Finances Lesson Plan Activity
Work Incentive Programs: Working It!
Objectives:
· Youth will gain a basic understanding of Social Security cash benefits and will learn how to find out what benefits they are currently receiving.
· Youth will learn about benefits planning resources and various work incentives such as the Student Earned Income Exclusion, the PASS plan and many others.
· Youth will understand the importance of and will create a "benefits binder" (helping them to keep track of all of their benefits-related information).
Suggested Time Frame: 45 minutes
Format: Large group
Materials Needed
· “Basics of Social Security Disability Benefits: Your First Step Towards Benefits Planning” recorded webinar presentation. To access webinar, click here or go to: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2011-12-02.1603.D.ECF63FFC4DD7E844DBECAD791B65D7.vcr&sid=vclass
· Computer, projector, and internet connection (if you don’t have this available, you can hand out copies of the PowerPoint presentation)
· Benefits Planning Best Practices: Tips and Information for Your Success” Word document
Vocabulary/Terms:
· Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI): A cash benefit based on a person’s work record or their parent’s work record (Childhood Disability Benefits - CDB)
· Supplemental Security Income (SSI): A cash benefit based on need
· Benefits Planning Query (BPQY): A brief report with details about a person’s SSI and/or SSDI benefits, health coverage and work and earnings history
· Medicare: Health insurance that comes along with SSDI or CDB
· Medi-Cal: Health insurance that comes with SSI, or one can get it by applying at their local County Social Services office
· Work Incentives: Programs that are designed to help a person maximize their cash and healthcare benefits while working
· Benefits binder: A notebook containing a log of phone calls and office visits, names of service staff that Social Security or Medi-Cal recipients contact, original paycheck stubs, and government letters (referred to as “Notices of Action”) and receipts.
Suggested Facilitator Preparatory Activities
· Review the “Basics of Social Security Disability Benefits: Your First Step Towards Benefits Planning” recorded webinar presentation, and make sure it can play on your computer. If you do not have access to the internet in the classroom or workshop, review the PowerPoint presentation and talking points for the presenter.
· In addition to (or in lieu of) the presentation, you may also wish to invite a local Benefits Planner to give information about the services they can provide, and to give an overview of work incentive programs and how benefits may be affected by going to work. You can use the following website to find a benefits planner in your local area: http://ca.db101.org/ca/directories/planners.htm
Creating Context: Social Security and health care benefits can sometimes be hard to understand. You may be getting a check in the mail from Social Security, but you might not understand what program you’re on (SSI, SSDI – that’s a whole lot of confusing acronyms)! You may also be getting health coverage, but aren’t sure quite what type (Medi-Cal, Medicare – they all sound the same)! Knowing what benefits you’re currently on is important to help plan for your future, and to figure out how you can keep the benefits you need when you decide to go to work. Today we are going to check out a presentation that will give us information on different Social Security benefits, Medicare and Medi-Cal, work incentives and much more. After the presentation, you’re going learn how to find out what benefits you’re are currently getting, and then get some tips and best practices to help you as you start working, including how to create a “benefits binder”.
Procedure:
1. Introduce the activity using the language above under “creating context”
2. Play the recorded presentation on Social Security benefits, work incentives, and benefits planning by clicking here, or use the PowerPoint to conduct the presentation yourself.
3. After presentation is over, hand out copies of the “Benefits Planning Best Practices” document. Go through the information in the handout with your participants, stressing the importance of knowing what benefits they are on and how to get a Benefits Planning Query from Social Security. The handout also contains instructions on how the participants can create their own Benefits Binder; go over these instructions and tell them the importance of turning in pay stubs and reporting all changes to Social Security and Medi-Cal. Some of the information contained in the handout may be a little difficult for your participants to understand; if this is the case, instruct them to take home and go over it with their parents as well.
Closure:
· Encourage participants to take home the “Benefits Planning Best Practices” handout and show it to their parents/guardians
· Reiterate the importance of the participants finding out what benefits they are on by calling Social Security for a BPQY.
· Direct participants to the Finances Chapter of the Transition Toolkit for more information about their finances.