2012 Red Book

RESOURCES FOR EMPLOYMENT SUPPORTS

Area Work Incentives Coordinator (AWIC)
Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) Cadre
Benefits Planning Query (BPQY)

You can get information about SSA’s employment support provisions at any of our SSA field offices around the country. You may also call us toll free at 1-800-772-1213, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Area Work Incentives Coordinator (AWIC)

AWICs are experienced employment support experts who:

• Coordinate and/or conduct public outreach on work incentives in their local areas;



• Provide and/or coordinate and oversee training on SSA’s employment support programs for all personnel at local Social Security offices;



• Handle sensitive or high profile disability work-issue cases, if necessary; and
  



• Monitor the disability work-issue workloads in their respective areas

IInformation on how to contact your local AWIC is available at the following Internet sites:

Atlanta Region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee)
www.awic/atlanta

Boston Region (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont)
www.awic/boston

Chicago Region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin)
www.awic/chicago

Dallas Region (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas)
www.awic/dallas

Denver Region (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming)
www.awic/denver

Kansas City Region (Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri)
www.awic/kc

New York Region (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands)
www.awic/newyork

Philadelphia Region (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia)
www.awic/philly

San Francisco Region (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, Guam, Saipan)
www.awic/sanfran

Seattle Region (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington)
www.awic/seattle

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Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) Cadre

SSA has specially trained employees that work with the PASS program. PASS is an SSI work incentive that allows a person with a disability to set aside otherwise countable income and/or resources for a specific period in order to achieve a work goal. Persons who receive SSDI benefits and can qualify for SSI may also have a PASS. When you submit a written PASS proposal to a PASS Specialist, they will review it to:

• Make sure the work goal is reasonable;



• Makesure that you need the items and services listed on the PASS application to reach the work goal;
  



• Make sure the expenses are reasonably priced; and



• Work with the applicant to make needed changes.

You can find more information about PASS at , SSI ONLY EMPLOYMENT SUPPORTS. The following Internet site provides a map that you can use to locate the PASS Cadre for your area.

www.socialsecurity.gov/passcadre

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Benefits Planning Query (BPQY)

Analysis of a person’s disability and work status is the first step in planning a successful return to work. A BPQY provides information about a beneficiary’s disability cash benefits, health insurance, scheduled continuing disability reviews, representative payee, and work history, as stored in SSA’s electronic records. The BPQY is an important planning tool for an AWIC, PASS Specialist, benefits counselor, or other person who may be developing customized services for a disability beneficiary who wants to start working or stay on the job.

We provide BPQYs to beneficiaries, their representative payees and their authorized representatives of record upon request. Beneficiaries can request a BPQY by contacting their local SSA office or by calling SSA’s toll free number, 1-800-772-1213 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. People who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may call our toll-free TTY/TDD number, 1-800-325-0778, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

If someone other than the beneficiary, representative payee, or authorized representative (a benefits counselor, for example) wishes to receive a BPQY, they must submit two SSA-3288 forms (Consent for Release of Information) that have been signed by the beneficiary. One is to authorize the release of Social Security records and the other to authorize the release of Internal Revenue Service earnings records. Both releases must contain the beneficiary’s Social Security number or the claim number.

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