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Benefits as a Bridge to Self-Sufficiency:
The Minnesota Work Incentives Connection

by Anita Boucher

The Minnesota Work Incentives Connection helps people with disabilities learn what happens to their government benefits if they work. The Connection’s focus is on using government benefits as a bridge to self-sufficiency, rather than a road to long-term dependence and poverty. It is a resource for students with disabilities, parents, teachers, providers, and advocates throughout Minnesota.

Connection Services

The Minnesota Work Incentives Connection was started under a grant from the Social Security Administration at the end of 1998. Services include:

• A free phone hotline for assistance and questions related to benefits and working.
• Problem-solving and advocacy for complex benefit problems.
• Training and outreach on Social Security programs and related work incentives.
• Benefits analysis, including a written benefits management plan and ongoing assistance with issues related to work and benefits. Benefits analysis includes: verification of benefits, examples of how work affects each benefit received, exploration of health care options, and a bottom line comparison of the individual’s overall financial situation before and after working. As part of benefits analysis, the Connection also helps students with disabilities access special work incentives that can help them save money for education, training and special equipment they may need to become working adults.

The Connection’s initial grant was directed toward adults with disabilities. Although some teenagers have also been served, the Connection recently received a second grant from the Social Security Administration that will allow more outreach to youth with disabilities in transition from school to work. Under this new Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach (BPA&O) grant, the Connection has contracted with knowledgeable transition specialists from the Minnesota Disability Law Center. These specialists will conduct outreach on work and benefits to groups of students, parents, teachers, and other interested parties. Outreach sessions will be held in school districts across Minnesota. The sessions will help make more people aware of the services offered by the Connection, as well as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) work incentives, such as the Student Earned Income Exclusion and PASS (Plan to Achieve Self Support). Young people with disabilities can use these work incentives to pursue education and work.

While the Connection’s new BPA&O funding allows it to direct more of its outreach efforts to youth with disabilities, it only has limited funding to provide direct benefits planning and assistance to this population. It is looking for additional resources to further expand services to youth in transition. Connection staff members firmly believe that serving youth is critical so that 20 years from now more people with disabilities will be able to work and maximize their self-sufficiency.

The Connection’s Future

The Connection’s new BPA&O funding became available as a result of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. This Act addresses many different issues relating to employment of people with disabilities, and the BPA&O provision provides funding to establish benefits planning and assistance programs, like the Minnesota Work Incentives Connection, in every state across the country. The Minnesota Work Incentives Connection is jointly administered by the Minnesota Department of Economic Security and the Minnesota Department of Human Services, in cooperation with the Social Security Administration. It emphasizes public-private partnerships and extensive involvement from people with disabilities, advocates, providers, government agencies and employers throughout the State. In the next couple of years, the Minnesota Work Incentives Connection plans to spin-off as an independent, non-profit agency, so it can continue as a long-term resource in Minnesota.

A Successful Future: Dustin’s Story

Dustin Sammons is working hard to become self-sufficient, and Social Security work incentives are helping him achieve his goals. Dustin is 19 years old and lives in a small town in southern Minnesota. He was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and uses a power wheelchair. He plays forward for the Minnesota Stars, the first organized electric wheelchair hockey team in the United States. Last year, the Stars won 4th place in the World Cup!

Dustin will always need some physical assistance, but that hasn’t stopped him from looking toward the future. At age 18, Dustin qualified for the SSI program. He started working part-time at Goodrich Aerospace while he was still in high school. The Minnesota Work Incentives Connection helped him access the SSI Student Earned Income Exclusion to begin saving a portion of his earnings for his own van.

Since graduation, Dustin has worked full-time at Goodrich Aerospace. He continues to save money, so he can eventually study computer science in the Twin Cities. Dustin lives at home and his mother drives him to work each day. When he goes away to school, Dustin’s mother will no longer be able to drive him, so he is learning to drive himself with funding from his State Rehabilitation Services counselor.

The Minnesota Work Incentives Connection advised Dustin on how he could use a PASS to add to the money he began saving using the Student Earned-Income Exclusion in high school. Dustin is using his PASS to purchase a van and to save for his tuition and fees at Brown Institute. Rehabilitation Services will help pay for making the van wheelchair accessible, and for a portion (but not all) of his schooling. Dustin hopes to have enough money in his PASS plan to start classes at school in about a year. His ultimate goal is to pursue a career in computer science.

When he goes to school, Dustin hopes to move into an apartment with his brother. He will need daily personal care assistance (PCA) services, which will most likely be funded through the Medical Assistance program. Because of his past work history, Dustin now qualifies for Social Security Disability Insurance, in addition to SSI. He views these benefits as tools to help move toward his ultimate goal of living and working independently as an adult.

When asked about his plans, Dustin said: “I hope for my future to be successful. I want to be important in my job. I would like to be able to move out on my own and eventually support a family of my own.” Dustin’s mother had this to say about Jennifer Harker, his counselor at the Minnesota Work Incentives Connection: “Jen has been a tremendous help to Dustin and I by informing us of and keeping us updated on benefits changes and how earned income affects those benefits. Minnesota Work Incentives Connection has been and is a very important link for Dustin to be able to achieve his goals.” Considering what Dustin has already accomplished, he is well on his way to attaining these goals!

Anita Boucher is Assistant Project Director with The Minnesota Work Incentives Connection. For more information or to join the Connection’s mailing list, call 651/632-5113; 800/976-6728; 651/632-5110 (TTY) or Minnesota Relay at 711.

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