CONTRACTOR agrees to provide SOAR Services for the Homeless through outreach and referral. Contractor must screen a sufficient number of potential program service recipients to assist 60 - 65 people per fiscal year to apply for SSI/SSDI. Metro funding can be leveraged with other funding sources (ESG, state or other grants, etc.) to ensure 60 - 65 applications are completed. Offeror(s) will be required to provide a breakdown of how many people were screened and served using Metro funds versus other funding sources. SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) is a program designed to increase access to the disability income benefit programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) for eligible 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. • Serve as appointed representative for the purpose of applying for SSI/SSDI. Representation includes "standing in" for the applicant, responding to questions, receiving copies of all mail sent to the applicant, and communicating back and forth with SSA and DDS. • Complete the applications for both SSI and SSDI. • Collect medical records from providers who have treated the applicant over the last two years. • Write a comprehensive SOAR Medical Summary Report that includes psychosocial, treatment, and functional information that is co-signed, if at all possible, by a physician or psychologist who has seen the individual. • Conduct ongoing outreach and engagement with the individual to stay connected throughout the process and to work with the individual to obtain other needed services and treatment such as housing, physical and mental health care, other support services, food, and clothing. • Track applications and outcomes, including number of applications completed, approvals/denials, and time to decision from application submission to receipt of SSA's decision. • Report outcomes on at least an annual basis within the stated timeframes as requested. • No fees will be collected for completion of the application.
