FAQ

Since SSDI is an insurance program, unearned income and resources (such as Unemployment Insurance) do not impact SSDI eligibility. You may be eligible to receive both Unemployment Insurance and SSDI at the same time. Unemployment Insurance has no impact on the SSDI benefit amount or eligibility. 

You can complete Social Security’s Online Disability Benefits Application with your clients. This online application encompasses the SSDI application and the Adult Disability Report (i.e., replaces paper forms SSA-16 and SSA-3368).

Within 2-3 days of submitting the online disability application, you will submit three paper forms to SSA:

• SSA-8000 (SSI application)
• SSA-1696 (Appointment of Representative)
• SSA-827 (Authorization to Release Information to SSA)

Read more about the timeline for submitting these and other materials at Steps to Completing an SSI/SSDI Application Using the SOAR Model.

You can absolutely use the SOAR critical components for a person with a physical ailment.  There are many people that have been denied for years without the help of an advocate to get through the process.  That said, we don't want to encourage people to only help those that have an "obvious" disability. Often people's illnesses are complicated -- they may seem okay one day but on other days they struggle so much that they aren't able to work at a substantial gainful level. SOAR is a great process for these individuals because of all the evidence gathering and additional assessments that we do.

The short answer is "No" for SSDI and "Yes" for SSI!

If the applicant has never worked, they will not be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). SSDI eligibility criteria require that you have worked long enough and recently enough to be insured for Social Security disability. However, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is based upon need, not insured status.

Social Security has what they call Pre-release Procedures for individuals who want to apply for SSI while they are still in an institution (jail, prison, state hospital, etc). The general rule is that an individual can apply 30 days prior to their expected release date, although there are exceptions. Some SSA field offices set up informal or formal pre-release agreements with local institutions to extend that time period up to 90 days prior to release. If there is no pre-release agreement currently in place with his institution and that field office, you could speak to the manager at the SSA office and see about setting up an agreement, especially if you are going to be assisting with multiple prerelease applications at this institution. When you submit the application you will need to bring a letter from the institution stating that the applicant is expected to be released on a specific date. SSA has a brief FAQ on the SSI Prerelease Procedure for additional information: http://www.ssa.gov/ssi/spotlights/spot-prerelease.htm

Some states will have SSA flag the case as "Homeless" and then put "SOAR" in the remarks section. This is not fool-proof because DDS has to open the case and look for the SOAR "remark" in order to assign it to the appropriate unit. They may not always look for it when assigning cases.

What they are talking about doing in one state is to use a "special handling" flag with SOAR in the remarks. Anytime a case goes to their DDS with the special handling flag the case control has to open it and see what needs to be done- if it is marked SOAR- they know where to send it.

The SOAR TA Center does not have funds available to pay for SOAR in local organizations and there is no dedicated source of funding for SOAR programs. And yet, all 50 states participate in SOAR at some level by reallocating existing resources; by securing funding through federal and state grants or foundation funding; or by establishing collaborations with hospitals and criminal justice systems.

To support local organizations, the SOAR TA Center developed resources and tools for funding and sustainability, based on best practices from SOAR programs around the country. The SOAR TA Center also maintains a webpage dedicated to upcoming funding opportunities, which is updated frequently with new resources.

The SSA-3369 Work History report is only necessary if/when DDS reaches step 4 of the Sequential Evaluation.  In this case, DDS will contact you to request it.

You can read more about the SSA-3369 here.

First and foremost we want to make sure that people who need our assistance with their SSI/SSDI applications get that assistance. That said, each provider has to make decisions about how many people they are able to serve and how many SOAR applications they complete. We recommend that when providers are not able to do a complete SOAR application with someone that they refer the individual to SSA and give them the tools to apply on their own or with another advocate.

Yes, members of the military do pay into the Social Security system and earn work credits during military service. SSA has a great publication about military service and work credits here: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10017.pdf.