Rep Payee: Managing Money and Mental Illness

[Note: There's a job opening in the Rep Payee department! See Monday's post for more information. —ed]

We've recently been blogging about Bread for the City's Representative (“Rep”) Payee Program -- "the most important program you never knew we had."

This program is unique in that, through it, we are the only agency contracted by the Department of Mental Health to provide payee services to its 'consumers.'

This means that our Rep Payee clients are receiving treatment services at many different mental health agencies around DC -- and they reflect a broad spectrum of personal circumstances. While most of our clients are single adults, they may be homeless, institutionalized at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, living alone in a subsidized apartment in the community, or living in a supervised group home. Some have an extensive work history while others have never been able to work. Perhaps the most common thread among all of our clients is that they do not have anyone in their lives, such as a relative or friend, whom they can trust to manage their money. Because of this and their own struggles with chronic mental illness, and sometimes with substance abuse, our clients are vulnerable to being taken advantage of financially, may have very poor credit, and may have a history of housing instability or food insecurity.

The Rep Payee Program has many different facets, but its core service is the writing and disbursement of about 2,500 checks per month. Through this, we ensure that our clients’ rents and bills are being paid on time and that they have money in their pockets for food and transportation. Establishing this reliability and regularity is the first step to financial security and recovery.

As a case manager in the Rep Payee Program, I enroll new clients at our NW Center. This means that I meet with each client and his or her mental health case manager to explain how the program works and to answer questions about the ins and outs of having a representative payee.

Just the other day, I was enrolling a consumer who expressed her gratitude to me for us becoming her payee. She had been without funds for some time as Social Security awarded her benefits but required that she identify a payee before she could be paid. At the end of the meeting she said, “while I understand I need help managing my money now, Jo, is there any way in the future I will be able to be my own payee?”

I was happy to share with her the story of Donna, whom we told you about last month.

In that post, we explained how Donna has come to move on from our representative payee program, having come to the point where she can be paid directly. Donna has made a lot of progress, gaining skills with which she can manage her own budget and pay her own rent and bills.

I recently spoke with Donna on the phone about her experience in the Representative Payee Program and she told me about her previous attempt to manage her own money -- back in 2007. Donna did well on her own for a while, but she soon suffered a relapse of her mental illness. Suddenly, it became difficult -- if not impossible -- for Donna focus on her finances and bills. All of her energy needed to be focused on her mental health and recovery, but her bills and rent still needed to be paid. Donna knew that she needed help, so she asked to be re-enrolled in the Rep Payee Program here at Bread.

Years later, Donna explains that with the help of various supports and her continued participation in the Rep Payee Program, she learned valuable skills to cope day to day on her own. She also learned how to keep a monthly budget that guides her spending.

Donna’s success, however, is pretty exceptional. Many of our clients face even greater challenges than Donna - struggles with addiction, severe mental illness, even difficulty understanding the basic concept of money. In a given year, out of all 800 of our Rep Payee clients, only a small handful (ten or less) successfully move on to being paid directly. For everyone else, Rep Payee creates an environment of security and reliability -- ensuring that they can stay in their homes with their electricity and heat on or that homeless clients have dependable access to money for food and personal needs throughout the month.

I saw Donna last week, when she was coming by our offices for a Client Advisory Board meeting. She showed me a $10 bill -- her donation to Bread for the City for this month.

“It’s not as big as it usually is,” Donna explained to me, “This week I had to buy socks.” Needless to say, we are deeply honored to count Donna as a donor, regardless of the amount she can afford to give that month.


The Rep Payee Program is now hiring! See here for more information.

Now Hiring: Representative Payee Benefits Coordinator

Bread for the City seeks a full-time Benefits Coordinator to work in our Representative Payee Program.

The Benefits Coordinator serves as the program’s liaison to the Social Security Administration and advocates on behalf of clients in order to maintain their eligibility for disability benefits. The ideal candidate has strong organizational skills and attention to detail as well as strong interpersonal skills allowing her/him to develop a strong working relationship with our contacts at the Social Security Administration, mental health professionals, and our clients. He or she will be committed to getting results in a fast-paced environment and able to handle a heavy workload without dropping the ball. This position is an excellent opportunity to develop an expertise in public policy as it relates to Social Security Disability benefits, Supplemental Security Income eligibility, Representative Payee responsibilities, and other public benefit programs.

About Bread for the City

Bread for the City is a dynamic non-profit organization whose mission is to provide vulnerable residents of Washington, DC, with comprehensive services, including food, clothing, medical care, and legal and social services, in an atmosphere of dignity and respect. The Representative Payee Program provides services to consumers with chronic mental illness in collaboration with the DC Department of Mental Health and its Core Service Agencies. As an Organizational Payee we provide on-going support to 800 clients by managing their monthly income to cover expenses such as rent, utilities, food, transportation and personal needs on the basis of individualized budget plans and fulfill the reporting requirements of the Social Security Administration to maintain each client’s benefit eligibility.

Job Responsibilities

The Benefits Coordinator will be responsible for the following:

• Serve as the program’s liaison to the Social Security Administration to monitor and maintain clients’ eligibility for disability benefits.
• Develop and implement expertise in the area of Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Income eligibility and other related benefits (Medicaid, Medicare, etc.).
• Coordinate with Representative Payee Program staff and clients’ mental health providers to develop information and documentation regarding changes in clients’ situations that may impact eligibility.
• Maintain a rigorous organizational system to track all reporting activities and outstanding issues.

All staff members of the Representative Payee Program are expected to work as part of this energetic and innovative team in order to provide the highest level of service possible to our clients. Collaboration among team members is essential and creative problem solving is strongly encouraged.

Qualifications

Bread for the City seeks candidates who have excellent attention to detail and are highly organized. The Benefits Coordinator must have:

• Excellent time management skills, including demonstrated ability to juggle multiple projects and set priorities to meet deadlines
• The aptitude to develop and maintain a deep understanding of the eligibility criteria and policies related to various federal and local public benefit programs
• The ability to work independently and solve problems creatively
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work with diverse populations, as well as superior written and oral communication skills
• Outstanding computer skills, including the capacity to use Microsoft Office and learn other programs to manage a high volume of detailed information and responsibilities
• A commitment to providing services in an atmosphere of dignity and respect

The following are a plus but not requirements:

• Previous knowledge of Social Security Administration benefits and the responsibilities of a Representative payee or other District of Columbia public benefits
• Experience working with populations with chronic mental illness

Bread for the City is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, family responsibility, physical or mental disability, medical condition, status as a veteran, or any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local law, except where a bona fide occupational qualification applies.

Bread for the City offers competitive compensation and excellent benefits, including health and dental insurance coverage, vacation and sick leave, and a highly supportive working environment.

How to apply

Please send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to Susanne Horn, Representative Payee Program Manager, at Bread for the City at shorn [AT] breadforthecity [DOT] org with Benefits Coordinator Opening in the subject line. No telephone inquiries please.

Our friend Donna moves onward

Last week, we introduced you to our Representative Payee program. This week, we’d like to share a little bit about one of our longtime Rep Payee clients who has made great progress: Donna Hendricks. (You can see Donna featured in a video series on Bread for the City by Stone Soup Films -- watch her feature here.)

Over the course of more than a decade, Donna Hendricks struggled with homelessness and mental illness. She turned to Bread for the City for help with food and medical care.

"Dr. Randi saved my life, and not just once,” says Donna, who has recovered from two heart attacks and a stroke.

After years of service, our relationship with Donna deepened when we became her Representative Payee. This means that Bread for the City became the recipient of her disability benefits; we paid her rent and bills; and we worked with her to manage a budget.

Three years ago, with the help of a Bread for the City case manager, Donna moved into her own apartment for the first time in more than a decade. She’s been living there happily since, and recently got her own cat named Nina. Soon after she first moved in, Donna brought home one of Bread for the City’s Holiday Helpings packages -- a complete turkey dinner for Thanksgiving -- and realized she couldn’t eat it all herself. So she invited her neighbors in the apartment complex over to share the feast. “We’ve been friends ever since,” she says.

We are proud to say that, as of the new year, Donna has "moved on" from our Rep Payee program. She has opened a personal bank account, and today, she is her own payee! It is a major accomplishment and we are very proud of her.

“I'm paying my own electric, gas, and phone bills,” says Donna. “This is what it feels like to be more independent."

Today, Donna even manages to save enough money to make donations to Bread for the City -- including to the Capital Campaign for our Northwest Center expansion. She has also become a member of our Client Advisory Board, providing feedback on our programs and helping to set our advocacy agenda. You’ll hear more from her in the future!

The most important program that you never knew we had.

Bread for the City is contracted by the DC Department of Mental Health to provide payee services to 800 of the Department’s consumers -- people who struggle with chronic mental illness, and who need assistance with their financial matters.

Through the Rep Payee program, we receive our clients’ benefit deposits (i.e. their Social Security checks); then we use that money to pay rent and utilities, food and medical costs, and personal expenses. Each client’s spending is guided by an individualized budget plan created in collaboration with the clients’ mental health treatment team and our staff. Each week about 200 clients pick up expense checks at one of Bread’s centers, with many more checks mailed out across the city. Each month approximately $670,000 flows through the Representative Payee Program - more than $8 million a year! (That may sound like a lot, but it works out to be just about $10,000 for each client in a year.)

Aside from managing bank accounts, we also work to ensure that our clients can continue to receive these benefits. The population we serve experiences frequent changes in personal circumstances -- including moves and hospitalizations that may affect benefit eligibility. Each such event must be properly documented and reported to comply with complicated rules. Our biweekly trips to the Social Security Administration offices allow us to keep client records up-to-date, thus avoiding unnecessary benefit suspensions or over-payments. This, in turn, ensures a stable environment for our clients. Should they need other kinds of assistance, we can also connect them with Bread for the City services like food, legal and medical care.

Our case managers and accountants ensure that rent is paid on time and phone and electricity services stay up and running. And by working with us to devise a workable budget, our clients can ultimately decrease their reliance on service agencies generally – and build towards greater degrees of independence. They may even be able to save some money for a special shopping trip for winter clothes, or for birthday presents for family members. Any way you stretch it, a $674 Supplemental Security Income payment is not easy to live off of in a pricey city like Washington, DC, but with the help of the Rep Payee Program, many of our clients can find stability and happiness.