Work Incentives promote employment and greater independence for people with disabilities who are initially entering, or re-entering, the workforce:

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Work Incentives:
• 1619(a) special SSI cash benefits
• 1619(b) Continued Medicaid Eligibility
• Student Earned Income Exclusion
• Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS)
• Impairment Related Work Expense
• Blind Work Expense
• Expedited Reinstatement
• Ticket to Work
• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Work Incentives:
• Trial Work Period
• Extended Period of Eligibility
• Extended Medicare Coverage
• Impairment Related Work Expenses
• Subsidies and Special Conditions
• Expedited Reinstatement
• Ticket to Work

WIPA disseminates accurate information to beneficiaries receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and/or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), based on disability and/or blindness, about work incentives programs, and issues related to such programs, to enable them to make informed choices about working, including:

• Whether or when to assign their Ticket to Work;

• How available work incentives can facilitate their transition into the workforce; and

• Information on the impact of earnings on other support programs, such as:
  - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
  - Food Stamps
  - Federal Housing
  - Unemployment Insurance
  - Worker’s Compensation
  - Earned Income Tax Credit
  - Health Insurance
  

HDRC staff members who provide WIPA services are called Community Work Incentives Coordinators (CWICs). They focus on you, your choices, your future, and especially your work goals. They:

• Provide work incentives planning and assistance directly to beneficiaries with disabilities to assist them in their employment efforts;
• Conduct outreach efforts in collaboration with SSA's Program Manager for Recruitment and Outreach (PMRO) contractor to beneficiaries with disabilities (and their families) who are potentially eligible to participate in Federal or State work incentives programs,
• Screen and refer beneficiaries with disabilities to the appropriate Employment Networks (ENs) based on the beneficiary's expressed needs and types of impairments.
• Work in cooperation with SSA's Area Work Incentives Coordinators (AWICs), Federal, State, local and private agencies and other nonprofit organizations that serve beneficiaries with disabilities seeking employment.
• Provide general information on the adequacy of health benefits coverage that may be offered by an employer of a beneficiary with a disability; the extent to which other health benefits coverage may be available to that beneficiary in coordination with Medicare and/or Medicaid.
• Advise beneficiaries of the availability of protection and advocacy services and how to access such services.

WIPA is authorized in:

• 42 USC §1320b-21, P.L. 106-170
  Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999
• Pub. L. 108-203
  Social Security Protection Act of 2004, reauthorized funding through FY 2009

WIPA is administered and regulated by:

• Social Security Administration
  Office of Acquisition and Grants
  7111 Security Blvd., 1st Floor Rear Entrance
  Baltimore, MD 21244
  Telephone: 410-965-9469 / Fax: 410-966-9310