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Planning for Something Other Than Poverty:
Benefits Counseling in Vermont

by James Smith

In 1999, the Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation established a comprehensive and statewide benefits counseling program for individuals receiving Social Security Disability Benefits (Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance). These services are funded through a grant from the Social Security Administration, which supports six full-time benefits counselors. Since 1999 over 500 people have received comprehensive benefits counseling services. Based in part on the success of this project, in 2001 Vermont received grant funding from the Federal Department of Education to develop a benefits counseling service specifically for youth (ages 16 to 27) in transition. This project will establish five full-time Benefits Specialists to work within high schools and youth services statewide. The goal is to inform and educate youth, families and professionals about their Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and other public benefits and the incentives built into these programs that support their employment and educational goals.

A Little Knowledge Can Be Dangerous

In 1999, shortly after Division of Vocational Rehabilitation had established the benefits counseling program, I had a conversation with a counselor who specialized in serving youth. He informed me that he had a good understanding of benefits issues for youth. He told me he “made sure none of the young people ever earned over $500 a month” so they would not put their Social Security benefits at risk. His advice, though well-intentioned, was, for most of the people he served, based on totally inaccurate information. What is worse, many of those young people went on to limit their employment to career opportunities based on a totally arbitrary (and inaccurate) number. Furthermore, the families and other supporting professionals involved with this counselor also walked away with misinformation about the impact of work on SSI and SSDI benefits.

I do not blame this counselor for his overly conservative approach. Like many rehabilitation professionals (including myself) who came into this field in the 1980s and early 1990s, he has seen many people get into difficulties by working “too much.” Over the years, a number of his clients had experienced a sudden unexpected loss of benefits, or worse, had discovered they were in an overpayment status and owed back Social Security in the amount of thousands of dollars. Like many professionals in the field, he saw his role as protecting his clients from these risks.

Raising Expectations for Youth on SSI and SSDI

While this conservative professional outlook is understandable, it is perhaps no longer appropriate. It unnecessarily and arbitrarily limits the potential employment of youth who receive SSI and SSDI benefits. By encouraging a young person to limit employment, the professional may be dooming that young person to a life of ongoing poverty. After all, that is what a lifetime on SSI would be. The fact is, in most circumstances, a young person on SSI or SSDI is almost always financially better off by going to work.

So what has changed? The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act has added and improved a number of work incentives built into the SSI and SSDI programs. These changes have built in some added protections and incentives that support employment. In addition, the SSI program (the program youth with disabilities are most likely to receive) includes work incentives that support youth pursuing educational as well as employment goals namely the Student Earned Income Exclusion and Plan to Achieve Self Sufficiency (PASS).

However, to take advantage of these work incentives young people and their families must have access to accurate and complete information on the impact of employment on all their benefits. A young person can still get into difficulties if not fully aware or informed of rules of the programs including overpayments or unexpected loss of benefits. This is where benefits counseling comes in.

Benefits Counseling for Youth in Transition

The Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) model of benefits counseling targets people on SSI and SSDI who are working or interested in working. It is based on a consumer choice approach. That is to say, the consumer of services should direct the process and is best qualified to make the right decisions for his or her self. The role of the benefits counselor is to provide the person with the best information possible regarding the impact of employment on all the benefits they receive. The benefits counselors are well-trained specialists who focus exclusively on these services. They are based within DVR, but provide services in a number of community settings including community mental health programs, schools, and developmental services agencies. Based on the experience of the last three years we have identified the following as key issues for benefits planning and assistance for youth:

• Benefits counseling should provide youth with information on the impact of employment on all their benefits, not just SSI and SSDI. Benefits counseling must incorporate an analysis of the impact of work on all the benefits received including Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, housing assistance, fuel assistance and any other public benefits. The unexpected loss of any benefits (no matter how small) may undermine a young person’s confidence in the benefits counselor and the system as a whole.
• Benefits counseling must take into account the whole family’s benefits concerns and the family income as a whole. Many youth live with their parents or other family members during the transition years. The young person’s earned income may not only impact their benefits but also their parents’ and siblings’ benefits. Also, many low-income families may depend on a child’s SSI payment as part of the household budget. The benefits counselor must involve the whole family in the process to ensure everyone understands what will happen and the financial implications. This can involve some very challenging negotiations between family members.
• Benefits counseling must be available to the young person through the transition process and take into account the young person’s changing circumstances and change in status. Benefits counseling is sometimes portrayed as a one-time or short-term intervention. In Vermont, we have found people need repeated access to a benefits counselor as they make the transition to employment. This is particularly true for youth in transition because of their changing status. For example, a young person’s eligibility for certain programs or provisions changes as he or she gets older (e.g. a person is only eligible for the SSI Student Earned Income Exclusion through age 22). The rules for an 18-year-old full-time student who lives at home can be very different than for a 22-year-old who is no longer in school and lives in his or her own apartment. Also, just the probability the young person will have more earned income at age 22 than at age 18 will have a substantial impact on benefit status. Therefore, the young person must be able to go back to the benefits counselor repeatedly over time as new issues arise or sometimes just to get reassurance.
• The benefits counselor should work with the transition team to ensure supporting family members and professionals understand the benefits picture. It is unreasonable to expect school staff, VR counselors, and other professionals in a transition team to understand all the intricacies of Social Security regulations. However, the benefits counselor can ease concerns about the young person losing benefits or health care coverage unexpectedly. In some cases, eligibility for necessary adult services may depend on continued access to Medicaid so it is critical all members of the transition team are in the loop.

Conclusion

We do not serve youth in transition by counseling them to limit their employment to preserve their eligibility for benefits. After all, a lifetime on SSI is a lifetime in poverty. New work incentives built into the SSI and SSDI programs do offer new opportunities for young people with disabilities to achieve greater financial independence. However, to be able to take advantage of these work incentives, young people in transition must have access to accurate and comprehensive benefits counseling.

James Smith is Director of the Vermont Work Incentives Initiative, Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Waterbury. He may be reached at 802/241 4480 or james@dad.state.vt.us.

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