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Kansas Benefits Counselors Network
Sponsored by CPRF, the Kansas Benefits Counselors Network (KBCN) is funded by a cooperative agreement with the Social Security Administration (No. 16-T-10013-01) and a piece of the Ticket-to-Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. The project focuses on providing people with comprehensive benefits information toward making successful employment decisions.Learn more about KBCN
Frequently Asked Questions
Request a KBCN package
Contact the KBCN team
Visit the Kansas Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act siteClick here for a printable KBCN Fact Sheet
Other CPRF Programs & Services
Adult Day Services
Benefits and Tax Research
Case Management
Daniel M. Carney Rehabilitation Engineering Center
customized wheelchairs/posture seating/maintenance therapy
Job Placement
Mobile Rehabilitation Engineering Shop
School of Adaptive Computer Training
Timber Lines Transportation Services
Timbers Apartments
Vocational Assessment
More about KBCN
For several decades, people with disabilities who receive income maintenance and healthcare benefits from social security have found it very difficult to “cross the chasm” into employment that provides sufficient income and healthcare benefits to move away from public assistance toward self-sufficiency.
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Special education programs in secondary schools and the partnerships between transition counselors and vocational rehabilitation counselors have begun to address the long-standing need for education and training for people with disabilities. With the increasing number of people with varying abilities who are seeking employment opportunities, more attention must be paid to income and healthcare benefits as they begin working.
A major disincentive to employment has been the complexity of the SSA Work Incentives program — designed as scaffolding for this transition. With more than 700 public assistance benefits and factors that may influence an individual’s income and healthcare-maintenance situation, the need continues to grow for trained benefits specialists to ensure that people with disabilities have the opportunity to make informed choices about employment related to their social security benefits.
Finally, decision-support software has been developed to assist counselors in managing this complex issue. The Kansas Benefits Counselors Network makes use of this software to assist students and young adults with disabilities in Kansas to manage their benefits and utilize the available work incentives to begin, or return to, work.
The Kansas Benefits Counselors Network is the name of CPRF’s WIPA (Work Incentive Planning and Assistance) project, which operates under the Kansas Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act. The KBCN is the only WIPA in Kansas.
RECRUITING PROFESSIONALS TODAY
The Kansas Benefits Counselors Network is seeking to work with case managers and counselors throughout the state so that they can work more effectively with their students and young adults as they move into employment. Contact the KCBN team for more information.