Work Incentives Planning and Assistance
The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 authorized Social Security to award grants to community-based organizations throughout the U.S. and the U.S. territories. This grant program, called Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA), provides SSDI and SSI disability beneficiaries (including transition-to-work aged youth) with free access to information about work incentives, benefits planning, job placement and career development.
Currently there are 102 WIPA projects. Each WIPA has counselors called Community Work Incentives Coordinators (CWIC) who:
- Provide beneficiaries with work incentives planning and assistance;
- Help beneficiaries and their families determine eligibility for Federal or State work incentives programs;
- Refer beneficiaries with disabilities to appropriate Employment Networks or State Vocational rehabilitation agencies based on individual needs and impairment types;
- Provide general information about potential employer-based or federally subsidized health benefits coverage available to beneficiaries once they enter the workforce; and
- Inform beneficiaries with disabilities of protection and advocacy services available to them.
Training of the CWICs, Ticket Call Center staff and community partners:
Social Security awarded a contract to Virginia Commonwealth University's National Training Center to provide initial and ongoing training and technical support on work incentives to the CWICs, Ticket Call Center staff and community partners. To learn more, check out the VCU Manual or at http://www.vcu-ntc.org/resources/cwicmanual.cfm.
