Library & Tools

This guidance document is a supplement to the Medical Summary Report Interview Guide and Template. It provides important considerations when working with individuals who are Deaf and hard of hearing. It includes helpful information about hearing loss, Deaf culture, and important accommodations. Finally, it includes sample questions that may be helpful in your interview.

This decision tree will help caseworkers determine whether they should complete a SOAR-assisted SSI/SSDI application for an individual with whom they are working.

When assisting an individual with completing and electronically signing an Online Disability Benefit Application the applicant will need to create a my Social Security account. The SAMHSA SOAR TA Center has developed guidance for SOAR providers.

Find up-to-date information on the rates that SSA sets annually.

You want to be a SOAR provider? That’s great! This infographic shows what to expect.

On this webinar, held on January 25, 2022, panelists shared best practice examples on how they have incorporated their lived expertise into their SOAR work.

Highlighted below are some of the ways peers from around the country have incorporated their lived expertise into their SOAR work.

The SAMHSA SOAR TA Center is proud to debut a new resource guide on practical ways that SOAR can be integrated into the peer-certification process. 

In an effort to better identify appropriate SOAR claimants, identifying claims which are more likely to have a favorable outcome is paramount. Social Security has developed Special Medical Vocational Profiles, which are rare combinations of adversities that combine, along with impairments, to result in a finding of disabled. 

SSA is now evaluating the long-term effects of COVID-19 when determining disability. On April 16, 2021, SSA issued an Emergency Message (EM) with guidance to its employees for evaluating adult disability cases that include an allegation or diagnosis of COVID-19. Here are the key points of the EM as well as tips for SOAR practitioners to effectively represent SSI/SSDI applicants whose functioning is impacted by COVID-19.