How Social
Security Can Help With Vocational Rehabilitation
The Social Security
Administration (SSA) can help people with disabilities get the vocational rehabilitation
services they need to return to work or to go to work for the first time. We can put them
in touch with agencies that provide services such as job counseling, training and job
placement. SSA doesn't provide these services, but we can help pay for them when certain
conditions are met.
We can continue to assist
a person with a disability even after he or she goes to work. There are special provisions
of the law, called work incentives, which help the individual to continue working. These
work incentives allow us to continue cash payments and health insurance coverage even
though the individual has returned to work.
This pamphlet provides
more information about how SSA can help people with disabilities successfully return to
work or go to work for the first time.
Referring People
With Disabilities To
State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies
When a person files an
application for disability benefits, specially trained employees at the state Disability
Determination Services (DDS) office review the application to see whether the person's
medical condition qualifies him or her for disability benefits. At the same time, they
also evaluate the person's rehabilitation potential. If it appears that the person may
benefit from vocational rehabilitation services, they refer the applicant to the state
vocational rehabilitation agency.
SSA sends information
about the applicant's medical condition and work history to the rehabilitation provider.
Rehabilitation counselors evaluate this information. They may contact the person to obtain
further information and may request that the individual come in for an interview.
At that time, the
counselor will try to find out more about the person's interests and employment goals.
Clients are given an opportunity to discuss how the counselor can work with them to
achieve their job goals. If the counselor believes the vocational rehabilitation agency
can provide the rehabilitation services that are needed, the counselor and client will
jointly develop a written plan describing the job goal and the services the vocational
rehabilitation agency will provide to reach that goal. This written plan is tailored to
the needs of the client.
Use Of Alternate
Vocational Rehabilitation Service Providers
SSA first refers persons to
the state vocational rehabilitation agency for consideration. If the state agency is
unable to serve the individual, we may refer that individual to an alternate participant
in our vocational rehabilitation program. An alternate participant is any nonstate public
or private agency that is qualified to serve Social Security disability beneficiaries.
Such providers must be licensed, certified or accredited to provide vocational
rehabilitation services within their state and meet other requirements that assure us they
can provide clients with the necessary help. SSA pays these alternate providers for the
costs of their services under the same conditions that apply for state vocational
rehabilitation agencies.
Paying Providers
For Vocational Rehabilitation Services
The Social Security Act
allows SSA to pay for vocational rehabilitation services they furnish to people receiving
Social Security disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments based
on disability or blindness if certain conditions are met. The vocational rehabilitation
services must result in the person's return to work for at least nine continuous months at
a substantial earnings level. The earnings levels change from year to year. Check with
your local Social Security office for current information.
Types Of
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Vocational rehabilitation
providers furnish a wide variety of services to help people with disabilities return to
work. These services are designed to provide the client with the training or other
services that are needed to return to work, to enter a new line of work or to enter the
workforce for the first time. Examples of the types of services that may be offered by
vocational rehabilitation providers include:
various types of tests and assessments
to evaluate the client's physical or mental condition, skills and abilities;
counseling and guidance, including
counseling to family members;
wheelchairs, specially modified vans,
prosthetics and other devices to help restore the individual's availability to work;
training;
transportation;
job placement;
post-placement services; and
other goods and services necessary to
achieve the planned job goals of the person's rehabilitation program.
Refusal To Accept
Rehabilitation Services
Most people with disabilities
want to work and will cooperate with the rehabilitation provider during the course of
their rehabilitation program. However, the law provides for the suspension of Social
Security benefits if a person fails to cooperate with the rehabilitation agency without a
good reason for doing so. If a rehabilitation provider offers services to a person with a
disability, the person must accept the services to continue receiving Social Security
benefits unless we determine that there is a good reason for not accepting services.
Benefits While
Participating In A
Vocational Rehabilitation Program
A person who medically
recovers while participating in an approved rehabilitation or training program may
continue to receive benefits until the vocational rehabilitation program ends if SSA finds
that the program is likely to help the individual become self-supporting. This
continuation of benefits is available to persons who participate in either an approved
state or private vocational rehabilitation program.
Social Security
Work Incentives
Once a person with a
disability has returned to work, special rules called “work incentives” will
help serve as a bridge from reliance on benefits to financial independence achieved by
returning to work. With these incentives, the individual can continue to receive cash
payments and health insurance coverage (for a period of time) until he or she is able to
work regularly.
There are different work
incentives for persons who receive Social Security disability and SSI benefits. There are
also special work incentives for persons who are blind and for students with disabilities.
The purpose of all of these work incentives is to provide support and assistance to people
with disabilities while they attempt to work.
Some of the ways that
these incentives help people with disabilities to work is by allowing them to:
test the ability to work for a specified
period of time without losing any benefits;
deduct from earnings the cost of certain
impairment-related work items or services needed to work in determining whether earnings
are too high to continue receiving benefits;
continue Medicare coverage if disability
benefits stop because earnings are too high;
continue to receive SSI payments until
the earnings we count exceed the SSI limits; and
continue Medicaid coverage if the person
depends on Medicaid to work even if earnings exceed the SSI limits until the person's
earnings are sufficient to replace lost benefits.
For More
Information
Persons with a disability who
want to work do not have to be referred to a rehabilitation agency or wait for an agency
to contact them. They may contact the rehabilitation agency in their state directly at any
time. Your Social Security office will be glad to provide the location and phone number of
the nearest office of the state vocational rehabilitation agency. Individuals then can let
the agency know of their interest in receiving rehabilitation services to help them return
to work. The address and phone number of the state vocational rehabilitation agency also
can be found in the phone book.
For more information about
how work may affect disability benefits, call or visit any Social Security office. You may
wish to ask for our publication Working While Disabled—How We Can Help (SSA
Publication No. 05-10095) or If You Are Blind—How We Can Help (SSA Publication
No. 05-10052). You can find the address and phone number of your local Social Security
office in your phone book. You also can call our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213,
between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. any business day.
People who are deaf or
hard of hearing may call our toll-free “TTY” number, 1-800-325-0778, between 7
a.m. and 7 p.m. business days.
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