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FOR MORE INFORMATION OUR MISSION The mission of Lutheran Social Services’ (LSS) Representative Payee Services Program is to provide clients with prudent financial management and counseling from qualified fiscal coordinators. The program is the only one in northeast Florida that manages Social Security checks for people not capable of spending their money appropriately.
Representative Payee Program Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida, Inc. 4615 Philips Highway, Jacksonville, FL 32207 Ph 904.730.8282 Fax 904.739.7088 reppayee@lssjax.org
lssjax.org
Those helped include the mentally ill, the homeless, persons diagnosed as being HIV-positive or living with AIDS, children and the elderly residing in assisted living facilities (ALFs). All of the people served are considered low-income, according to the Federal Poverty Guideline.
REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE PROGRAM
The people receiving services through this program are especially susceptible to making bad spending decisions and are often easily manipulated by others. Before they were required to have a Representative Payee, some of these people would spend most or all of their Social Security checks on alcohol, drugs or nonessential items without regard to shelter, food and other basic needs. They were then forced to turn to other community resources, as well as federal monies, to survive the rest of the month.
In conjunction with:
Florida Department of Education
Helping clients make the most of their benefits
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HELPING CLIENTS MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR BENEFITS The primary objective of the Representative Payee Services Program is to ensure that people enrolled in the program receive the full benefit of the funds to which they are entitled.
DID YOU KNOW? More than six million people who get monthly Social Security or Supplemental Security income (SSI) benefits, or both, need someone to help them manage their money? Many of these people receive their Social Security or SSI at the beginning of the month, but typically spend it before they meet their basic needs of shelter, food and clothing. They require additional referral resources to help get them through the month.
WHO DO WE SERVE?
OPTIONAL STATE SUPPLEMENT (OSS)
Of all Americans receiving benefits, about 25 percent of those receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and about 10 percent of those receiving Social Security have been appointed by the Social Security Administration to a representative payee such as LSS.
These funds are for clients that live in assisted living facilities. They are used to supplement part of the rent and for personal need items. When a client moves, the money follows him or her to another facility.
REP PAYEE PROGRAM HISTORY The staff members in the program work to meet a series of objectives designed to keep clients off the streets by helping them to meet their basic needs. To accomplish this, the staff manages monthly payments of rent and utilities, as well as regular and appropriate purchases of food, medicine and other necessities. They also assist with finding employment opportunities, training programs and living arrangements to help the people with whom they work achieve the highest level of selfsufficiency of which they are capable.
They are referred to LSS in the following ways: directly from Social Security Administration; from a behavioral health provider, ALF or other healthcare facility in the area; or, as a direct request from individuals. The LSS Accounting Office receives Social Security or SSI checks from Social Security Administration on behalf of those people enrolled in the Representative Payee Services Program. LSS also serves as the payee for Veterans Affairs and Railroad Retirement benefits. The program’s fiscal coordinators are responsible for making payments for such things as shelter, utilities and food. Once the basic needs are met, the remaining funds are held in individual client accounts to be distributed for necessary purchases as requested by the client.
Social Security Administration has contracted with LSS to provide representative payee services in northeast Florida. The program launched in 1995 with a pilot program between LSS and the Florida Department of Children & Families. The initial objectives of the Representative Payee Services Program were to serve a mix of behavioral health consumers and the drug- and alcohol-disabled. The program has since expanded to assist residents of the ALF community and patients who are HIV-positive or living with AIDS.