Date: Saturday, 26 September, 2009
What time: 9:00 am- 4:30 p.m.; catered lunch provided
What NPN Workshop: Accessing Social Security Disability Benefits to Provide Opportunities for Self-Support for People with Disabilities.
Where: The Arc of Texas, 8001 Centre Park Drive, Suite 100, Training Center, Austin, Texas 78754
With the national economy crashing down all around us, parents of children with lifelong disabilities desperately need resources and supports they can control and count on. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid are more important than ever to families and people with disabilities struggle with federal and state budget cutbacks and the real need for cash assistance and medical supports. The National PASS Network (NPN) is moving into its 27th year of providing advocacy training and reliable consumer knowledge to families on how to access these important programs.
COURSE DESCRIPTI0N
This comprehensive advocacy training course is a must for parents of children with lifelong disabilities of any age. Many parents really never get the full picture of the federal disability supports under the Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs that are available for their children with monthly cash support and medical coverage under Medicaid or Medicare. These supports provide many positive opportunities for children and young adults with disabilities, but these opportunities are available only if parents know how to access the programs. If you don’t know about them, the benefit programs can’t help your child.
What other parents are saying about NPN's parent advocacy workshops...
• "This workshop was a godsend."... KLC
• We really got the information we were looking for today. We thank you very much. D/PZ
• "Extensive information. Mr. Scarborough is fabulous." ... MC
• "I loved the clarity of the presented information, especially the examples for reinforcement."...TB
• "New and very useful information." ... JR
• "Good information to get me started to help my child. I like the handouts so I can go back and review. Would like to come to more of your workshops! "... DL
• “The workshop was straightforward. I will use it to help my daughter and other parents. I liked the chocolate chip cookies too!!" ... MSM
• "I like the concrete examples of people's situations with workshops, the funny stories and photos"... ALK
• " I liked the real life examples and the worksheets. I will take this information back to my school for the vocational and transition programs " ...CS
• "The information is presented in a way that is easily understood"... JJ
• "Great information and presentation. Makes sense of SSI"... CS
• "Simple instructions, good handouts and humor"... GF
• "I now understand how SSI works, I liked the detailed info provided"... CB
• "I can help my son go to college" ...DB
• "Enjoyable. Clear presentation. Allows me to plan for my daughters future." ... LS
• "Good Info. Very Specific. Thanks." AN • "Now I understand the "ins and outs" of SSDI and SSI." ... RH
• "The information will allow to begin developing a plan to help my son gain self-sufficiency" ... BA
• "I liked that it wasn't just a list of definitions, but true life examples . It was helpful to learn to always
appeal." ... JH
• "I can now can help students more" ... MO
• "Learned to use the [NPN] worksheets to figure out SSI eligibility." ... LO
• "I can help families understand the Social Security System. Liked all the learning tools." ... KG
• "Lots of real Information. This course teaches me to navigate the system to qualify my child to get the supports he needs to live independently"... MK
• "I learned how to be effective when I apply for SSI and to never give up. Learned the importance of documenting everything." ... FA
• "Everything is great! Learned how to read the rules and educate myself."... BA
• "The different ways I can help my child with Autism." ... BOD
• "I liked it all. It made me aware of the possibilities and how to get my child on SSI and Medicaid."... DEC
• "Well done. The handouts will be very beneficial as I determine how to best plan for my son."... JT
• "It's obvious that Dan is passionate about helping children with disabilities. It shows."... SS
• "Our son's life would have been different if we had known about all this 10 years ago. We now have hope." ... SM
• "Good information to get me started to help my child." ... DL
• "I can help my students apply for SSI." ...MD
• All parents should take this workshop." ...TRV
Some advocacy topics we will cover in the Parents Saturday Workshop
- What are the eligibility requirements for both the SSDI and SSI programs
- Understanding Social Security’s statutory definition of disability
- How to accurately calculate monthly SSI eligibility
- How to self-fund school transition services with SSI work incentives even if your public school does not develop an adequate transition plan for your child
- How benefits eligibility change as your child ages
- How to preserve Medicaid eligibility when your child grows older
- Understanding SSA’s legal disability determination process
- Why many of the 75% of people who apply for disability benefits are incorrectly denied benefits in Texas
- How creating a Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) can fund transition and rehabilitation programs
- How to preserve your child's Medicaid when you retire and s/he loses SSI eligibility
- What is 1619 A&B and how this little known work incentive allows earnings of more than $27,775 without losing Medicaid eligibility in Texas
- How to deal with the SSA government representatives in positive ways
- Why SSA incorrectly pays 2/3 of the SSI rate to many Texas families
- How to document your adult child's share of household expenses to receive 30% more in SSI
- What are subsidies and impairment-related work expenses and why you should report them to SSA
- What is an “unsuccessful work attempt” and how this provision protects from the premature loss of disability benefits
- What are DAC benefits for your dependent or surviving children who is disabled
- What is deemed income and how is it used to calculate a child’s SSI eligibility
- How to calculate a child’s SSI eligibility based on parent’s income.
- Learn to use work incentives for your non-disabled children to calculate SSI eligibility for your disabled child
- Managing resources to insure against loss of SSI
- Why Medicaid in Texas may pay your private insurance costs
- What is the Pickle Amendment and how its use protects children and adult benefits and Medicaid from loss
- What is the student earned income exclusion, why its worth $6,240 year in student earnings •
- Individual Social Security disability benefit questions/ issues/ needs
- and much,much more.
Your tuition investment of $85.00 brings you our day-long, jam-packed disability benefit advocacy course on accessing and maintaining disability benefits for your children with lifelong disabilities (from school to aged), a comprehensive course manual that will serve as an ongoing resource guide, plenty of accessible parking and boxed lunch. You will spend the day networking and learning with other families from across Texas and the country who are struggling with the same issues of income, health care and long-term support for their children with disabilities.
It is the National PASS Network’s advocacy policy that participants may repeat the Parent Saturday Workshop as many times as they need. Take your time to learn. There are never any additional training costs for you to repeat this course. To us it’s all about building your base of knowledge first. What we know from our 26 years of advocacy experience is that if we do a good job of making you an expert family consumer, then you will be our advocacy partners for a long time Our long-term goal is to be working with you with a variety of other NPN training activities and case assistance services to enhance your knowledge after you get the basic. NPN’s life-planning approach to understanding disability benefits is to help you with the skills that will help you approach disability benefits as an ongoing endeavor that changes as your child's age and needs change. Whether that need is how to fund transition in high school or to plan for long-term care in later life, we know you will be working with NPN for a long time if we do you right. We are here. Check out and subscribe to NPN’s website for advocacy information and updated news on Social Security disability benefits changes.
HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE WORKSHOP
Please register in advance so we can plan for a successful workshop. Make your tuition check payable to National PASS Network. Send it to us at National PASS Network, PO Box 1176, Austin Texas 78767.
Send along with your relevant contact information: your postal mailing address, phone # and email address. Once we get your tuition and contact info, we will confirm your registration and send information. That's it. No forms. No hassle.
• Size of the Parents Saturday Workshop is limited. When the workshop is full we will close registration.
After the workshop is closed, participants may sign-up on a waiting list for the next Parent Saturday Workshop. To secure your seat please register for the appropriate workshop right away. If you delay the workshop may fill up before you can get around to registering.
• Registration is BEFORE the day of the workshop. No registrations at door on day of workshop. Once you register for the workshop, if who choose not to attend their registration fee is not refunded. You purchase a seat and often someone else will have to forgo attending.
• Tuition Cost: $85 per-participant; $160 for both parents.
• Registration postmarked after September 21 is $95 per particpant. Please register early. We don’t necessarily want to charge you more but it creates difficult logistical problems if you wait to the last minute, so sign up when you get the notice.
• There are no other discounts for the workshop. We give no scholarships. No substitutions. Register early. These workshops fill up fast.
Contact for additional info or questions:
Daniel Scarborough: Phone: 512.444.3603 email: info@passNetwork.org
YOUR COURSE LEADER
Mr. Scarborough is a longtime national advocate on Social Security disability benefit and long-term care support issues for adults and children with lifelong disabilities. He is the former Director of the National Aging Family Caregiver Support Project with The Arc of the United States and the US Administration on Aging (AoA) where he directed national outreach advocacy training on aging and caregiver support issues for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities around the country.
The award-winning National Aging Family Caregiver Support Project worked to enhance the capacity of state agencies in 36 states, aging and disability provider organizations to plan, coordinate, and provide supportive services older parents and grandparents of children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Mr. Scarborough's professional background in Social Security disability benefits advocacy and long-term-care programs is extensive and varied. Since 1983, he has coordinated over 950 workshops on accessing and maintaining eligibility for disability benefits (SSDI, SSI Medicare and Medicaid) for parent advocacy organizations, public schools, state agencies, rehabilitation programs and aging programs around the United States. He is the President of the National PASS Network, a national consumer educational and advocacy organization on Social Security disability benefits he founded in 1990. Mr. Scarborough was the former Director of the Texas PASS Network with The University of Texas at Austin, Center for Disability Studies, where he created developed and directed a five-year statewide outreach program on accessing Social Security work incentive programs.
In 1988/ 90, Mr. Scarborough directed the National PASS Project with The Arc of the United States and the Social Security Administration and published the first public materials that standardized consumer and professional training on accessing the Social Security disability benefit programs for people with developmental, cognitive and mental disabilities and their families. The project successfully pioneered the funding of supported employment supports and work-to-school transition services for people with disabilities through the Social Security work incentive provisions. He actually did write the book on use of the PASS provisions as a vocational funding resource for people with disabilities.
Mr. Scarborough's training programs have assisted thousands of individuals, advocacy organizations and state agencies to access the Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and work incentive programs to fund vocational opportunities for students and adults with disabilities. His easy-to-understand, non-technical presentation style emphasizes a person-first, consumer empowerment approach to understanding and accessing the complicated Social Security disability benefit and long-term care programs for adults and children.
Mr. Scarborough uses actual, real-life case examples from more than 26 years of working with the Social Security disability benefit and work incentive programs.
Mr. Scarborough holds a Master of Science in Hospital Administration with undergraduate degrees in Public Administration, Business and Health Care Administration. He is a Chartered Lifetime Assistance Planner for Persons with Disabilities (ChLAP). He is an active and highly respected community advocate for people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities, mental illness and blindness.
Mr. Scarborough is known nationally for his decades of work children with severe disabilites and adults with lifelong disabilities and their access to Social Security disability benefits and health supports under Medicare/ Medicaid.
THESE NPN TRAINING PROGRAMS ARE ENTIRELY SUPPORTED BY TUITION AND FEES OF PARTICIPANTS.
Please pass this information along to your email lists to other parents and friends.
National PASS Network
PO Box 1176
Austin, Texas 512.444.3603
info@passNetwork.org
advocating for access to Social Security disability benefits since 1983
These program marketing materials are copyright, Daniel Scarborough, 2009
If your organization or parent advocacy group would like to host an ongoing Parent Saturday Workshop in your community, we would like to hear from you. Learn how easily such a workshop can be organized. Write dscarborough@passnetwork.org . Preference is given to organizations and parent groups or public schools that want to develop an ongoing program in your community.
