The Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security Program is a program that was federally funded through the Ticket to Work and Work Incentive Improvement Act of 1999. In Alabama, the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security Program is run by the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP). The Act allows Social Security to fund ADAP to aid Social Security disability and SSI beneficiaries who are seeking vocational rehabilitation, employment, and other support services or seeking to regain employment.
In Alabama, ADAP also provides protection and advocacy for those Social Security recipients who have representative payees. In some cases, beneficiaries of Social Security are incapable of managing their own benefits. A representative payee is appointed to help manage the payments on the behalf of those beneficiaries. In 2018, the Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act was passed which requires Social Security to make annual grants to Protection and Advocacy Systems serving in each state for the purpose of conducting representative payee reviews.
If a beneficiary of Social Security Disability or SSI believes that his or her representative payee is not correctly fulfilling the duties required in order to provide for the beneficiary, ADAP will conduct a review to ensure that the beneficiary’s Social Security benefit is being handled correctly. ADAP will interview the individual and the representative payee, review the representative payee’s financial records for the requested beneficiary, and if need be, provide a home visit. If the results of the review find that the representative payee has not been correctly fulfilling his or her duties as payee, corrective action may be taken.
If you have questions about representative payees or Social Security disability benefits, contact an experienced Social Security disability attorney at Gardberg & Kemmerly, P.C. today at 251-343-1111 for a free case evaluation. Gardberg & Kemmerly, P.C. represents Social Security disability claimants in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana at all levels of the disability process from initial application to appeals to Federal Court.