A couple of weeks ago, The Oklahoman featured the story of woman who has worked for the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services (ODRS) and what ODRS is doing to help the disabled community in our state.
How Does Rehabilitation Services Help People with Disabilities in Oklahoma?
The ODRS helps determine if people with disabilities in Oklahoma are eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In addition, the ODRS, which includes 1,052 employees and 80 offices statewide, helps disabled Oklahomans through career planning, education, employment and independent living programs.
ODRS includes several divisions that help the disabled community in Oklahoma in different ways, such as schools for the deaf and blind, Visual Services and Vocational Rehabilitation. Recently, ODRS has been working more with disabled children. By working with kids with disabilities sooner, ODRS hopes to help them learn early on how to live independently and prepare for a future career. ODRS is also collaborating with local businesses to show them how it could benefit them to employ people with disabilities.
Can I Collect Disability Benefits If I Am Working?
As Tulsa Social Security Disability attorney Steve Troutman explains in the video, in most cases, people with disabilities cannot collect disability benefits if they are part of the workforce.