Library & Tools

The Medical Summary Report (MSR) is SOAR’s signature tool and key to a successful application. It provides a succinct, comprehensive summary of the applicant’s personal and treatment history and its impact on his or her life. It also clearly describes the factors affecting functioning and ability to work.

This guide provides suggestions for navigating conversations about integrating peer support into SOAR programs.

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.

This issue brief, developed by the SAMHSA SOAR TA Center, describes: the misconceptions about employment and loss of disability benefits; how earned income from employment affects SSI/SSDI benefits and Medicare/Medicaid coverage; the employment resources and work incentives offered by SSA to current SSI/SSDI beneficiaries; and the role SOAR programs can play in connecting individuals to employment resources.

Here are examples of completed SSA and SOAR Forms using information from a fictitious SSI child applicant.

Here are examples of completed SSA and SOAR Forms using information from a fictitious SSI/SSDI applicant.

We’ve gathered examples of well-written, successful Medical Summary Reports (MSRs) from SOAR providers across the country for the SOAR community to use as extra guidance.

This article provides example descriptions for the areas of mental functioning. The “effective” functional descriptions clearly link the symptoms of the applicant’s illness with their limitations.

SOAR Leaders can use this infographic to illustrate how Peer Support Workers can assist at different intercepts in the SOAR process.

Peers have a unique ability to engage with individuals and help people share information about how their conditions affect their ability to function, treatment sources, and collateral sources of evidence. This issue brief developed by the SAMHSA SOAR TA Center explores how peers are a natural fit to help people with the SSI/SSDI application process using SOAR.