>> Good afternoon everyone, this is Jayme Pendergraft with NDI Consulting. Welcome to today's Ticket to Work: Work Incentive Seminar Events Webinar. Today, we'll be talking about Preventing and Managing Overpayments. And this is a webinar for people who receive Social Security disability benefits. Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. There are a couple of different ways to access today's webinar. You can manage your audio using the audio option at the top of your screen. It looks like a microphone or telephone icon. All of the attendees are muted and we encourage you to attend by choosing "listen only" on the audio menu. This enables the sound to be broadcast through your computers so please make sure that your speakers are turned on or your headphones are plugged in. And that your volume is up as well. If you don't have access to listen via your computer, you can also dial in today. You can dial our toll-free number at 1-800-832-0736 and the access code is 8458462. Again, that's 1-800-832-0736, access code is 8458462. We do strive to make all of our webinars as accessible as possible. If you have any tips or concerns for us, please do let us know via the Q and A box and I'll go over and have you enter a question as well in a couple of minutes. But, do let us know if you have any accessibility issues today. We do provide real-time captioning during this webinar. The captioning is listed right below these presentation slides and it's in what's called the captioning pod, you can see some text sliding beneath the slides right now. You can also access the captions online and I will read out this link. The link to access the captions online is http://www.captionedtext.com /client/event.aspx? CustomerID=846&EventID=3049039. We will have a question and answer session during today's webinar. To ask a question, you can use the question and answer pod to the right of this presentation. You can type in your question in there and we'll get back to you the best that we can. We do get a lot of questions during today's webinar and we may not be able to answer all of them. And we'll provide you with some resources to help get your answers and we'll give you some information about our Ticket to Work call center. If you are listening by phone and you're not logged in to the webinar, you can ask questions by sending an email to webinar@choosework.net. And one of our most frequently asked questions is when this webinar will be archived and it will be available after today and yes, the webinar will be archived within two weeks and it will be available on the Choose Work website, that url is http://www.chooseworkttw.net/ webinar-tutorials/ webinars-archive.html. If you have any additional technical assistance requirements today or you have any difficulties during the webinar, please submit a question in that Q and A box or send an email to webinars@choosework.net. We do have a pretty packed agenda today. I'm your moderator, my name is Jayme Pendergraft with NDI Consulting. We're joined today by Connie DaValt from the Social Security Administration and Sarah Geller from the Employment Resources Inc. This afternoon we're going to talk about Ticket to Work: Preventing and Managing Overpayments. Some us think that can cause an overpayment and tips for avoiding them. We'll also talk about SSI Telephone wage reporting and provide you with some additional resources. And all through the webinar, we'll be asking questions as well. Before I hand it over to our presenters, I would like to give them a brief introduction. As I mentioned, today we're joined by Connie DaValt with the Social Security Administration. She's worked at Social Security Administration as an SSI claims representative, a disability specialist, a technical expert, and a local work incentives coordinator. Her focus has been on helping individuals with disabilities apply for benefits, maintain eligibility and maximize all available work incentives. Currently, as the area work incentives coordinator, she believes on community partners, coordinates and conducts public outreach and training on social security work incentives. Troubleshoots complicated work achieved and monitors the disability work-related programs for the Wisconsin and Northern Illinois Social Security field offices. Connie is joined by Sarah Geller and Sarah is the Ticket to Work program manager at Employment Resources Inc. often known as ERI. ERI is a non-profit organization in Madison, Wisconsin. ERI's Ticket to Work program called ERI PLUS is a job retention and advancement employment network that offers work incentive benefits counseling and career facilitation services. Sarah provides benefits counseling services to assist ticket holders with their benefits and health insurance needs as they work towards financial independence. And there's a lot of ways to manage area work incentives coordinator and employment network and Sarah and Connie are going to explain those to you in addition to all the other great information they're going to provide you today. So, Sarah and Connie, I'm going to keep you off of mute and I will hand the presentation over to you. Sarah and Connie, take it away.

>> Thanks Jayme. We want to thank you for inviting us to be part of this call. We've really been looking forward to talking to all of you today. Before we get started about-- talking about overpayments, we want to give you some idea about the two different programs that social security administers. So the first program is the Social Security Disability Insurance Program or some people refer to that as SSDI. The SSDI is a program for individuals who have worked and paid into the social security system. If those workers become disabled, then they can collect that on their own work record. But not only the workers, their families can also sometimes collect benefits on the workers' record. An example would be if there is minor children. Children under the age of 18 or under the age of 19 who are full time high school students. They might be able to receive benefits under the workers' record. Also if there's children that were disabled prior to age 22. They can collect benefits off of that record. And sometimes a spouse can collect benefits off of disabled workers' record. Now the other program that we have at social security is the SSI or Supplemental Security Income Program. The SSI program is a need space program and it's for individuals of any age who have a disability and whose families have limited income and limited resources. When I say families, it's because if we have a child that is applying for SSI benefits, we look if they're living with parents, their mom and dad's income and resources to determine if that child might be eligible for SSI. The same thing if an individual filed for SSI benefits and they are married and living with their spouse, we do look at that spouse's income and resources to determine whether that person is eligible. As far as the rules for income and resources, we're going to talk about resources a little bit later. So now that you know the differences between that social security and the SSI program, I want to say that we have some individuals that are on SSDI. We have some individuals that are on SSI, and we have a group of individuals that are on both programs. Now we call those folks our concurrent beneficiaries because they receive two different programs. It's very important that you understand the rules and the work incentives for the program that you're on because they are very different. So if you're ever curious or you're not quite sure which benefit you're receiving, make sure you'd call your local office and find that out. Now that you have some background on the benefits that we administer, Sarah is going to share some information about work.

>> So why choose work? There are many benefits to working. The most obvious being that you can earn money and have more income. It can be hard to make ends meet on a fixed income. When you work, you get paychecks. Often weekly or every other week. When you work, you can gain independence. Work can be more autonomy and financial independence. You can meet new people at work. There's a social aspect of work, being around other people in a work setting, feeling connected and part of a company or organization. You learn new skills working. To reenter the workforce, you might need training or education, or refresher course on Microsoft Word or Excel or you might need to learn how to use equipment or get a license or certification. Most jobs require at least some training upfront, whether it's learning the ropes at the company or learning the job itself. There are some other reasons you might choose work. You want something to do to get back into the community. You feel good when you're working, or you have experience, skills and knowledge that you want to be using. Whatever your reason for choosing or not choosing work, know the decision is yours and only you can decide if work is the right choice for you. When you are ready to get back into the workforce, Ticket to Work can help. So what is the Ticket to Work Program? It's a free and voluntary social security program for beneficiaries between the ages of 18 and 64. It provides access to free employment services from public and private organizations. Some examples of services offered in Ticket to Work include job leave, job placement, help with the resume or cover letter, benefits counseling and more. Gathering information and identifying resources are important stuff for preparing for work, knowing who to contact if you have questions about your benefits in work, about Ticket to Work and your options for services or other community resources. Jamie and I will touch on some important resources at the end of the presentation. For now, know that Ticket to Work and work incentives can help make your journey to work a smooth one. Work incentives exist to encourage you to try working. Being connected to a Ticket to Work agency or provider is a great way to get support on your journey back into the workforce. For more information on Ticket to Work, you can call the Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 or for TTY 1-866-833-2967. You can also visit the Ticket to Work website at www.choosework.net. If you have questions about Ticket to Work during this webinar, you can use the chat function and we'll try to answer some of those questions during the Q and A session. The focus of our presentation today is about Preventing and Managing Overpayments. A really important piece to help with a smooth transition back to work is knowing what you're required to report for the benefits you receive. If Social Security doesn't have the most up-to-date information about you or your work, overpayments can happen. What is an overpayment? An overpayment is when you receive more money for a month than the amount you should have been paid by Social Security. So Social Security pays you more than you should have been paid. The difference between what you got and what you were due is an overpayment. How do overpayments affect people who receive SSDI? SSDI benefits, as Connie mentioned, are paid to you and sometimes, certain members of your family. For example, if you're getting SSDI based on your own work record and you have minor children, they make it a benefit based on your work record as well. This means if you are overpaid your SSDI payment, it's also possible for your family members to be overpaid. To help avoid overpayments, make sure you report any work changes to Social Security as soon as possible. For example, if you start or stop a job, increased or decreased work hours or have a change in pay. Social Security may use this information to determine payment eligibility. Next, Connie will review what can cause overpayments.

>> Thanks Sarah. So now that we know what an overpayment is, let's talk about what can cause them. So, one of the biggest leading causes of overpayments is work and earnings from work. And you might think, how can that cause an overpayment? Because Social Security is all about having our individuals that want to work, try to work and be successful at work. So, we don't want to have them overpaid. The key to reducing or eliminating overpayments is reporting the information and keeping us up-to-date when changes happen. So, some things that could happen when you go to work, when you first start a job, you have to call Social Security and let us know what your estimated earnings are going to be. So sometimes, let's say you're hired and your boss says, we're going to give you 20 hours a week at $8 an hour. So, you call Social Security, report that to us, and we use that for your estimate of work. But then, after you're in the job for maybe even a week or two, you're doing such a good job that the boss says, well you know, we could give you a few extra hours. So instead of the 20 hours, maybe you're working 24 or 30 hours a week. Now, if you don't call Social Security back to report that increase in hours, then the estimate that we're using will be wrong and an overpayment could occur. The same thing with your rate of pay, many times, your start at one level, but after you maybe get through a probationary period, your boss will give you a raise or an increase in your earnings. Again, if that's not reported timely to Social Security, we can't make that adjustment in the estimate. So make sure not only that when you first get the job to call, but anytime there's a change in hours or rate of pay to give us a call back. Sometimes, people forget to report their work. And I can understand that because if you're starting a new job, it's very exciting and all the responsibilities that go with that job are on your mind. So you may not think about giving Social Security a call. Well, if we don't know that you're working, we're unable to calculate your benefit appropriately. So, make sure, you know, put that on your list of things if you get a job, give social security a call right away. Other times, people think, well you know, I'm going to wait to see how the job goes before I call Social Security. And then, it could flip their mind. So, always call right away. And then if something does change, if you lose the job a week later, that's OK, just give us another call back and let us know. Just keep us informed, that's all we're looking for. Timely reporting is another thing we really want to address because we can only make certain changes to your record during certain times of the month. So, you need to know-- let us know as soon as possible when there's a change so we can make sure that your checks are adjusted appropriately. So what other things can cause an overpayment? We've already kind of covered the earnings or the money that you get from work, but there's other things particularly with SSI. So besides your earnings, people on SSI also have unearned income. And some of the most common things we see for unearned income is unemployment compensation or workman's compensation. So, if you or your spouse or if your child is on SSI, if a parent starts receiving unemployment workman's comp, things like that, you have to let us know because that could affect the amount of your check. The other thing with children, we see when a child gets child support. We need to know about that because that can affect the amount of SSI that we pay. With SSI, we look at your living situation. And if you are receiving free rent or someone is helping you pay your rent, that could make a difference as to how much your SSI check is. So we need to know when your living arrangement changes. Same thing with the marital status, we've already talked about if you're married, your spouse's income or your mom and dad, parents' income is going to make a difference in how much we pay for SSI. So, make sure your let us know if marital status changes. Now, I had promised earlier we talk a little bit about SSI and resources, and here's some spot for that. So if someone is on SSI, we look at the things you own and there are certain limits that you have to stay under. So for an SSI individual, they can have up to $2,000 in resources and a couple can have up to $3,000 in resources. Now, what kinds of things do we count? We look at cash, we look at bank account savings, checking accounts, savings bonds, stocks, all of those things that can be turned into cash. There are certain things that we don't count though, that are excluded. And the main things are at home. If you're living in it doesn't count toward that resource limit. And one vehicle owned by the family, again, that doesn't count. Everything else though has to stay below that resource limit again, $2,000 for an individual, $3,000 for a couple. So, you always want to be sure at the first of the month that your resources are below those limits, otherwise, you might not be doing SSI payment for that month. Some other things that can cause an overpayment, everyone that is on disability or receiving disability benefits has their disability reviewed. Now sometimes, a person's condition improves. So, we determine that you should no longer be getting disability checks. If that happens, we stop those checks and there could be an overpayment. Other times, we-- again, talked about reporting those changes, how important that is. If you don't report the change to Social Security on time or at all, again, that could cause an overpayment, or if the information that we have isn't complete. So, let's say you did call and tell us about that job that you started, but then, you picked up a second job and you forgot to tell us about that one. Well, if we don't have the correct information, then we can't pay you correctly. So again, reporting is so, so important. Another thing that could happen is if you report a change to Social Security but we don't get that information on to your record, an overpayment could occur. All right. So, let's say we've got the overpayment, we know what happened for whatever reason, how are you going to know if you're overpaid? Well, Social Security loves to send notices. I'm sure you've seen a lot of those. And one of those is the notice of overpayment. If you're overpaid, Social Security will send you a letter, it's going to explain why you were overpaid. And in that letter, we will ask for you to refund the amount of that overpayment. Now, what we'll also say that if you are currently receiving benefits that we will propose to withhold a certain amount of money from your check each month until that overpayment is repaid. It's very, very important to read that letter carefully because there will be a lot of information in it. If you don't understand the letter, we want you to contact Social Security and ask them to explain it to you. Now, what's in that notice of overpayment? There's a lot of things in there to look at. So first of all, it's going to say, you know, pay that money back. It's going to advise you how much is going to be withheld from your Social Security check. Now, what usually happens if you're currently receiving SSI benefits, the proposal will-- might say that they're going to hold back 10% of your income or which is like $73.30 a month. If you're receiving SSDI benefits, the notice will propose that we withhold your entire SSDI check until that overpayment is paid back. The notice is also going to tell you the month that we're going to start withholding those checks-- or checks or the payments. Usually, it's two months down the line. We give you plenty of notice so that you'll have time to make other arrangements and to make sure that your other expenses will be paid while we're withholding that money. The other things that are in that notice of overpayment is going to talk about your appeal rights which we're going to cover in a second, and it's going to explain if you feel that you weren't at fault in causing the overpayment and don't have the money to pay it back. How you can request a waiver? So again, very important to read that letter and look at what your options are. So, if you get the overpayment notice and you disagree with that notice, you're going to have two options. Now, the first option is going to be to request an appeal. Now, you would request an appeal if you feel the information we used to calculate the overpayment was incorrect. So, let me give you an example. You're looking at that overpayment letter and it says, because you had earnings of $500 in whatever month, we should have reduced your SSI payment. Well, you look at that letter and go, but I didn't have $500 of earnings in that month. Well, that would mean the information that Social Security has is wrong. So in that case, you'd want to file an appeal and provide the correct information so we can correct that in our records. You have 60 days to file an appeal. So, it's very important you look at these letters and if there is something wrong, you contact that's right away. While we're making a decision on that appeal, we're not going to start collecting the money from your Social Security checks. Now, you need to know if appeal is approved, that your record is actually going to be changed. So, there could be no longer an overpayment at all. But let's say you just felt the information was incorrect, not totally wrong. Instead of $500 that you earned in a month, let's say you earned $250. So, there might still be an overpayment, but the overpayments might not be as large as we originally thought. So if you think the information we used to make our decision was incorrect, that would be filing an appeal. Now let's say you skipped the letter and it says, yes, you know, I did have that much in earnings or I did change my living arrangement or the reason I'm overpaid, I agree with that, that really did happen. But two things, I don't feel it was my fault that that overpayment happened, and I don't have the money to repay the overpayment. Well then, what you're going to want to ask for is a waiver. So, when you request a waiver of benefits-- a waiver of the overpayment, what we're going to do is ask you a couple of things. First, we're going to ask why you think you weren't at fault in causing that overpayment. One of those reasons might be that you did provide us the information we needed and you provided it timely. So that could be a reason that you feel that you're without fault. If you say you are unable to repay it because you don't have the money, then we're going to ask more information. We might ask what is your monthly income, what are your monthly expenses? We would compare the two to see if there is any money left over at the end of the month that you can repay part of that overpayment. Or if all of your money is going to your bills and you just don't have anything left at the end of the month. So both of those things have to be true, you know, for order for us to approve a waiver. Number one, you have to be found without fault and number two, you have to be unable to repay. Now, if we make a decision on the overpayment and we forget the overpayment, it's still there, it's just that we're not going to ask you to repay it, so quite a difference between asking for an appeal or a waiver. So, you want to make sure you get the right forms when you call. Now, what you're going to do if you get that overpayment letter? You've read it all, you agree with it, but one thing you see in there is, boy, you know, they're asking me to withhold a certain amount, maybe my whole check or a certain percentage of my check, and I just can't afford that. I can pay something back, but not that. Well, it's very important that again, you call Social Security and explain that, you know, you wanted to get it back, you just can't pay it back at that rate. So then, we'll negotiate another rate with you. And again, we may ask to see what your household expenses are, your household income is so we can determine what's the fair rate for everyone involved. Now, let's say your benefits have stopped, so you're no longer getting Social Security or SSI benefits. Therefore, we can't withhold the money from your checks. Well, then we're going to ask you to make a monthly payment to Social Security until that overpayment is paid back. It's very important that if you make an agreement with Social Security to pay so much per month that you continue to make that monthly payment. Now, if you don't make those payments, then when it's tax time, Social Security does have the right to withhold your federal income tax refund. Now, as long as you're making payments on your overpayment, we're not going to do that. But if you've stopped making payments and it's tax time, that tax refund might come to Social Security instead of yourself, so very important to keep up those payments. Let's say you made that agreement to pay $50 a month, and because of circumstances, you can't do that. Well rather than just stop all together, recontact Social Security, negotiate a different rate to pay back. So if you have questions about an overpayment or the overpayment letter, we want you to give us a call. And you can call us at the Social Security national number which is 1-800-772-1213. And that number is open from 7am to 7pm, Monday through Friday. So, longer hours than your local office would have. So, that's a nice convenience of that number. If the 800 number can't answer your question, then they may setup an appointment with your local office or refer you to call your local office. You can find your local office address and information on the web at https://secure.ssa.gov //ICON/main.jsp. All right. I think I've talked enough about overpayments for a while. So, I'm going to turn it back over to Sarah.

>> Hi Sarah and Connie, I'm actually going to pause your for some questions. I do have a lot of questions in that Q and A box. And just a reminder to folks out in the audience, if you do have a question, you can submit it to the Q and A box to the right side of the presentation. And we do have quite a few questions about overpayment, and someone out there wants to know if child support can result into an overpayment.

>> Yeah, that's true. If you have a child on SSI and they're receiving child support, that is countable income. There are some exclusions to it, but a majority of the child support is counted which is why we need to know about it.

>> How about other programs like SNAP, can those cause an overpayment?

>> Things like food stamps? That is not considered income so that doesn't affect the amount of SSI we pay.

>> Thank you. And what about inheritances and how would you report an inheritance?

>> That's a really good question. Not only inheritance, but also sometimes what we as winnings. Sometimes people have lottery winnings or winnings from gambling, things like that. That is income and that needs to be reported timely so you would just call either the 800 number or your local office and give them they would need the date to that you received it and the amount that you received it. One thing when you're talking about larger sums of money which an inheritance might be, it's going to caucus income in the month that you receive it and then the following month, it's going to be a resource. Remember when I said your resources have to stay below those certain levels, 2000 or 3000. So if you get an inheritance, let's say it would be income in the month that's received. And then if you hold that money, so if you have over $2000, the first of the next month, then you might not be eligible for that month either until the money is spent down to below the $2000 level.

>> Thanks Connie, how about inheriting something like a piece of property or a fancy car or something like that?

>> Those things could be countable as well and depending on what it is, if it's property and it's something that's going to be in your name and you're not living on it, yes that would be countable. If it's a vehicle, that's a little tricky because it depends if you already have a vehicle because we can only exclude one, so I would say anytime you receive something like that, give your local office a call and let them know.

>> Our next question is how much can Social Security take out of my SSI check to pay back an overpayment?

>> What we're normally going to propose is 10% of your income or $73 is countable income I should say or the most we propose is $73.30. But if like I said, if you find that as a hardship and you can't you know, have that out of your budget each month, just let Social Security know and they'll negotiate a better rate for you.

>> OK. And if I do file an appeal or ask for a waiver, will Social Security take money out of my SSI check while I'm waiting for that decision?

>> No, while we're waiting for the decision, we'll put that collection on a hold.

>> And how long does that decision normally take?

>> Well, it probably depends office to office, but we should try to get them done within 30 to 90 days.

>> OK. Thank you. And how am I notified of their decision?

>> A notice will come out to you that will say if it's-- if your appeal has been decided, you'll get a notice of-- it's not planned action, but like a notice of reconsideration, that would tell you if your appeal was approved or denied. Same thing with the waiver. It would come and say whether if we decided you're at fault and unable to repay and then the overpayment has been forgiven.

>> And if I do get denied, can I submit a second appeal?

>> If your appeal is denied, the first level is the reconsideration and if that is denied, then you can appeal the reconsideration to the hearing's level.

>> OK and you did talk a lot about the 60 days deadline, is there a deadline to appeal to the hearings as well?

>> The same thing, it's another 60 days to file your appeal.

>> OK, thanks so much Connie and we have lots more questions coming in so, we're going to take a look at those. Well, Sarah, keep going on with the presentation.

>> Thank you.

>> Next, we're going to talk about some tips for avoiding overpayment. So the first tip is to learn about the Social Security work incentive that might apply to you. Work incentive are special rules that Social Security has in place and they may be able to help you get training to prepare for work, improve skills, pursue education, try work, or try different jobs or start a career or business. Work incentives can help you increase your income being skilled and experienced, which can increase confidence. And there are many more work incentives that can help with benefits and health insurance. We'll talk about how you can find out more information in the resource section at the end of the presentation. Next tip for overpayment prevention is to keep in touch with Social Security. Every benefit that Social Security administrated have a specific list of changes that you're required to report if you get that benefit. You can contact Social Security to get this information. You can also go online and find the pamphlet, what you need to know when you get benefits. They are the template for SSDI and a template for SSI. Both are red white and blue Social Security publication. To help avoid overpayment, you should find out how often you need to report your wages. You should contact your local office and find out what they request. Do they want your pay stubs every week, every other week or once a month? When you report your wages, make sure you do it in writing and you ask for a receipt. The receipt may be a Social Security notice that just confirms you reported to work. If you report in person, they'll mail you a receipt. Even though you might report your work each month, you may need to provide all of your pay stubs to your local office if they ask for them. So it's really important that you keep your original pay stubs, and your receipts in a safe place. Again, if you're in one program, you may need to provide pay stubs for the other program so it's really important that you have your pay stubs on hand in case you need them later. And lastly, keep all of your Social Security notices and receipts in a safe place. It may be beneficial to have a Social Security folder where you keep your notices, receipts and pay stubs for future reference. How can people who receive SSI avoid overpayments? As Connie mentioned, for SSI, there are a lot of reporting requirements. You need to report to Social Security changes and earned income as well as unearned income. Unearned income is money that's not from work. Some examples of unearned income, child support and unemployment benefits. For SSI, you also need to report changes and resources or aspects, things like checking their savings accounts, their vehicles. For SSI, you need to report work changes. If you start or stop a job, increased or decreased work hours or if your rate of pay changes, Social Security wants to know that information. At the beginning of each month, report the exact amount of your growth earnings for the previous month. Growth earnings are your earnings before taxes and other deductions. For SSI, as Connie mentioned, you also need to report your living arrangement changes. For a list of reporting requirements for SSI, you can contact social security or go online to review the pamphlet, what you need to know when you get supplemental security income or SSI. Report changes immediately whenever you can to make sure that you don't forget. Now, I'll hand the mic back over to Connie to talk about the SSI Telephone Wage Reporting.

>> But Jamie before we move on to Wage Reporting, is there any other overpayment questions you want us to cover?

>> I do have a couple more of questions. We've talked about whether inheritances can cause an over payment, can gifts cause an overpayment?

>> Yes they can. And it depends on what type of gifts it is. So again, that's one I would have them call their local office and based on this situation, what the gift is that they can-- They'll let them know whether it's countable or not.

>> OK thank you. How about housing subsidies?

>> Housing subsidies are not considered income for SSI, so things you get, let's stay through section 8 or hud, that would not make a difference in the SSI payment.

>> OK. And we have some folks out there who are on SSDI. Do you think like inheritances or gifts or housing subsidies or anything like that, cost overpayments for them?

>> That's a great question because you know at the beginning how we said the rules are so different for the two different programs. Well even though all those things count for SSI, we don't look at any of those things for SSDI. So when we're talking about, you know, the unearned income and the resources, that's all SSI-only program-related.

>> Thank you. And we have someone out there who's work hours change by less than five hours every week, can they take an average and use that average to report?

>> If they're on SSI, they could do that but just let them know that, you know, some months in there may be overpayments and some months there may be underpayments and hopefully, it will cancel each other out. But that's why for them, that would be really important for them to do monthly reporting, like we're going to talk about in just one minute.

>> OK and I'm going to let you get back to the presentation and we'll break for questions after we talk about Telephone Wage Reporting.

>> All right. So, we'd already mention that one of the biggest problems in causing overpayments is unreported wages, right? So, there's a lot of different ways to report your wages. Today though what we're going to focus on is the SSITWR and that means SSI Telephone Wage Reporting system. The wage reporting system is a way to follow in your growth monthly wages into Social Security. When you do this, the information goes directly into the computer system. Now in my books, this is a great system because you don't have to worry about your pay stubs getting lost, you know, do they get there in the mail, do they get on somebody's desk, can get misplaced. You don't have to rely on a person to open that envelope and type those wages into the computer by using the telephone wage reporting system, the information you say into the telephone or if you're using our mobile app goes directly on to your SSI record, so a really great system to use. Now, whose wages can be reported using the Telephone Wage Reporting System? Well, it is the SSI system, so if you're on SSI benefits, you can use that Telephone Reporting System or if you receive both SSI and Social Security, you can use the Telephone Wage Reporting System. But you want to realize that this information is only going directly to your SSI record. As we talked about before, you always want to keep your pay stubs because even though you're reporting at this way, we may need to verify those wages in case they don't equal what your W2 shows at the end of the year or sometimes or SSDI, we look at when the earnings are paid instead of when they're received, so make sure you keep your stubs no matter how you report to social security. Now, who can report wages for the beneficiary? Well, the person themselves that are working, they can report using the telephone wage reporting system. Their representative payee can report for the beneficiary. If the-- If your spouse is working, they can also report or if a child is receiving benefits, mom and dad can report their earnings on the Telephone Wage Reporting System. So it can be used for everybody on the SSI record. I want to mention here that there are some exceptions for using the Telephone Wage Reporting System and the biggest one is if a person has multiple employers, at this time, we are unable to use the wage reporting system on the phone if you have multiple employers. So that's huge because a lot of our clients, they do have one or two sometimes three jobs and if that's the case, then we have to go back to reporting it a different way. So what are those other ways we can report? The first thing is we talked about how you can mail your wages into the local office. You could fax them in using the office's fax number or you could bring them into the office. But all that requires time, maybe a STAMP, additional money. So what we're going to talk about a little bit more now is that Telephone Wage Reporting. If you are interested in doing those Telephone Wage Reporting, the first thing you have to do though is call your local office, let them know that you're working and has this job because they have to have that job on your SSI record before you can start reporting the wages. The thing about using the Telephone Wage Reporting, you want to make sure that you're in a quiet location because you are using the phone and we don't want the computer to pick up any background noise and you have to speak very clearly so they get the correct information. Now let's say well, maybe you're working at a place that you don't have a quiet location, that would be the best time to be report your wages. We also have an SSI mobile wage reporting smart phone app. So instead of doing it out of the phone, you can do it over your computer, and the smart phone app is available in Google Play and at the Apple App Store. So either the phone reporting of the mobile wage reporting are both great systems to use if you're able. Again, you don't have to worry about things getting lost in the shuffle or someone having to type into those, type those wages in. You could imagine, of all those individuals, we have that are working and they have to report their wages that first week of the month, our SSI claims are presented to be very busy, so to get all those wages, this is a challenge. If you use the telephone or mobile app reporting, you don't have to worry about that. All right, so if we're going to use those apps, what wages should we report? Now, this is very important, the SSI Telephone Wage Reporting System accepts your gross wages. For SSI, to determine your SSI payment, we're going to look at your gross wages. Now gross is what you get before they take anything out. A lot of people they-- when you ask about wages, they go to what they take home or what they see direct deposited into their bank account. But what needs to be reported and what we use to calculate the benefit is the gross wages. So again, before your taxes are taken out, before insurance or any other withholding that are taken out, those are your gross wages. So make sure when you report, you report gross. Now, when you report those wages, you can report wages for one month within the first six days of the next month. So, our wages for September, you will be able to report those on the phone app or the mobile app from October first to the sixth. Now, one of the reasons, we use that time reporting, if any of you were on SSI, you may realize that usually, there are some exceptions but usually, wages in one month affect the SSI check two months later. So wages that you earn in September are going to affect your November SSI payment. So that's why we need those September wages reported the first six days in October so we can make the adjustments to that November check. Because of the statutes of the law, we have to give you notice when we're going to lower a check so we have to do it at certain times in the month in order to get the payment correct. You can report your wages later in the month after the sixth but you just have to remember, that might be too late for us to change the next month's payment. It still would be good to report them because we have it in your records, but your check may not be adjusted correctly if it's reported after those first six days. So what information do you need to report? So, if you call in, there-- The telephone prompt is going to ask you for the Social Security Number of the person who is reporting the wages, the person calling. So if the representative payee is calling, it's going to ask for the payees' Social Security Number as well as the person's Social Security Number who earns the wages. So if you're calling for someone else, you'll need your number and the client Social Security Number. It's also then going to ask for the total amount of gross wages for the person who earned them. Once again, we're going back to those gross wages before any of those deductions are taken out. How do you know that the information you provide on the Telephone Wage Reporting is going on to your record, that's a good question. Well there are certain things we ask when you dial in. The first thing is, we ask for your first and last name. Now, I want you to be ware because we have some problems with this. It's your first and last name that is on your most recent Social Security Card. So if everybody calls you Cathy, but on your Social Security Card, your name is Catherine. When you'd call in to report your wages, you're going to have to report it as Catherine, not Cathy. So make sure you-- if you have a look at that card recently, let's go back and see what name was used on there, you're going to use the same name when you do the wage reporting. We're also going to have for your Social Security Number and your date of birth, and once we have those things, then you're in. Now, let's say you reported those wages. How do you know that we got the information, right? Because you hang up and it's like, oh I hope they got it. Well, what will happen is we will send out a receipt. The computer will issue a receipt. You should get it within about 10 days to two weeks and that receipt will say, you know, how much of the growth wages you reported and what month those wages were? OK? The first way you're going to know that you reported successfully. The second way is if there's going to be a change in your check which there probably will be if your wage has changed. You will get a notice of change for SSI and that will tell you what that next month's check is going to be. So two things, you're going to get a receipt and you're going to get that notice of change. One other thing I want to mention, when you call Social Security and tell them you're interested in setting up the SSI Telephone Wage Reporting, they're going to send you out of packet and the packet is really nice because it explains in detail how to report your wages. It gives the phone number that you're going to call to report the wages. And then it's going to give you calendars for each month. So you can keep track. So if you get paid, let's say, every other Friday, you can, they'll be-- you could circle that Fridays that you get paid and writing your growth wages, and then a place for you to add them up to total them because when you're called, you're going to give us the total for the month, not paycheck by paycheck. So this packet is really nice. Another reason to call in that Social Security, know that you're interested in doing this wage reporting. Now let's say you think well, that's good, I would like to do this but you know, I might not remember the first six days of the month that I have to do this report. So we have a great system set up to remind you. You can visit our website and sign up for monthly e-mail reminders or text messages, something coming to your phone thing. Report your wages within the next six days. You can sign up for those reminders on our website and that address is https://www.ssa.gov/ disabilityssi/ssi-wage- reporting.html. Our website is also very friendly. So, if you didn't get all that, you can always just go on socialsecurity.gov and there's a search button and you can search text reminders, or wage reporting reminders. And it will get you to the right spot. So give that a try. Now let's say even with the reminders, you forgot to report timely. Well then, then what should you do? Well, remember originally how I said that you can report after the sixth of the month? It's just that your check may not be affected, but it still would be important to get that information on your SSI record. So, you can report later in the month but you can never report for a month that one month out. So, in September, I can report August wages, but I could not go back and report July wages. So it only accepts wages for the proceeding month. The obvious thing is let's say you forgot completely and even lost the pay stub so you didn't report this month. Well, you could still next month pick a back up again. It's not if you miss one month, you're out. You can always pick it back up if you forget a month. But once again, I ask you to keep those paced up because we may need to see them. You know, one of those errors are sometimes people instead of reporting their growth, they report their net and then at the end of the year, when we're doing a review, we see the records from IRS, so your W2 isn't the same as what you reported. So then we have to go back and actually take a look at those stubs and see kind of where we went wrong. So, save those stubs. If you want to get more information, again call Social Security National number 1-800-772-1213. If they can't answer your questions, they'll refer you to your local office. They'll schedule you an appointment or give you the local office number. And to find your local office, you can visit our website and type in https://secure.ssa.gov /ICON/main.jsp. And that will help you find your local office, so you can get an appointment schedule there. For that was a lot of information about that monthly wage reporting, or telephone reporting, mobile app reporting. What kind of questions do you have for us Jaime?

>> We have lots and lots of questions and if you want to let the audience know that we are working our way through them, we have a lot of questions out there. And as I mentioned in the beginning, we may not get to all of you. So, we'll provide you with some additional resources where you can get your questions answered after today's webinar. But do keep sending them in. We love seeing your questions and helping you this afternoon. So Connie, we have some folks out there, a few have questions about what it means to be a concurrent beneficiary and how overpayment can impact people or how getting both benefits changes how you would speak to them about over payment? So--

>> It would be different because we look at different things, we'd emphasize. We look at your growth earnings. We subtract the first $65 that you earned in a month and then reduce your SSI check half of what's left over. So let me just give you a quick example of that. Let's say, someone is earning $565 a month of wages. And let's say they have some other income. So in their case, we're going to give them a $65 exclusion which will be me in that 565 down to 500. Then we're going divide that in half, which is 250. So even though they're earning $565, we're only going to reduce the SSI by $250. So, when we look at that, a change in income can really make a difference on how much SSI we pay, so month to month. That check is going to change. Now, with SSDI, the rules are quite a bit different because I know we don't have time to get into all of our work incentives today. But with the SSDI program, if a person's earnings are under the trail work period level, which this here is 810 dollars a month, they may see no change in their social security check at all. Their SSDI checks may stay the same. Once the trial work period is over, if they keep their earnings under the substantial gainful limit of $1,130 a month, again they may not see any change in their SSDI benefit. So, even though wages are affecting the check for one program, it may not be affecting the checks for the other program when we're talking about that monthly wage reporting, remember that's for SSI so that information is going to go to the SSI program. That information should be shared with SSDI, but this isn't always. So that's why even if you're monthly wage reporting on SSI, if there's a change, again an increase or a decrease make sure you call the local office. Let them know that you're on both benefit so that they can get the information to the correct person.

>> Thanks Connie. And going through some of these other questions, you did mention work incentives and I believe Sarah talked a little bit about the-- then we have some questions about some from the audience. So Sarah can you tell us again what a work incentive is?

>> Sure. Work incentives are special rules that social security has in place that encourage you to try work. So different work incentives may be able to help pay for school or pay for starting a business. Some of them allow you to continue to receive your benefit while you're working or continued health insurance coverage as you work. So there are a bunch of different work incentives and you can find out more information by contacting social security.

>> Some of our other work incentives might actually lower the amount of earnings that we're using to determine your check. So, something we have that's called impairment-related work expenses. So if someone, let's say is having co-pays for some medication or things like that, that could actually reduce the amount of earnings that we count. So work incentives are a very important part of the big picture.

>> Thanks Connie. That was actually my next question. Can one of you tell us what the PABSS plan is and how that interacts with overpayments?

>> Well, I can talk though, a little bit about the PABSS. So I'm the PABSS specialist for the state of Wisconsin. So, I see all the PABSS there. PABSS is a plan to achieve self-support. It's a program for individuals who want to work their way off benefits. They no longer want to continue to receive that SSI or disability check. You know, they really have a work goal in mind. And that's the whole thing about PABSS. What is the person's work goal? And sometimes, people need some funding to help them reach that work goal. If they have income other than SSI, that they can use to set aside to reach their work goal, then we can make some adjustments in the SSI check. PABSS is a really great work incentive, but it would-- it's going to take a little time to explain that in detail. So maybe that's for another day.

>> Thanks so much, Connie. We have someone out there who would like you to explain the $810 a month, the one that you mentioned earlier.

>> So, that $810 is the amount of a trial work month. So this is an SSDI work incentive. So people that are on SSDI, if they work and earn over $810 a month, we consider that a trial work month. Individuals can have nine trial work months. And when their nine trial work months are over, then we look to see if they're doing substantial work which is $1,130 a month. Now, those nine trial work months don't need to be consecutive. So it's a way for our working beneficiaries to give a job a try to see if it works and not see any change in their social security check at all. I always say that's almost like a too good to be true work incentive because people say so I can earn that and nothing's going to happen to my check. Then I say yes. During your trial work period if you earn over 810 dollars a month, it's going to be considered a trial work month but you're going to see no change in your check. It's not until those nine trial work months are over that we're going to look to see if you're doing substantial work. And then if you're over that 1,130, checks may be suspended.

>> Thanks Connie. A followup question is can any of that result in an over payment?

>> If you're in your trial work period, no, there wouldn't be an over payment there. The thing would be, let's say you forget to tell us you went to work, so maybe you worked 12 months. And nine of those would be trial work so they wouldn't count, but those last three, let's say you were over for those months. Well, that could cause an overpayment. So again, that reporting is so important.

>> We also have several questions related to the telephone wage reporting system and you talked a little bit about getting a receipt. Is there any other way to get a confirmation like a confirmation code or number or is it just that receipt in the mail that people should look out for?

>> It's just the receipt is the confirmation you're going to get. At this point, there is no confirmation at the end of the call. You would just see the receipt that comes out in the mail and then, you know, if you have a change in your payment, you'll get a second notice telling you how much in your check is going to be based on that wage report.

>> You also talked a little bit about impairment-related work expenses, excuse me. What is-- Would there be an opportunity if I got an overpayment? And then I went to my local office to take a look at my history, to take a look and see if I had any impairment-related work expenses and help with the appeal of that overpayment?

>> Yes. That would be great. That would be an appeal, not a waiver, so that would be a request for an appeal and that would be the information that we had on the record could be wrong. Because let's say, we were using that $500 a month of your wages, but let's say you had medication co-pays of $100 a month that we weren't aware of at that time. So if we then subtracted that $100 off the 500, definitely it would be a change in what we would use to figure out the SSI payments. So yes, that would be a great thing to file an appeal on if you have something that we didn't know about.

>> Thank you. And one thing I promised the audience in the beginning would be we're going to talk a little bit about some of providers that worked with us Ticket to Work and to help understand social security a little bit better. So Sarah, can you tell us a little bit about what a WIPA is, what an employment network is? And I'll get into tab a little later on, could you explain how those two offices can work together and what they both do?

>> Yeah, definitely. So WIPA stands for Working Incentive Planning and Assistance, and WIPA projects are community organizations that provide free benefit counseling. So WIPA projects have staffs that are especially trained to provide benefits counseling and let you know how work affects the benefits you receive and also tell you about the work incentives available to you. So if you get SSI or SSDI or both, WIPA projects and the benefit specialists or community work incentive coordinators, they can let you know what work incentives are available to you. All of this information is really important, so you can make informed choices about work and you know what will happen to your benefits with working. Employment networks are public and private organizations that are approved by social security to provide services and Ticket to Work. So employment networks may provide different types of free employment services like job placement, job leave, help with the resume or cover letter. They might do benefits counseling or job coaching, different types of pre-employment services. Your Ticket to Work will be provided by employment networks.

>> Thanks Sarah. Connie, another one for you, we've talked a lot about SSI wage reporting. Can you remind everyone how to report their wages if they only received SSDI?

>> Yeah, so the telephone wage reporting, like we had said, it's only SSI. So if you're on SSDI and you need to report your wages, go back to those ways of mailing the pay stubs in, faxing the pay stubs in, or taking them to your local office. Now, because the rules are different, we may not need your pay stubs every single month if you're on SSDI. You know, we talked about that trial work period level of $810. If your earnings are below that, it's not going to have any effect on your checks, so we wouldn't need your pay stubs every month. We would of course need to know that you were working. Now we would need to have a good estimate of your work. But your local office may say, "Well, we don't need your stubs every month because you're under that trial work period level." Other offices may say, "You know, as long as you're working, we want to see those stubs every month." So that was a good reason to make a connection with your local office and see what they'd prefer you to do.

>> Thanks so much and we did have someone out there who is wondering if they get both SSI and SSDI and may use the telephone wage reporting to report their wages. Do they also have to report for SSDI as well?

>> They should still report any changes. So start in work, change in pay, change in hours, they should make a separate phone call to the 800 number or the local office for the SSDI checks to make sure that we've got that change updated.

>> Thanks. And Connie, how long do you recommend that people keep their paperwork for social security?

>> Well, I would say to keep it for a number of years because sometimes if we're doing, let's say, SSI reviews, sometimes we do those every year, so we touch base and have to verify wages every year. Sometimes, it's a little bit longer than that, depending on the status of everybody's record. So you know, if we haven't asked for the wages at least two years SSDI, I would say hold on to things a little bit longer maybe three or four years. That idea that Sarah gave us of having a social security folder and just throwing it, everything in there is a good idea. So then if you ever need it, you've got it available.

>> Thanks. And we do you have some repeat questions out there, some folks wondering how they know that-- when they reported their wages through the telephone wage reporting system that it went through, what types of confirmation do they get?

>> OK. So they'll get a receipt from social security that says the month that the wages were reported and the amount of the growth wages that they reported. And then also because the check is going to change, they'll get a notice of change and benefits and they'll tell them what their next check is going to be. So they'll probably see two different things, that receipt will come up first and then a notice of change in the amount of the social SSI check.

>> Thank you. We've also gone through a lot of the things that count as income for people who receive SSI. We have a couple of more questions from folks who want to know if loan or payments from a roommate. So if someone gives you a check for rent, or for the utility, do those count as income?

>> Well, they could. As far as the loan, if it's a valid oral loan in the state that the person is living in, it wouldn't count as income. But if that money is held over to the next month, then we'd have to look to make sure that the resources are under that $2,000 limit. If the roommate gives the person money for rent, one of the things that we would look at is, are they paying just their share, you know. If there's two people in the apartment, are they sharing expenses each paying half? But let's say the roommate is paying more than half or more than their share, then that could count as income to the SSI recipient.

>> And is there a list online or who can tell if the audience understands what does count as income or count against their resources?

>> There is a good SSI pamphlet that what you need to know when you get SSI, it explains the income rules and what needs to be counted. You can also look online, socialsecurity.gov had some great reminders of what needs to report-- be reported, what counts, what doesn't count?

>> Great. Thank you so much. I'm just going to say, we go to some other questions. That's for the nine months trial work period. Can you tell us again what that is and are those months consecutive?

>> OK. So, the trial work period is an SSDI work incentive. So that's real important that we understand this, we're talking about SSDI. So when somebody goes to work for SSDI, if they are in over this year, this figure changes every year but this year it's $810, if they earn over $810, it's considered a trial work month. First they can get nine trial work months during their period of entitlement. So, they do not need to be consecutive. Let's say somebody starts the job and works January and February and makes a thousand dollars both of those months, so we've had two trial work months. Then they ended that job for whatever reason. Then this month, they go back to work and they make a thousand dollars. That would be another third trial work month. Let's say next month, though they only make $200, well, that wouldn't count as a trial work month. So we have trial work months can last, you know, you have to use all nine within five years though. If you don't use all nine in five years, they start to drop off. But once you use all nine, they're locked in. Once that trial work period is over, then we look to see if a person is doing substantial work. And this is the different figure that changes every year. This year, it's $1,130. So once the nine-month trial work period is over, if an individual works and earns over 1,130, then their benefits might be suspended until those earnings drop below that amount.

>> Thanks, Connie. Back to overpayments for a second, how does SSI notify a person who is only receiving SSDI that they received their monthly wage report? So once they've submitted their reported earnings, how does social security tell them?

>> OK. So if they're receiving SSDI only, they're not going to be using the phone emobilex apps. So they're going to be mailing or faxing or bringing their pay stubs into the field office. So in that case, once the representatives records those wages, again a receipt should go out to the individuals telling them it has on there, the name of the employer, the date of the check and the amount of the check. So that's another type of receipt that we sent for SSDI only folks.

>> OK. Thank so much. A couple of other questions for you, we have someone out there who was working and their Medicare fees were taken out of their disability check. He stopped working in January and has been unable to work with the money is still being taken out. How should he correct this? Would you recommend he contact with local field office?

>> So the Medicare payment is being taken out of the Social Security check?

>> Yes.

>> And-- But he wants to continue to have medicare coverage?

>> I'm not too sure if the person in the audience can provide some clarification. We can get back to that question.

>> OK, because as long as someone wants that medicare coverage, we want to take that out of there, that Medicare premium out of the Social Security check. So with this particular situation, he might want to touch base with the local field office so they can take a look at his record and determine the best route for him.

>> Great. Thank you so much. And we have gotten a lot of questions today about self-employment. So Sarah, could you tell us a little bit about some of the resources available to people who might be interested in becoming self-employed in using the ticket to work program?

>> I'm not an expert in self-employment, so I'm going to refer to Connie.

>> OK. Sorry about that. Thank you.

>> That's OK.

>> OK, so people that are interested in self-employment. There are several different places I would refer them to. The small business association is wonderful and they are nationwide. They have a lot of times monthly meetings and communities. They have mentors that can help individuals that are thinking of starting a business. It's a great place to go. Score, S-C-O-R-E is a website where you can go and take a look at people that help set up business and give ideas for starting business. Another great place are division of vocational rehabilitation. There are great places to get some advice about starting a business and maybe help put together a business plan. A lot of our local colleges or community colleges also have departments that will help people develop a business plan and that's kind of the basis for starting a business, is you have to have a really good business plan. I know that DVR in Wisconsin anyway, sometimes they will pay for an organization to write a business plan for a beneficiary. So if you're not involved with your local division of vocational rehabilitation, give them a call. Otherwise, the small business association is a great source of information.

>> On a previous WISE webinar, there's also a mention that JAN, or the Job Accommodation Network is a good resource for self-employed individuals? There's a specific section on their website that's for entrepreneurs.

>> Thanks to both of you and I'll let you know the website for JAN is www.askjan.org and they have great variety of resources on reasonable accommodations and they do have a wonderful self-employment page as well. Connie, how does an individual who is self-employed and receiving SSI and or SSDI report their wages? And how can that individual avoid an overpayment?

>> You know, self-employment can be really tricky because especially if you're starting a self-employment business it's really hard to estimate what your earnings are going to be? With self-employment, it's very different than wages because, you know, how we talked about wages, it's gross, gross, right? Before those taxes. But when we look at self-employment we actually look at net self-employment. So when we look at your tax returns, we look at what the growth self-employment was and then we deduct the business expenses and then we use the net self-employment to determine payment. So for that-- especially that first year self-employment, we want to do an estimate as close as we can, and we might have to change it in the year but normally what happens with self-employment at the end of the year, we find the net earnings in self-employment and we divide that equally among the 12 months of the year if that business was in operation for the whole year. So that can be a little bit trickier but we've tried to do our best guess when we figure self-employment.

>> Connie, we have some folks out there wondering what exactly an AWIC is?

>> Great question. I'm the Area Work Incentive Coordinator. And this is the position with social security that was created when the Ticket to Work was created back in the '90s. Social Security really is putting resources into getting our disabled beneficiaries back to work, those that want to work. So they felt that they-- they created a position to get the word out there for people to know that we've got these wonderful work incentives. And then like I said, a lot of times, their work incentives are almost too good to be true, that we have these wonderful work incentives out there. And we want people to use them. So part of my job is the Area Work Incentive Coordinator is to get the word out to our community partners, our clients, our beneficiaries. I also do a lot of training with our local field offices and make sure that they're applying the work incentives correctly. So there is an AWIC in every area so that usually one or two states and we're very lucky here in area two in the Chicago region that with our Wisconsin and Illinois area, we have two AWICs, myself and Charles Killen who's the second AWIC for area two.

>> OK, thank you so much. So during this presentation, we talked a lot about overpayments and not really too much about how to get started in work. And I always like to ask always my presenters, what your advices for taking the first step towards employment and what you about folks know about getting started in exploring this opportunity to become employed and look at work for the first time. So Sarah, I'll start with you.

>> Yes, so I think the first step that I would recommend to individuals is to either contact the Ticket to Work hotline to get more information or go on the Choose Work website. The website again is www.choosework.net. And there's a lot of great information on the Choose Work website that talks about getting started and your options for services. There's assigned help tool where you can find agencies that serves your area whether it's an employment network you're looking for or your state vocational rehabilitation agency. There's also the contact information for your local WIPA. If you have questions about your benefits are affected by work, that's a great place to start but I think compiling all of the resources and getting answers to those questions, so you can prepare for work and have all of the information that you need in order to make decisions about work is a good place to start.

>> Thanks Sarah. And Connie, what would be your advice?

>> You know I think Sarah said it all, that's a great advice and the thing to remember the services that she's mentioning, the web services, the Ticket to Work, the employment networks. Those are all free services for our beneficiaries. So if you're receiving an SSI checker and SSDI check, these are services available to you at no cost. So, you know, take advantage of them. They're a great place to start.

>> Great. Thank you both so much. We may have a couple extra questions at the end but I'm going to talk a little bit more about some very additional resources and I know there are lots of questions out there about how people can find their local WIPA and employment networks and we will cover that in just a couple slides. So for additional resources today, we did want to introduce an organization called, "Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security". They're also known as PABSS. And PABSS services are located throughout all of the state, territories, there's also a PABSS for the tribal nations. The PABSS are designed to help people who get social security disability benefits. So people who are on SSI and SSDI, they're going to help you remove obstacles from preventing you from working. PABSS services are free to everyone who receives social security benefits or Medicare and Medicaid based on your disability benefit. PABSS can help beneficiaries by advocating for vocational services from employment networks or vocational rehabilitation agencies. They can also provide information referrals with advocacy related to benefits. They can assist beneficiaries in removing barriers to work and they can also help address overpayment issues related to employment. So, if you're having some trouble and want some extra help with your overpayment issues, PABSS are a great resource to reach out to. Sarah mentioned, our Find Help Tool. So on our website which is www.choosework.net, we have a find help tool and you can enter your zip code, your city and the state and it will send you right back any information you're looking for related to providers in your area. And you can find an EN like Sarah and Sarah's organization is also a WIPA and you can find w workforce employment network at VR agency or your PABSS agency. And the Find Help Tool can also let you search by the languages that they seek at that organization, the type of disability that they-- Sarah, that they do specify the type of disability. And the services that they offer, we can say these vary from organization to organization. So our Find Help Tool is available online at www.choosework.net/findhelp. And Sarah and Connie both also mentioned our Ticket to Work Help Line and as I mentioned, we got lots and lots of questions today and unfortunately, we were not able to get to all of them. And we do encourage you to contact their Help Line and the numbers of voice is 1-866-968-7842. The number for TTY is 1-866-833-2967. And you can also visit us online at www.social security.gov/work. We are present on social media and we encourage you to follow us for additional information. You can like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/choosework. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/chooseworkssa. We have some great videos available on YouTube. We have lots of success stories from people who have participated in this Ticket to Work program and found success in employment in a variety of fields and I would encourage you to take a look at those videos, to hear from people who have participated in our program. And our YouTube is www.youtube.com/choosework. We're also on LinkedIn and our LinkedIn page is https://www.linkedin.com/ company/ticket-to-work. I do want to take a moment to invite you to our next webinar. The webinar date is October 26 and this month-- or in October, we will focus on mentorship. And we do encourage you to join safety into www.choosework.net/wise for new information about our upcoming webinars or to register for the next month. I do want to ask a group out there who were interested in [inaudible] know that in November, we will focus on self-employment during our webinar. So be sure to come back for that one. We'll provide lots of great information and resources for those of you who might be interested in being self-employed. But of course, first come back in October to learn about mentorship as well. I'd like to take a second to thank Connie and Sarah so much for providing this wonderful information to us. There is a lot of it, as I mentioned in the beginning, this webinar will be archived in about two weeks and then it will be available on www.choosework.net and it's actually, I'll go on the WISE page. And I do want to take a moment to just say thank you to all of you. And this is the first step in learning more information about employment and the ticket to work program. So we truly appreciate that you've joined us today and, we want to mention as well that a survey will pop up at the end of this webinar and if it does not, the link to the survey is www.choosework.net/surveys/wise. We do ask you to take a second to fill out that survey and thank you again for joining. Thank you to Connie and Sarah and thank you to the team in the background who has been answering as many questions because we do it once. And again, thank you to all of you for joining us this afternoon and have a wonderful day.