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 3 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, people with disabilities may receive benefits from a myriad of public sources. In 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 explained to an individual with a disability to encourage both work and financial independence.

This intensive training program for Benefits Practitioners requires participation in 17 webinars. At the completion of the 17 webinars, participants will receive a Certificate of Attendance. Credentialing can be received if the participant chooses the Work Incentives Planning and Utilization for Benefit Practitioners Certificate Series (with Credentialing as a Benefits and Work Incentives Practitioner) course.

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.

Learn to counsel youth with disabilities to use work incentives as a tool for establishing careers, as you earn Cornell’s Youth-C credential!

You’ll learn about:

• Work incentives that can specifically benefit youths
• Calculating and tracking the use of these work incentives, and planning for periods of time when each may not apply
• Using and understanding the BPQY to ensure a youth receives applicable work incentives
• Counseling youths and parents about the benefits of work—and the benefits of work incentives
• Financial tools to assist the youth and family as the youth begins work
• Assisting with developing good money habits immediately when a job begins

Prerequisite: Either an up-to-date WIP-C™ credential from Cornell University or CWIC certification from Virginia Commonwealth University.

The class will be limited to 40 participants.

Learn to counsel Veterans with disabilities about returning to work, as you earn Cornell’s Vet-C credential.

You’ll learn about

• Disability benefits offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
• How VA benefits and SSA benefits impact each other
• What happens to VA benefits when Veterans return to work
• Tools to verify VA benefits
• Counseling Veterans about the benefits of work and how to leverage VA benefits to support work
• Outreach to organizations serving Veterans

Prerequisite: Either an up-to-date WIP-C credential from Cornell University or CWIC certification from Virginia Commonwealth University. The class will be limited to 35 participants.

This course is for work incentives planners who have been promoted to leadership positions and those who would like to pursue leadership positions within the field. While many of the skills you use as a work incentives planner can help you in your work as a supervisor or manager, few work incentives planners have an opportunity to learn practical skills for supervision and management. The course includes five webinars that cover the following topics:

• Project management
• Developing protocols for intake and case handling
• Managing and maintaining diversified funding
• Supervision from recruitment through retention
• Performance evaluation and having difficult conversations

In this course, we share some of the skills and tools that we found most helpful in our leadership roles. We also address the need for statewide collaboration and working with other work incentives planning projects in your state and region.

After completing the course, you must pass an examination and complete a practical exercise to earn the Leader-C credential.

To maintain the credential, you will need to report 12 credit hours of continuing education credits every 3 years.

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is by far the most widely used and well-known work incentive in the nation…and yet relatively few people recognize it as a work incentive.  Designed to encourage paid work by people with low to moderate incomes, the EITC magnifies the impact of earnings by supplementing them with a larger tax refund.  An EITC refund is often much larger than all the taxes the person would otherwise owe.  Work Incentives Practitioners need to understand this powerful tool to help beneficiaries get farther ahead by working.

This session describes the impact of the EITC.  It explains the (very minimal) impact of the EITC on public benefits.  Participants will learn to easily evaluate when beneficiaries may qualify for the EITC through case studies, and how to refer people for free tax preparation so they can claim the credit.  Finally, the webinar covers 6 key points about the EITC – including how it can be used for asset development and to show some people who work “under the table” that they’d be better off financially if they worked legally.

Almost all work incentives help protect benefits when individuals work.  If a beneficiary is found to have “medically improved”, however, these work incentives are powerless to continue benefits.  One relatively little-known work incentive can temporarily continue benefits even after a person is found to have medically improved.  Section 301 allows for cash and medical benefits to continue when a person who has medically improved is participating in special education, VR or similar services that will decrease the chances that the person will go back on benefits in the future.

Section 301 is a potent instrument for Work Incentive Practitioners – the only work incentive that can continue benefits after SSA finds a person has medically improved.  Although it’s temporary, Section 301 can continue benefits long enough for an individual to acquire additional work skills and find alternatives to benefits (such as employment and other ways to get medical insurance).  If you’ve always thought a person who has medically improved has no hope of continuing benefits, then you need to learn about Section 301.

This webinar explains:

Who is eligible for Section 301

How to request Section 301 and the forms to complete

Which kinds of services a person can participate in to qualify for Section 301

How Social Security determines whether program participation will decrease the likelihood that a person will return to the benefit rolls in the future…and in which situation SSA does not need to determine this

How long Section 301 benefits can continue

Continuing reviews of Section 301 eligibility after a person has been approved

What happens to Section 301 benefits when a person works for pay

How appeals of medical improvement and Section 301 can work together

How to appeal Section 301 denials

The differences between Section 301 and the Ticket to Work as tools to prevent benefit termination due to medical improvement

If a beneficiary asks you, “What is the most important thing I should do when I go to work?”, your answer should emphatically be:  “Report your earnings and work incentive use to Social Security”.  Reporting earnings limits overpayments (and underpayments) and helps get overpayments waived when they occur.  Reporting work incentive use can help continue Title II Disability benefits, keep SSI payments higher, continue medical benefits if cash benefits stop, and restore cash benefits if earnings drop later.

That sounds simple enough, but the devil is in the details.  This webinar explains the little devils, including:

When and how often to report earnings  Options for reporting earnings when work starts, and when it continues  Methods for reporting earnings for Title II Disability and for SSI  When and how often to report work incentive use  Forms and documents needed for reporting work incentives  Tracking and saving documentation of earnings and work incentive use  What to do when a beneficiary is overpaid, despite reporting earnings and work incentives  A WIP’s role in reporting