Overview of Social Security Disability Programs and Work Incentives - slide 14
Plan for Achieving Self Support…
Purpose is to increase or maintain a persons ability to work and earn a living, and as a result, reduce their reliance on government benefit support in the long term.
The last work incentive for SSI that we are going to talk about is the Plan for Achieving Self-Support or PASS. Pass is a SSI work incentive, which allows for persons with disabilities to set aside income and/or resources to be used to achieve specific work goals. A PASS can be established to cover the costs of obtaining an education, receiving vocational training, starting a business, or purchasing support services which enable individuals to work and result in reduction or cessation of benefits. Some examples of these support services may include:
The purpose of the PASS work incentive is to increase or maintain a persons ability to work and earn a living, and as a result, reduce their reliance on government benefit support in the long term. Therefore, for a PASS to be approved by the Social Security Administration, there must be a reasonable chance that individuals can achieve their vocational goal. There must also be a clear connection between the vocational goal and the increased or maintained earning capacity.
Using the PASS incentive, individuals set aside income and/or resources designated to pay for specific services or items that are necessary for reaching their employment goal. The PASS makes it financially feasible to pay for these items or services by enabling the person to recover some, or in some cases, all of the expense through their SSI cash benefit.
PASS is meant to assist
a person in competing in the job market. It is important to note that a PASS
is just the means to acquire the services and items needed for starting work;
not the means to make income and resources available for ongoing costs.
Effect of PASS on SSI Benefits:
A PASS is meant to be a flexible tool to allow individuals with disabilities to either raise their SSI amount or become eligible for SSI, in order to obtain items or services that would help them return to work or increase their ability to support themselves. A PASS gives additional SSI income now to help individuals become less dependent on SSI at the end of the PASS.