Promising Practices: Reaching Out To The African-American Community In Illinois

Building trust and allowing for the development of a level of comfort has allowed Equip for Equality to successfully reach out to the African-American community in Chicago and rural Illinois. While the Illinois African-American community was seen as the initial target of outreach efforts, it soon became clear that there were differences to be dealt with when reaching out to the Chicago community and to the rural Illinois community

Promising Practices: Rhode Island Deafness Access Initiative: A Joint Effort of Rhode Island\u27s PABSS and BPA&O Projects

The Rhode Island Benefits Planning Assistance and Outreach (BPA&O) project has identified a pervasive access issue facing the state’s deaf and hard of hearing community. In partnership, the Rhode Island Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS) project has taken action to remedy this issue of serious concern for this community. Lack of programmatic access to the disability benefits programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) has created a situation in which legal rights are unintentionally forfeited due to SSA’s failure to provide sign language interpreters and a lack of ability of most deaf or hard of hearing recipients to communicate in written English. SSA’s failure to provide interpreters is the direct cause of the access issues facing this vulnerable community

Just the Facts: New Administrative Process for Initial Disability Claims

This Just the Facts Series addresses a new administrative process for initial disability claims. The Social Security Administration has finalized new rules that will dramatically alter the administrative appeal and review process used when a claimant files an application for SSI on the basis of disability or blindness and/or Title II disability claims. The reconsideration and Appeals Council steps in the existing appeals process have been eliminated, new evidence admission criteria have been established and a “quick decision” process has been created to expedite those claims that will clearly meet SSA’s disability definition. The new process is known as the Disability Service Improvement (DSI) process

Promising Practices: Reaching Out to Rhode Island\u27s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community

Protection and Advocacy (PABSS) staff are responsible for providing legal services to social security recipients who are facing barriers in their efforts to return to work. Benefits Specialists are responsible for reaching out to all recipient communities within their territory to provide information and planning services when a recipient is considering a work effort. In September of 2004, the Rhode Island BPA&O project noted that deaf and hard of hearing individuals were not utilizing benefits counseling services. A work group was created to address this situation and develop a strategy. The strategy included outreach to community groups and agencies serving deaf and hard of hearing individuals and aggressive referrals of deaf and hard of hearing individuals to benefits planners by the state’s vocational rehabilitation workers. In preparation for this work, benefits planners received training in using a TTY, placing calls through the Rhode Island Relay Service and effectively utilizing sign language interpreters

Promising Practices: Reaching Out To The Vietnamese Community of Massachusetts

The hall marks of respect and quiet listening are continual themes running through outreach efforts to the Vietnamese community of Massachusetts. Particularly when dealing with the elderly, the notion of respect is critical in breaking through to the client. Quiet listening and a show of respect for the individual will allow “entrance” into this community that is seen as closed to the issue of disability. A general distrust of government, based upon prior life experience of many elderly members of this community, also adds to the difficulty of breaking through in an effort to provide needed services. Having a staff person who is also a member of the community has also been seen as a necessary component in outreach and education efforts

Pre-Release Planning

This Just the Facts Series addresses pre-release planning for institutionalized individuals, pre-release planning will ensure that both cash and health care coverage will be available at the earliest possible point in time. Easing the financial burden of meeting rent, food and other necessary expenses can only further ease the transition from institutionalization to independence. Counselors, social workers, BPAO and PABSS staff all have a part in this critical transition process

Overpayments and the Return to Work: A Practical Guide for Benefits Planners and Advocates. NY Makes Work Pay Policy to Practice Brief #6

This article will describe: how overpayments occur; SSA’s notice requirements when they advise recipients of alleged overpayments; how the beneficiary or advocate submits a request for reconsideration or waiver; how to avoid overpayments through timely reporting of income and other events; tips for evaluating the merits of a potential request for reconsideration or waiver; and how to establish the right to a waiver where “without fault” and “hardship” must be shown

Unemployment, Welfare, and Social Security Disability/SSI Benefits: How They Affect One Another

This article will help you understand the requirements of Unemployment (UI),Welfare(TANF/GA), and Social Security Disability (SSI/SSDI). Finding the program that is right for you will save time and help you get the most help possible. This article includes: An overview of all three programs, with information about eligibility and benefit amounts; a short discussion of how disability and work affect each program; and an explanation of how each program affects the other, with advice on how to handle common issues you might face

Promising Practices: The Importance of Outreach to Underserved Populations

Underserved groups have been handicapped by barriers that have resulted in low participation rates in the job market, especially if they have a physical or mental disability. It is often times difficult to get the attention of these underserved groups without making extraordinary efforts to reach out to their communities. Understanding the barriers that cause the low participation in our programs is the first step in removing these barriers. This overview is not intended to be all-inclusive, but simply to discuss a few of the barriers that have caused this lack of participation and how specific projects have taken steps to address them

Radial fast-neutron fluence gradients during rotating 40Ar/39Ar sample irradiation recorded with metallic fluence monitors and geological age standards

Characterizing the neutron-irradiation parameter J is one of the major uncertainties in 40Ar/39Ar dating. The associated uncertainty of the individual J-value for a sample of unknown age depends on the accuracy of the age of the geological standards, the fast-neutron fluence distribution in the reactor, and the distances between standards and samples during irradiation. While it is generally assumed that rotating irradiation evens out radial neutron fluence gradients, we observed axial and radial variations of the J-values in sample irradiations in the rotating channels of two reactors. To quantify them, we included three-dimensionally distributed metallic fast- (Ni) and thermal- (Co) neutron fluence monitors in three irradiations and geological age standards in three more. Two irradiations were carried out under Cd shielding in the FRG1 reactor in Geesthacht, Germany, and four without Cd shielding in the LVR-15 reactor in Rez, Czech Republic. The 58Ni(nf,p)58Co activation reaction and gamma-spectrometry of the 811 keV peak associated with the subsequent decay of 58Co to 58Fe allow one to calculate the fast-neutron fluence. The fast-neutron fluences at known positions in the irradiation container correlate with the J-values determined by mass spectrometric 40Ar/39Ar measurements of the geological age standards. Radial neutron fluence gradients are up to 1.8 %/cm in FRG1 and up to 2.2 %/cm in LVR-15; the corresponding axial gradients are up to 5.9 and 2.1 %/cm. We conclude that sample rotation might not always suffice to meet the needs of high precision dating and gradient monitoring can be crucial