SOAR Works!

SSI/SSDI Application Assistance

SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) is a program designed to increase access to SSI/SSDI for eligible adults* who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness** and have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder.  With its roots in a 1993 one-year demonstration project in Baltimore, MD, the SOAR Technical Assistance (TA) Center has been funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) since 2009. The SOAR TA Center coordinates the implementation of state and local-level SOAR Programs at no cost to the communities it serves.***

Nationally, only about 28 percent of individuals who apply for SSI/SSDI are approved on initial application. For people who are homeless and have no one to assist them, that percentage is cut by more than one half. When applications are denied, appeals can take an average of one year to complete, and in that time applicants often give up hope. There are now 50 states implementing SOAR. In 2017, these states reported average approval rates of 64% in an average of 96 days on initial SSI/SSDI applications using the SOAR model. Click here to read more about SOAR outcomes!***