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Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS)
Social Security’s Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) program lets you save money without lowering your income. Usually, if you get SSI monthly cash benefits, your SSI benefits go down when you get income from other sources, like a job or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
If you are in this situation, you probably have to spend a lot of your monthly income on basic expenses like food and housing. This can make it hard to save for things like job training or school.
The PASS program helps make saving easier. It lets you save money for a work-related goal that will help you achieve self-sufficiency. It is easy to use because it protects your income while you save.
You can use a PASS to:
- Help pay for the cost of school or training
- Start a business
- Pay for equipment, support services, and other expenses related to your goal
One of the things that make PASS unique is that it is completely consumer-driven. The PASS plan is about your work goal, what you want to achieve, and what you need to get there.
After you write your PASS, you ask Social Security to approve it. Your plan has to have a realistic goal given your abilities, experience, and educational background.
- Be on SSI, or become eligible for the SSI program as a result of an approved PASS application
- Have a source of income other than SSI (for example, SSDI cash benefits or wages from a job), or have assets over $2,000 that you can use to fund your PASS plan. (If you are not eligible for SSI because of the limit on assets, you may be able to move those assets into a PASS and become eligible)
- Have a work goal that will help you earn enough money to lower your Social Security disability benefits, or get off benefits altogether
- Be able to write down a plan that shows how saving a certain amount of money will let you reach your work goal. Social Security has staff called PASS Cadre who can help you write your PASS plan
- Be under age 65. You may be able to set up a PASS if you are 65 or older, if you were getting a SSI cash benefits based on disability or blindness in the month before your 65th birthday
If you already go to college or have a job, you may be able to set up a PASS to help pay for your current work, school, or health expenses.
Income Sources for Funding a PASS
Once you have an approved PASS plan, you will put money into your PASS account to pay for each step along the way to reaching your goal.
You cannot put any money you get from SSI in your PASS account. You must use money from some other source such as income from a job, or money from a spouse or parent.
Applying to the PASS Program
There is a detailed description of how to set up a PASS in the DB101 PASS section. You have to fill out Social Security’s PASS application form. On the application you will describe your goals for work and how you plan to achieve them.
This description should be detailed enough to convince Social Security that:
- You have a clear plan
- The plan is something you can realistically do, and
- If you completed the plan your need for SSI or SSDI would be lowered or eliminated.
Application Assistance
Creating your plan and filling out a PASS application can seem intimidating, but you can get help with every step of the process by talking with a PASS Cadre. A PASS Cadre is a professional who knows about the program and is available to help you take advantage of it. To find a PASS Cadre, click here.
Using a PASS
After your plan is approved, Social Security will send you detailed instructions about how to use your PASS. The instructions are mostly about keeping pass funds and expenses separate from your other money, and keeping good records. You have to follow the rules carefully. To learn more, see DB101's PASS section.
If a medical situation or some other issue comes up that impacts your ability to continue your PASS, talk to your PASS Cadre about your options. In many cases, you will be allowed to put your PASS plan on hold for up to 12 months without having to reapply.
Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program
The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program helps people with low income have affordable housing. It is funded by the federal government and run by local public housing authorities (PHAs).
A family that gets Section 8 benefits pays 30% of the family income for rent. The Section 8 program pays for the rest of the rent. After a family's income goes up, the amount the family has to contribute to rent also goes up, because 30% of their income is more than it used to be. When the family contributes more for rent, the Section 8 program contributes less. Note: Families that include a person with a disability who works may qualify for the Earned Income Disregard and not have to pay more rent (see below).
Section 8's Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program helps families whose income goes up. When the family income goes up and the Section 8 program starts paying less for rent, the Section 8 program takes the money that it saves on rent and sets it aside for the family. The family can use these savings for purchases, such as the down payment on a home or a car.
Learn more about the FSSL. Find public housing authorities near you.
Clyde and Bertha live with their two children and have $500 in monthly income. Due to their low income, they qualify for the Section 8 program. With Section 8, they pay just $150/month in rent (30% of $500), even though their apartment costs $1,000/month. Section 8 pays the remaining $850/month.
Bertha starts doing some childcare work and the family income goes up to $1,000 each month. Now, they have to pay $300/month as rent (30% of $1,000), while Section 8 pays the remaining $700/month for the family's apartment, $150 less per month than the program used to pay.
Because the family is part of the FSS program, the PHA that administers Clyde and Bertha's Section 8 benefits takes that $150 each month and sets it aside for the family. A year later, there is $1,800, which Bertha can use to make the down payment on a car.
The Earned Income Disregard (EID) helps people with disabilities who work and get housing benefits such as:
- Section 8
- Public housing
- HOME Investment Partnerships Program, or
- Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA).
With the Earned Income Disregard, if you get a job, the money you make at your job won’t be counted by your public housing authority (PHA) for the first year after you start working. That means your rent won’t go up. During the second year after you start working, only half of your work income will be counted, so your rent won’t go up as much as it otherwise would. After the second year, your entire income will be counted by the program.
Talk with your public housing authority (PHA) to see if the EID can help you.
Learn more
PASS Estimator
Get SSI and want to save up money for a work-related goal? See how a PASS can help.
Getting Past the Myths: The Truth About Working
Get the facts about how benefits support work.
Programs That Support Work
Learn about programs that can help you prepare for and find work.
Get Expert Help
SSI and SSDI
1-800-772-1213
How Work Affects SSI and SSDI:
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Call Disability Rights California
1-800-776-5746 -
Call the Ticket to Work Help Line
1-866-968-7842 - Contact a Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) counselor
Medi-Cal
- Contact your county social services agency
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Call Disability Rights California
1-800-776-5746 -
Call the Health Consumer Alliance
1-888-804-3536
IHSS
Medicare
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Call Medicare
1-800-633-4227 -
Call the Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program (HICAP)
1-800-434-0222
California SDI
Work Preparation
- Contact your Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) office
- Contact your local America's Job Center of California (AJCC) (One-Stop)
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