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Our Programs
SMART Successes
Fall 2010
Since July 15th, 2010, the SMART program has assisted more than 55 individuals experiencing disability and homelessness to navigate the Social Security Disability/Supplemental Security Income application process. The SMART program was recently featured in the following article, originally published by Sacramento Steps Forward.
Funding for the SMART program is made possible through the generous support of The California Wellness Foundation.
In 2008, the SSI (Supplemental Security Income) Task Force was created as part of the Interagency Council to End Homelessness. The Task Force was formed to implement the national SOAR (SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery) model.
SSI is a disability income benefit that can provide much-needed financial stability to individuals experiencing homelessness, mental or physical disabilities, or are over the age of 65 with limited income. However, the process of applying for SSI can be long and complicated for applicants.
SOAR is a best practice model that drastically improves the process of applying for SSI for homeless individuals, and also drastically improves application success rates. The results have been widely successful; in 2009, 34 states had become SOAR States (using the SOAR model) and success rates for homeless applicants jumped to 71%, as opposed to the 10-15% rate seen earlier. Where before SSI decisions could take between 6 months-2 years, SOAR state participants were receiving decisions in an average of 89 days.
When the Taskforce became the Sacramento Healthcare Access for the Homeless committee, housed at the El Hogar Guest House Homeless Clinic, the team was constantly searching for ways to improve the SSI process in Sacramento. This search has led to the creation of the Sacramento Multiple Advocate Resource Team (SMART) Program. Launched on July 15th, and located at Guest House, the program is already thriving. SMART brings together a number of different collaborative agencies, including: Guest House, Capitol Community Health Network (CCHN), Social Security Administration (SSA), Disability Determination Services (DDS) and medical professionals.
Says Jodi Nerell, program director of Guest House, “Earlier this year, we decided to ‘restructure’ our SSI claims process drawing upon our experience with the national SOAR model. We were looking for a process that was expedient and responsive to the needs of the homeless community.”
In the SMART program, applicants meet face-to-face with Guest House, CCHN, SSA and DDS representatives who work together to complete their application within the same day. An on site medical doctor at Guest House (provided by DDS) provides needed medical exams or evidence to complete their SSI application. Guest House workers help the applicant complete their mental health exam. Streamlining the process helps cut down on the number of clients that could be “lost” during this process which used to take days, weeks or months to complete.
The collaborative spirit of SMART is what makes the program so successful. Both Jodi and Marty Keale, executive director of CCHN, mentioned the roles of Karen Mantegani (SSA’s Regional Director) and Kay Schlegel (DDS’s Regional Director) as a key element of what makes the program so unique. Both directors commit themselves and their staff to the SMART program and are integral to the process. In fact, all of the collaborators were active participants from the beginning. Marty Keale says that “It has been an evolutionary process. CCHN was the founder, but right from the get go we were operating out of Guest House…the SSA Regional Director, Karen Mantegani, started attending some of our earliest planning meetings and even at that level her participation was invaluable… the DDS Regional Director, Kay Schlegel, was recruited as a project supporter… the incredibly fast turn-arounds which we have experienced recently on some applications is due largely to the degree of cooperation extended by Kay and her staff.”
Of the specific aspects that make the new SMART program so successful, both Marty and Jodi echoed the collaboration and “carefully nurtured relationships” between the partner agencies. Additionally, Marty mentions, “a carefully planned process…and excellent training for project staff and referring agencies.”
In fact, Jodi sees the new SMART program as a potential model for other SOAR programs. She says, “I am hopeful that SMART’s success will continue and be transferable to other programs. My optimism stems from the fact that if a large county as Sacramento, with its size and complexity, can pull something like this off then others could as well.”
Linda A. and LeRoy A. are both participants in the SMART program and have already begun receiving their SSI benefits.
Linda, 61, became homeless when she could no longer afford to pay for her electricity, so code enforcement forced her to leave. With no place to go, she became homeless. Linda said, “I was terrified at being on the streets with my age and disability. I wouldn’t have lasted a week…I was homeless for four days, and during that time my depression was multiplied by 100 times.”
At Loaves and Fishes she met Manny Dias, who runs the Clean & Sober program. Manny was able to get her into New Start 2, a housing program through Clean & Sober. He then told her about the new program at Guest House that helped consumers receive SSI. Linda says she had spoken to another attorney about this, and he had informed her it would take at least two years to receive her benefits. Linda had actually applied for SSI before, years earlier, and said “I received very little help [during the process] and there was a lot of red tape. The doctor I went to for my appointment spent no time at all examining me.”
When she arrived for her appointment with the SMART program, almost all of her necessary appointments in the SSI process were at Guest House, all in the same day. Linda said, “They helped me to understand all the questions. Jerri [Jerri Grosser, Benefits Advocate at Guest House] really helped me, really took time and effort to help me.” Her determination period was tremendously fast. She applied for SSI benefits on July 27th and she was approved on August. 6th.
Linda is currently still staying at the New Start 2 program, and hoping to get into Quinn Cottages, a transitional housing program, next. Now that she is receiving her SSI benefits, she says she finally has money to afford counseling and therapy. She says, “I’m 61 years old and I’ve never dealt with anything from my past because I couldn’t afford it. Now I’m working with counselors at Genesis, and my medical needs can be taken care of. Guest House did miracles, and part of that miracle was Manny Dias at Clean & Sober. Without him I never would have known about this program.”
LeRoy, who is 57, has experienced episodes of homelessness in his life. He says, “The last time I was homeless it was for nine months, and it was for one and half years before that. I was staying in an apartment with a friend, but she was losing the place so I had to move out.” LeRoy also had applied for SSI previously, but he missed one of his appointments so the process was never finished. When he arrived for his appointment with the SMART program, all the necessary appointments were in one day. Of his experience that day he says, “It was pleasant, no hurdles or anything. Everything I went through was excellent, they didn’t make you feel bad about anything, and everything happened so quickly.” In fact, LeRoy’s determination was even faster than Linda’s: he received a successful determination only eleven days later. He is now staying in Palmer House, a transitional housing program.
For more information about the SMART Program, please click here.
Fall 2010
Since July 15th, 2010, the SMART program has assisted more than 55 individuals experiencing disability and homelessness to navigate the Social Security Disability/Supplemental Security Income application process. The SMART program was recently featured in the following article, originally published by Sacramento Steps Forward.
Funding for the SMART program is made possible through the generous support of The California Wellness Foundation.
In 2008, the SSI (Supplemental Security Income) Task Force was created as part of the Interagency Council to End Homelessness. The Task Force was formed to implement the national SOAR (SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery) model.
SSI is a disability income benefit that can provide much-needed financial stability to individuals experiencing homelessness, mental or physical disabilities, or are over the age of 65 with limited income. However, the process of applying for SSI can be long and complicated for applicants.
SOAR is a best practice model that drastically improves the process of applying for SSI for homeless individuals, and also drastically improves application success rates. The results have been widely successful; in 2009, 34 states had become SOAR States (using the SOAR model) and success rates for homeless applicants jumped to 71%, as opposed to the 10-15% rate seen earlier. Where before SSI decisions could take between 6 months-2 years, SOAR state participants were receiving decisions in an average of 89 days.
When the Taskforce became the Sacramento Healthcare Access for the Homeless committee, housed at the El Hogar Guest House Homeless Clinic, the team was constantly searching for ways to improve the SSI process in Sacramento. This search has led to the creation of the Sacramento Multiple Advocate Resource Team (SMART) Program. Launched on July 15th, and located at Guest House, the program is already thriving. SMART brings together a number of different collaborative agencies, including: Guest House, Capitol Community Health Network (CCHN), Social Security Administration (SSA), Disability Determination Services (DDS) and medical professionals.
Says Jodi Nerell, program director of Guest House, “Earlier this year, we decided to ‘restructure’ our SSI claims process drawing upon our experience with the national SOAR model. We were looking for a process that was expedient and responsive to the needs of the homeless community.”
In the SMART program, applicants meet face-to-face with Guest House, CCHN, SSA and DDS representatives who work together to complete their application within the same day. An on site medical doctor at Guest House (provided by DDS) provides needed medical exams or evidence to complete their SSI application. Guest House workers help the applicant complete their mental health exam. Streamlining the process helps cut down on the number of clients that could be “lost” during this process which used to take days, weeks or months to complete.
The collaborative spirit of SMART is what makes the program so successful. Both Jodi and Marty Keale, executive director of CCHN, mentioned the roles of Karen Mantegani (SSA’s Regional Director) and Kay Schlegel (DDS’s Regional Director) as a key element of what makes the program so unique. Both directors commit themselves and their staff to the SMART program and are integral to the process. In fact, all of the collaborators were active participants from the beginning. Marty Keale says that “It has been an evolutionary process. CCHN was the founder, but right from the get go we were operating out of Guest House…the SSA Regional Director, Karen Mantegani, started attending some of our earliest planning meetings and even at that level her participation was invaluable… the DDS Regional Director, Kay Schlegel, was recruited as a project supporter… the incredibly fast turn-arounds which we have experienced recently on some applications is due largely to the degree of cooperation extended by Kay and her staff.”
Of the specific aspects that make the new SMART program so successful, both Marty and Jodi echoed the collaboration and “carefully nurtured relationships” between the partner agencies. Additionally, Marty mentions, “a carefully planned process…and excellent training for project staff and referring agencies.”
In fact, Jodi sees the new SMART program as a potential model for other SOAR programs. She says, “I am hopeful that SMART’s success will continue and be transferable to other programs. My optimism stems from the fact that if a large county as Sacramento, with its size and complexity, can pull something like this off then others could as well.”
Linda A. and LeRoy A. are both participants in the SMART program and have already begun receiving their SSI benefits.
Linda, 61, became homeless when she could no longer afford to pay for her electricity, so code enforcement forced her to leave. With no place to go, she became homeless. Linda said, “I was terrified at being on the streets with my age and disability. I wouldn’t have lasted a week…I was homeless for four days, and during that time my depression was multiplied by 100 times.”
At Loaves and Fishes she met Manny Dias, who runs the Clean & Sober program. Manny was able to get her into New Start 2, a housing program through Clean & Sober. He then told her about the new program at Guest House that helped consumers receive SSI. Linda says she had spoken to another attorney about this, and he had informed her it would take at least two years to receive her benefits. Linda had actually applied for SSI before, years earlier, and said “I received very little help [during the process] and there was a lot of red tape. The doctor I went to for my appointment spent no time at all examining me.”
When she arrived for her appointment with the SMART program, almost all of her necessary appointments in the SSI process were at Guest House, all in the same day. Linda said, “They helped me to understand all the questions. Jerri [Jerri Grosser, Benefits Advocate at Guest House] really helped me, really took time and effort to help me.” Her determination period was tremendously fast. She applied for SSI benefits on July 27th and she was approved on August. 6th.
Linda is currently still staying at the New Start 2 program, and hoping to get into Quinn Cottages, a transitional housing program, next. Now that she is receiving her SSI benefits, she says she finally has money to afford counseling and therapy. She says, “I’m 61 years old and I’ve never dealt with anything from my past because I couldn’t afford it. Now I’m working with counselors at Genesis, and my medical needs can be taken care of. Guest House did miracles, and part of that miracle was Manny Dias at Clean & Sober. Without him I never would have known about this program.”
LeRoy, who is 57, has experienced episodes of homelessness in his life. He says, “The last time I was homeless it was for nine months, and it was for one and half years before that. I was staying in an apartment with a friend, but she was losing the place so I had to move out.” LeRoy also had applied for SSI previously, but he missed one of his appointments so the process was never finished. When he arrived for his appointment with the SMART program, all the necessary appointments were in one day. Of his experience that day he says, “It was pleasant, no hurdles or anything. Everything I went through was excellent, they didn’t make you feel bad about anything, and everything happened so quickly.” In fact, LeRoy’s determination was even faster than Linda’s: he received a successful determination only eleven days later. He is now staying in Palmer House, a transitional housing program.
For more information about the SMART Program, please click here.
