Providing disability benefits to Austin’s homeless community. Our commitment to SOAR
Integral Care was the first agency within our local community to identify staff positions dedicated to SOAR (SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery), a national program designed to increase access to the disability income benefit programs administered by the
Social Security Administration (SSA). As Integral Care has expanded services for individuals who are currently or formerly homeless, SOAR is a perfect fit as it is designed specifically for adults who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder.
Healthy Community Collaborative’s very own SOAR specialist, Suzie Brady, was designated by the Texas Homeless Network (THN) as the local SOAR lead for the Austin/Travis community in May of 2016. In this role, Suzie works closely with THN at the state level. Her responsibilities as local lead include advocating for the use of SOAR in our community in general, assisting with all facets of SOAR training from the online course through the in-person SOAR Fundamentals trainings. She is also responsible for refresher trainings, and providing assistance and support to individuals utilizing the SOAR process in our community.
Through Suzie’s leadership and Integral Care’s commitment to SOAR, we are seeing a new level of excitement and interest in SOAR. Most importantly, however, this is translating into tangible benefits for the individuals being served. To date, the Integral Care dedicated SOAR specialists have helped 55 individuals apply for benefits using the SOAR process. This has resulted in 36 approvals and there are 14 additional applications pending a decision.
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