SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) is a program designed to increase access to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) for eligible adults who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder (SUD). The SOAR Course (Adult/Child) is a training program for direct service workers who, once trained, understand Disability Determination Services and Social Security Administration's requirements and the need for appropriate documentation, decreasing the time to issue determinations and reducing the need for appeals.

SOAR has been funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) since 2009. The SOAR Technical Assistance (TA) Center coordinates the implementation of state and local-level SOAR programs at no cost to the communities it serves. Over the last 18 years, the SOAR approach has been used to assist more than 105,000 SOAR-eligible people.

Of the applications assisted using SOAR, 65 percent, representing 56,481 persons, have been approved for SSI/SSDI upon initial application since SOAR began. An additional 8,891 persons whose applications were denied initially were approved on reconsideration or appeal. Taken together, since 2006, the SOAR approach is responsible for assisting 65,372 persons who were experiencing or at risk of homelessness to access Social Security disability benefits.

In 2023, there were 2,604 approvals on initial applications. Decisions on SOAR initial applications were received in an average of 167 days with an allowance rate of 66 percent. This compares to the initial allowance rate of 30 percent for all persons aged 18-64 who applied for SSI or SSDI in 2019.

For more information on the SOAR initiative, please contact the Kansas SOAR State Lead, Jonathan Pendergrass, or visit the SOAR website.

• More information at Soar Works
• HealthSource Community Bed Board - listing of open beds in Kansas