Barrier Breakers will write PASS’s for individuals using E-mail.
A Social Security claims representative is supposed to be able to help
develop a PASS for you at no charge. So will some Vocational Rehabilitation
counselors. The problem here is that the PASS they write may be in the
interest of Social Security or Vocational Rehabilitation, rather than in your
best interests. To get a PASS written that covers what you need, to the full
extent that you need it, requires that you write it yourself, or have a
professional PASS preparer, or someone from a Center for Independent
Living write it with you. To see what is involved in writing a PASS, take a look
at the PASS form
.
We have written over 150 approved PASS’s in the last 12 years in all 10
regions, and are currently getting 3 - 4 a month approved.
If you want help from Barrier Breakers, contact us through the link on the
home page.
Barrier Breakers offers 4 types of trainings:
1. Basic Social Security issues - 2 days
2. PASS overview for CIL’s and consumers - 1 day
3. PASS overview for VR counselors and service providers - 1 day
4. Training consumers and CIL staff to write PASS’s - 3 days
The trainings use extensive handouts, videos, overheads, lecture, and
group participation. Social Security may sound like dull subject matter, but
these trainings are anything but dull. Barrier Breakers’ trainings provide
timely and accurate information, including valuable information you will not
get from trainings by Social Security, Vocational Rehabilitation, or academic
institutions.
Barrier Breakers’ primary trainer, Barbara Knowlen, has -
-written over 150 approved PASS’s, and
- successfully advocated over 40 overpayment and initial claims issues
- conducted over 20 of the above trainings
- successfully used a PASS herself to get Barrier Breakers going
- earned a BA and Masters from Northwestern University
- published in over 30 professional journals and disability magazines
She is herself a person with a disability - SCI and MS, for over 40 years, who
has personally, as well as for others, dealt with the benefits and health care
systems, that simultaneously serve us and drive us crazy. It is this, beyond
her education, performance, and experience that makes Barrier Breakers’
trainings lively, interesting, and effective.
Barrier Breakers has also done trainings sponsored by SILC’s, CIL’s,
Vocational Rehabilitation, and other organizations, involving traveling to
their sites. Logistics and costs of these trainings are negotiable.
Agendas for the one day overview trainings are planned individually for the
needs of the group involved
Check out the agendas for the Social Security Basic Training and the PASS
Writing Training by clicking on the link at the left. These agendas are
flexible, and can also be modified. CEU' s can be given for any of Barrier
Breakers' trainings.