Courses

Work incentives pave the way to work and financial independence for recipients of public benefits. All public benefits programs and pensions provide incentives for recipients with disabilities to return to work. During the first set of 7 webinars (Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income and Work), participants will explore the principal benefits provided by the Social Security Administration as well as the work incentives pertaining to each benefit. While SSA provides some of the most significant cash and health care benefits, reality indicates that recipients with disabilities may receive benefits from a myriad of public sources. The second set of 6 webinars (The Effect of Work on Other Federal Programs and Their Relationship the Disability Programs) participants will review the various federal programs providing benefits to individuals with disabilities, including TANF, Workers Compensation, and Veterans Benefits, as well as how each relate to one another and are impacted by earned income. Finally, the third set of 4 webinars (The Ins and Outs of Becoming a Benefits Practitioner) will introduce the practice to participants by providing suggestions as to how this complex variety of work incentives, critically needed benefits and earnings can be described and explained to an individual with a disability to both encourage work and financial independence.

This intensive certification program for Benefits Practitioners requires participation in 17 webinars, completion of a provisional certification on line examination as well as a file review that, upon successful completion, will result in full certification. The webinars are presented twice weekly over a period of eight and a half weeks. The on line examination will be administered two weeks after the conclusion of the webinar series and participants will be allowed a full work week (24/7) to complete the examination. Finally, within 6 months of successfully completing the examination a file review will be completed by Cornell faculty to ensure that the provisionally certified Benefits Practitioner is actually able to effectively use the information obtained through the webinar courses and written materials.

Full certification can be maintained by securing 60 hours of continuing education units (CEU) over the 5 year period immediately following the attainment of full certification. An on line “portal” will be made available for logging CEU activity.

Work incentives pave the way to work and financial independence for recipients of public benefits. All public benefits programs and pensions provide incentives for recipients with disabilities to return to work. During the first set of 7 webinars (Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income and Work), participants will explore the principal benefits provided by the Social Security Administration as well as the work incentives pertaining to each benefit. While SSA provides some of the most significant cash and health care benefits, reality indicates that recipients with disabilities may receive benefits from a myriad of public sources. The second set of 6 webinars (The Effect of Work on Other Federal Programs and Their Relationship the Disability Programs) participants will review the various federal programs providing benefits to individuals with disabilities, including TANF, Workers Compensation, and Veterans Benefits, as well as how each relate to one another and are impacted by earned income. Finally, the third set of 4 webinars (The Ins and Outs of Becoming a Benefits Practitioner) will introduce the practice to participants by providing suggestions as to how this complex variety of work incentives, critically needed benefits and earnings can be described and explained to an individual with a disability to both encourage work and financial independence.

This intensive certification program for Benefits Practitioners requires participation in 17 webinars, completion of a provisional certification on line examination as well as a file review that, upon successful completion, will result in full certification. The webinars are presented twice weekly over a period of eight and a half weeks. The on line examination will be administered two weeks after the conclusion of the webinar series and participants will be allowed a full work week (24/7) to complete the examination. Finally, within 6 months of successfully completing the examination a file review will be completed by Cornell faculty to ensure that the provisionally certified Benefits Practitioner is actually able to effectively use the information obtained through the webinar courses and written materials.

Full certification can be maintained by securing 60 hours of continuing education units (CEU) over the 5 year period immediately following the attainment of full certification. An on line “portal” will be made available for logging CEU activity.

Participants interested in completing a course in SSA Work Incentive Knowledge and Utilization must complete all seven webinar classes in this concentration area. Individuals considering the delivery of benefits and work incentive planning and assistance should consider also completing the Work Incentive Planning course and the Federal Benefit Programs course. Individuals completing all three courses and passing an online examination will be eligible for the Cornell University Certificate in Work Incentives Planning and Utilization for Benefit Practitioners.

Participants interested in completing a course in SSA Work Incentive Knowledge and Utilization must complete all seven webinar classes in this concentration area. Individuals considering the delivery of benefits and work incentive planning and assistance should consider also completing the Work Incentive Planning course and the Federal Benefit Programs course. Individuals completing all three courses and passing an online examination will be eligible for the Cornell University Certificate in Work Incentives Planning and Utilization for Benefit Practitioners.

Participants interested in completing a course in SSA Work Incentive Knowledge and Utilization must complete all seven webinar classes in this concentration area. Individuals considering the delivery of benefits and work incentive planning and assistance should consider also completing the Work Incentive Planning course and the Federal Benefit Programs course. Individuals completing all three courses and passing an online examination will be eligible for the Cornell University Certificate in Work Incentives Planning and Utilization for Benefit Practitioners.

A three-part webinar series that looks at the impact of system responses to the social reality that faces people with disabilities.

LEADING BY DESIGN WEBINAR SERIES
Leadership, in the context of true person-centered practice,
is a “waking up to people’s capacities and the organizational
and systemic practices that devalue and demean those
capacities. Once leadership wakes us up, we face a choice.
We can go back to sleep, we can leave the field, or we can
join in inventing ways that bring us closer to our highest purposes.”
- John O’Brien (from Conversations on Citizenship
and Person-Centered Work, 2011. p. 114)
When positive change comes for people with disabilities, it’s
because people come to realize that most service organizations
have the tendency to engage in actions that avoid addressing
the social reality that faces people with disabilities.
This three-part webinar series invites participants to explore
what it means to be person-centered through a variety of
lenses. Each 90 minute session will offer a different contextual
framework in which to examine the degree to which
disability service organization designs lead to authentic
person-centered practice.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
The webinar series is primarily intended for audiences
who are interested in understanding the influences of person-
centered service design and implementation in a system-
centered service culture. Those who influence decisions
that impact the lives of people with disabilities, particularly
in structured services and programs may find these webinars
most useful.

• Executive Directors
• Program Managers
• Program/Service Coordinators
• Advocates of Persons with Disabilities

A 12-week online course requiring an investment in an “inside-out” approach to working with people with disabilities. Participants actively commit to sit with productive tension throughout 12 weeks of discovery and exploration (six live webinar sessions punctuate the on-line course content) of what it means to be person-centered and inclusive.

A ONE-OF-A-KIND LEARNING EXPERIENCE

This course is a provocative 12-week program that combines
six interactive webinars with a self-paced online theory-
to-practice curriculum designed to take the guesswork
out of what it means to be truly person-centered and to
build social inclusion with people with disabilities. More
than a training, participants will be immersed in a learning
experience that is guided by people with disabilities, recorded
interviews with experts, reflective and field-based
applied learning, facilitated discussion and more.
Be prepared for an “inside-out” experience. Every participant
of this course engages and works with a minimum of
two learning partners—one of whom must be a person with a
disability—throughout the course. These partners, along with
the other participants in the course, serve as guides and
supporters throughout the learning journey.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Value-driven principles like inclusion, belonging, contribution
and leadership are universal, and as such, this course is
appropriate for anyone wishing to explore or study them. It
is important to note that this course was written to provide
disability service providers and practitioners a safe place to
return to the roots of person-centered planning and practice;
to listen to the voices of experience; apply theory to
practice; and to share thoughts and ideas with others on a
similar quest. This course is especially recommended for:

• Executive directors
• Program managers
• Service and/or program coordinators
• Direct support professionals
• Social workers
• Counselors
• Community inclusion practitioners/specialists