I began working with IDD individuals at Promise Ranch in Parker, Colorado.  I worked with individuals just becoming adults and starting their work lives.  The program at Promise Ranch was called Supported Employment and it is an SLS and DD waiver benefit.  The IDD individuals got to work under supervision of a Job Coach.  This program allowed many young people to work with the horses and other animals on the ranch doing feeding and cleaning chores.  Getting paid for perhaps the first time - and doing work they loved - was a joy to most of them!  

When the parents of these youngsters told me they had to limit the hours their young adults were willing to work - it was because they were afraid their children’s Social Security payments would be at risk.   I started looking into the laws and rules surrounding this.  It turns out there is a very comprehensive course through Cornell University which teaches most everything a person would want to know about Social Security and how Social Security benefits are affected by being paid at work. Cornell issues a certificate after one passes the course and does a Case Study (similar to a thesis in a college setting).  I did successfully pass the course and the Case Study and am therefore certified to do Benefits Planning (as the Medicaid waiver program calls it) and Benefits Counseling (as the Division of Vocational Rehab calls it).