Library & Tools

One of the most important tasks for you to accomplish is to make the link between diagnosis and functional impairment so that DDS can fully understand the applicant’s disability. This article discusses how to ask questions that elicit the information you will use to write your Medical Summary Report (MSR).

For applicants with mental disorders, DDS examiners look at a person’s ability to function in four primary areas. Your responsibility is to describe the functioning of the individual in as much detail as possible and to document how the person’s illness impairs his or her ability to function and maintain employment at a substantial gainful level.

Released by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in July 2018, and updated in 2023, this tool helps demonstrate how income from employment and/or VA disability benefits will affect Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).

Connecting Veterans with Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits is a critical step to increasing income stability for Veterans and their families, particularly for those Veterans whose work activity is limited by disabling conditions. The SOAR model helps individuals obtain SSA disability benefits while they are pursuing their vocational goals through the HVRP Program.

Accessing Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits is a critical step toward income stability for Veterans whose work activity is limited by disabling conditions or who have children with disabilities. SOAR directly contributes to SSVF’s goal of promoting housing stability among very low-income Veteran families by increasing access to critical income supports.

Connecting Veterans with Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits is a critical step to increasing income stability for Veterans and their families, particularly for those Veterans whose work activity is limited by disabling conditions. The SOAR model helps individuals obtain SSA disability benefits while they are pursuing their vocational and housing goals through the GPD Program. 

Between 2017-2019 the SAMHSA SOAR Technical Assistance (TA) Center granted Criminal Justice (CJ) TA Awards to eighteen Criminal Justice Centers across the country.

This webinar, held on March 25, 2020, addressed the connections between serious mental illness, homelessness, and incarceration, and best practices for increasing access to SSI/SSDI benefits for people with serious mental illness who are reentering communities from jails and prisons. 

This webinar, held on November 12, 2015 educated SOAR practitioners about the presence of TBI among returning service members, as well as individuals who are experiencing or at-risk of homelessness.

This webinar, held on October 24, 2018, was presented by the SAMHSA SOAR TA Center in partnership with the SAMHSA GAINS Center.  We explored how SOAR implementation in criminal justice settings can be a strong reentry tool to increase housing stability and promote post-release success.