Supplemental Security Income (SSI)/Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) is a national program. It is designed to increase access to the disability income benefit programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) for eligible individuals. These include adults and children who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. The SOAR Technical Assistance (TA) Center coordinates the implementation of state and local-level SOAR programs at no cost to the communities it serves. 

SOAR works in several ways: 

  • Provides training for case managers on how to assemble and submit complete and high-quality SSI/SSDI applications 
  • Helps communities establish a process for submitting and processing of SSI/SSDI applications 
  • Supports State and Local SOAR Leads who support SOAR-trained specialists and engage stakeholders 
  • Provides TA to keep local SOAR efforts moving forward 
  • The SOAR TA Center offers two free online courses that train case managers to assist individuals to apply for SSI and SSDI disability income benefit programs administered by SSA. 

The SOAR Online Course: Adult Curriculum trains case workers to assist adults (age 18+) who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder to apply for SSI/SSDI. 

The SOAR Online Course: Child Curriculum trains case workers to assist children (under age 18) who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder to apply for SSI. 

Whichever course you enroll in, the SOAR Online Course will help you maximize outcomes for individuals applying for SSI and SSDI. The SAMHSA SOAR TA Center’s two online courses educate case managers through a series of articles, videos, and short quizzes. In each course, practitioners have the opportunity to apply their knowledge by completing an SSI application for a fictional applicant using information gathered via video interviews, medical records, and progress notes provided throughout the course. 

  • Associated Mappings:
    • Homeless Response Systems Mapping

This resource was first shared in 2006.

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