Benefits Counseling
The Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati provides free benefits counseling for people who receive Social Security disability benefits or SSI and are working or considering work. Community Work Incentive Coordinators (CWICs) provide detailed information to beneficiaries so that they can better understand how income from work might impact their benefits. This service is provided through Social Security’s Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program. The Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati provides WIPA services for 17 counties in Southwest Ohio including Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Greene, Hamilton, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Miami, Pike, Preble, Ross, Scioto, and Warren counties.
If you are interested in WIPA services, please contact Social Security’s Ticket to Work Help Line by calling 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY) and they will send your information to us if you are eligible for WIPA services.
If you have trouble contacting the Ticket to Work Helpline, you can contact Legal Aid directly at 513-241-9400. Please make sure to tell the receptionist that you are calling about WIPA, and they will connect you with the right person.
Technical Assistance for Benefits Planners
Legal Aid currently serves with the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (ODBH) as the statewide technical assistance support for Ohio benefits planners.
Legal Aid hosts a training for newer benefits planners generally in May and October, quarterly task force meetings on the second Friday of September, December, March and June, and hour-long technical assistance calls in the other months. If you are doing benefits planning work and would like to be added to the mailing list for these meetings and trainings, please e-mail Sarah Flohre at sflohre@lascinti.org.
Legal Aid does not directly provide or submit for certification for these trainings, but benefits planners have been able to receive state and local certification credit for attending these events.
See our pro se guides in partnership with ODBH for more self-help information:
- SNAP Excess Medical Expense Deduction
- State Hearing Process for the Department of Job and Family Services
- How Can I Get Help Paying for Childcare in Ohio?
- Sealing and Expunging Criminal Records in Ohio
- Driver’s License Suspensions in Ohio
- Social Security Overpayments
- Benefits Counseling 101
- Medicaid Buy-In for Workers with Disabilities
- Social Security Work Incentives for People Receiving Social Security Disability (SSDI)
- Work Incentives – Expedited Reinstatement (EXR)