{"id":16614,"date":"2025-06-25T14:32:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T18:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/?page_id=16614"},"modified":"2025-06-25T14:38:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T18:38:25","slug":"benefits-counseling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefits Counseling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Work incentives planning (also known as benefits counseling) helps people make informed choices. In IPS, individuals have access to comprehensive and accurate information about how disability benefits and other government entitlements may be affected by working.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To make informed decisions about work, job seekers and workers require accurate information about their situations. Many people do not work because they fear losing disability benefits. Others would like to work enough to support themselves and exit the benefit system.<\/p>\n<p>Individuals who receive benefits are offered comprehensive, individualized work incentives planning before starting a new job and assistance in accessing work incentives planning thereafter when making decisions about changes in work hours and pay. Work incentives planning includes SSA benefits, medical benefits, medication subsidies, housing subsidies, food stamps, spouse and dependent children\u2019s benefits, past job retirement benefits, and any other source of income. Individuals are provided with information and assistance about reporting earnings to SSA, housing programs, VA programs, etc., depending on the person\u2019s benefits.<\/p>\n<p>Benefits Counseling Resources:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nc.db101.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Disability Benefits 101<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncdhhs.gov\/divisions\/eipd\/work-incentives-and-benefits-counseling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Work Incentives and Benefits Counseling<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncdhhs.gov\/benefits-counseling-tool-promote-employment\/download?attachment?attachment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Benefits Counseling: A Tool To Promote Employment<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/ssi\/spotlights\/spot-able.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotlight On Achieving A Better Life Experience (ABLE) Accounts<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/disabilityresearch\/wi\/pass.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Work incentives planning (also known as benefits counseling) helps people make informed choices. In IPS, individuals have access to comprehensive and accurate information about how disability benefits and other government entitlements may be affected by working. To make informed decisions about work, job seekers and workers require accurate information about their situations. Many people do &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Benefits Counseling\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56218,"featured_media":0,"parent":7133,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-16614","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Benefits Counseling - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Benefits Counseling - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Work incentives planning (also known as benefits counseling) helps people make informed choices. In IPS, individuals have access to comprehensive and accurate information about how disability benefits and other government entitlements may be affected by working. To make informed decisions about work, job seekers and workers require accurate information about their situations. Many people do &hellip; Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-25T18:38:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/\",\"name\":\"Benefits Counseling - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-25T18:32:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-25T18:38:25+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UNC Institute for Best Practices\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Individual Placement and Support (IPS)\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Resources\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Benefits Counseling\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/\",\"name\":\"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health\",\"description\":\"Department of Psychiatry\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Benefits Counseling - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Benefits Counseling - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","og_description":"Work incentives planning (also known as benefits counseling) helps people make informed choices. In IPS, individuals have access to comprehensive and accurate information about how disability benefits and other government entitlements may be affected by working. To make informed decisions about work, job seekers and workers require accurate information about their situations. Many people do &hellip; Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/","og_site_name":"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","article_modified_time":"2025-06-25T18:38:25+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/","name":"Benefits Counseling - UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-25T18:32:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-25T18:38:25+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/benefits-counseling\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UNC Institute for Best Practices","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Individual Placement and Support (IPS)","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Resources","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/unc-institute-for-best-practices\/individual-placement-and-support-ips\/resources\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Benefits Counseling"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/","name":"UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health","description":"Department of Psychiatry","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56218"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16614"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16618,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16614\/revisions\/16618"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/cecmh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}