Richmond Area SOAR Initiative
Homeward, in partnership with the Virginia SOAR Project, will hold a regional SOAR Training for interested agencies on April 18-19th. If you are interested in attending, please register by clicking here
SOAR stands for SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery. The project is designed to increase access to the disability income benefit programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) for eligible adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and have a mental illness and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. SOAR allows community case managers to submit SSI/SSDI application for an expedited review by SSA. While this process has resulted in shorter approval rates, SOAR workers agree to provider intensive case management to make sure the application is accurate and complete.
In order to use this process, workers must receive training in the SOAR process from a credentialed SOAR trainer. Additionally, your agency must agree to sign the community SOAR Agreement.
Homeward is the Richmond Area SOAR Community Lead, and it provides community coordination needed to make SOAR effective. Homeward facilitates and tracks local SOAR trainings, works with providers and SSA and DDS to establish the local SOAR process, orients new agencies to the Richmond SOAR process, provides SSA and DDS with the list of authorized SOAR users, and makes sure that agencies follow the Richmond SOAR Provider Agreement.
Becoming a SOAR Agency
If you are interested in using the SOAR process, please see the Richmond SOAR Interest Checklist to assess whether or not your agencies is a good fit for SOAR.
If you have been SOAR trained, please complete the steps on the Richmond SOAR Agency Startup Checklist . Agencies have 15 days from the completion of your SOAR worker training to meet the requirements on the Richmond SOAR Agency Startup Checklist. Workers whose agencies do not address the checklist items will NOT be included on the authorized SOAR Worker list that is provides to SSA and DDS. Neither agency will acknowledge your application as a SOAR application.
More Information
For more information about SOAR, please contact Erika Jones-Haskins at ejones@homewardva.org.
For additional information on the SOAR program, please visit the SOAR technical assistance website at http://www.prainc.com/soar/.