Wisconsin

Wisconsin SOAR State Team

State Team Lead(s):

• Mary Madden
  Email: MMadden@namisoutheastwi.org
  Phone: 262-409-2741

• Donna Riemer
  Email: Donna.Riemer@dhs.wisconsin.gov
  Phone: 608-261-8876

TA Center Liaison:

• Pam Heine
  Email: pheine@prainc.com
  Phone: (518) 439-7415 x5228

SOARing in Wisconsin

The SOAR program in Wisconsin is led by Chelsey Myhre Foster, State PATH Coordinator with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Mary Madden, Executive Director with NAMI Southeast Wisconsin. Ms. Myhre Foster allocates substantial PATH funds to support SOAR Specialists and SOAR training among PATH grantees. It aims to increase access to the disability income benefit programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) for eligible adults who are homeless or who are at risk of homelessness and have a mental illness and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. 
 
Strong partnerships are a crucial aspect of the SOAR process within Wisconsin and we are very fortunate to have such committed partnerships with SSA and Disability Determination Bureau (DDB), many community providers and other state agencies. Without these partnerships, we would not be able to implement the SOAR initiative so effectively.

Expectations of Participation in SOAR

Only those individuals who have completed the online training curriculum can submit SOAR applications. If you have received your SOAR training via the SOAR online course, you are required to contact Chelsey Myhre Foster, State Lead, who will discuss in greater detail Wisconsin requirements on filing SOAR claims. Ms. Myhre Foster will connect you with important local SOAR contacts, and may provide ongoing technical assistance and refresher trainings as needed. For more information please contact Ms. Myhre Foster (contact information above).

Outcomes Tracking 

The Wisconsin SOAR program utilizes the SOAR Online Application Tracking (OAT) system to report outcomes. All SOAR caseworkers are required to report their outcomes in OAT.

The OAT program is a secure web-based system that allows SOAR case managers to easily track their SOAR-assisted SSI/SSDI applications. OAT allows all of the information for your Social Security disability benefit claims to be recorded in a safe HIPAA compliant database, allows you to know your outcomes, record dates of application submissions and track all your claim’s progress. Recording all the needed data into OAT is not only beneficial to you, but to the success of SOAR here in Wisconsin.

For more information on OAT, please check out the User Guides provided on the OAT website. For more support, please contact Mary Madden (contact information above).