

The State-Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Program

• The Federal-State Vocational Rehabilitation program (Title I of the Rehabilitation Act) has generally been ineffective in addressing the needs of individuals with serious mental illnesses. The federal resources funding VR that are intended to serve individuals with mental illness should be extracted and applied to a program that is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of the individuals with mental illness.

If this recommendation is not approved, we propose the following recommendations:

• Significantly increase funding for the Supported Employment Program under Title VI-C of the Rehabilitation Act. Additionally, the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) should develop and expand long-term supports and supported employment opportunities for people with mental illness.
  
  
• Increase RSA technical assistance to states on best practices in providing services to persons with mental illnesses, including hiring counselors who specialize in the employment of persons with mental illness, adopting weighted closure systems, supporting consumer-run businesses and hiring consumer peer employment specialists. The RSA must also take a more active role in evaluating and monitoring the adoption of these best practices by states.

Department of Labor Workforce Programs

• SSA, RSA, CMHS, and the Department of Labor should work closely to coordinate services for persons with mental illness.