Introduction

CONGRATULATIONS! If you are receiving a copy of this manual it means that your PASS plan (Plan for Achieving Self Support) was approved. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has agreed to allow you to set aside some of your income or resources, which will enable you to pursue a particular vocational goal. This sheltered money will not be counted against your SSI check for the length of the plan. While managing your plan there are a few important things to keep in mind.

1. The PASS plan is not intended to fund ongoing support of your employment. The purpose of the PASS plan is to allow you to shelter some monies or resources for a specified amount of time, to pay for things that you need to achieve the goal that you specified in your plan. Other Social Security Work Incentives such as Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs) or Blind Work Expenses (BWEs) exist, which may be applicable to help you fund your ongoing expenses after you finish this PASS plan. Your local SSA office can provide information on these incentives.

2. In signing and submitting your PASS plan, you have made an agreement with Social Security to pursue the goal which you identified in Part I of your PASS plan. Adhering to the milestones which you outlined in Part III will demonstrate your continued progress toward that goal.

3. In Part IV, you specified what you will purchase using your sheltered PASS funds, where you will purchase it, and the price you will pay, in order to achieve your work goal. Your award letter has confirmed the items that you may purchase with your PASS funds. These are the only allowable expenses.

4. You are expected to spend the money in the PASS account along the timelines that you outlined.

5. If there are changes in what you need to purchase, how much you are going to pay the vendor, your milestones, or your work goal, you must contact your PASS Cadre representative right away to have your PASS plan amended.

6. The PASS Cadre representative will monitor your saving, spending, and adherence to your milestones on a regular basis. The frequency of review will be decided by your PASS Cadre representative. It is your responsibility to keep documentation that you are following the plan and present it to the Cadre upon request.

7. In your initial award letter you will be given the month and year of your first review.

8. Your representative payee is ultimately responsible for monitoring your progress toward your vocational goal and accounting for all saving and spending of the sheltered money, even if someone else helped you write the plan.

9. You or your representative payee are ultimately responsible for complying with all agreements of the PASS plan and reporting all changes that may affect your PASS plan. Even if someone else helped you write the PASS plan, they are not the ones who signed the agreement with SSA and they are not held responsible if you do not comply with the terms of the PASS plan.

What Is the PASS Cadre?
Social Security established regional PASS Cadres in 1996 to serve as an informational resource for the PASS program and as PASS plan monitors. The PASS Specialists at the Cadre review and approve PASS Plans. There are 18 PASS Cadre offices located around the country. You will communicate with your regional PASS Cadre about all PASS related issues, since it is the Cadre who will make all decisions regarding your PASS plan.

You will still speak with your local Social Security office about your benefit checks and all other non-PASS issues. They will also be able to answer routine questions concerning PASS plans, but they will forward all PASS related mail or calls to the PASS Cadre, who will provide you with a response or decision when necessary. Remember that you must report certain changes immediately to Social Security. For example, if you are working you should be reporting your wages monthly to your local Social Security office by the 10th of the following month.

Upon request by a family, sometimes the PASS Cadre representatives can work with local Social Security offices to help families clarify overpayment or underpayment issues when PASS plans are involved.

The website http://www.ssa.gov is one resource which can tell you the amount you can receive in your state.