Donald is a special education transition student who has been deaf since birth. He lives in a foster care home in an urban setting. He is in regular classes in school with the aid of an interpreter. Donald participates in the SSI program.
Donald has shown an interest in cars and automotive work throughout high school. Part of Donald’s community-based vocational education experience was in an auto body shop where he did janitorial work and assisted trained auto body specialists in removing damaged panel from cars, preparing cars for painting, and other tasks. Donald was hired as a part-time worker and paid minimum wage. He worked 12 hours per week. Donald saved $200 per month during his paid work experience.
Donald is finishing high school. At that time he will no longer be awarded foster care payments. Securing employment is imperative and a major focus of Donald’s last IEP/transition plan. Donald’s goal is to gain employment as a certified auto body specialist. Donald and his transition specialist decided that he should enroll in an auto body school to gain the skills to become a specialist. Donald and the transition specialist, through discussions with a vocational rehabilitation counselor, determined that a PASS would further Donald’s career goal. If Donald could obtain his auto body specialist’s certification, he could anticipate increasing his wages from minimum wage to approximately 10.00 per hour.
Donald’s career goal is to become an auto body specialist. Because the PASS and IEP/transition plan are so similar in their requirements, Donald and the transition team decided that they would incorporate the PASS into Donald’s transition plan. The PASS provided detailed goals, objectives, and resources that were required to achieve Donald’s goal of becoming an auto body specialist.
Donald included the following steps to reach this goal in his PASS:
Donald will require approximately $1,930 per year to achieve his certification - $1,900 for tuition and $30 for books. Donald has $900 in a savings account that he accumulated during his school-sponsored work experience. In addition, he has continued to work in the auto body school two hours after school each night and eight hours on Saturdays. He is earning about $360 per month. He can apply these earnings toward his PASS. Donald’s living expenses will total approximately $490 per month.
PASS monies will be used to pay tuition to the auto body training school and for books and supplies. Donald will put his monthly earnings into his bank account. These earnings will cover the costs of the two-year training program.
Donald owns no items that would assist him in reaching his goal. His total assets are under $1,000. Donald expects to pay the cost of his education without assistance from another source. The PASS allows Donald to shelter his wages, which he will use to pay the cost of his training. Donald may also use the Student Earned Income Exclusion. Through the use of work incentives Donald can progress toward his work and career goal while receiving SSI benefits to meet his living expenses.