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Lighthouse Louisiana offers a variety of services to help individuals of all ages who are blind, visually impaired and who have other disabilities. Our mission is to provide the tools for independence, self-reliance and success, regardless of disability.
Your support allows us to provide over 6,000 services annually that help individuals regain and maintain their independence.
WIPA (Benefits Counseling)
Work Incentives Planning & Assistance
Lighthouse Louisiana Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) Project is a Social Security Administration (SSA) funded grant to provide free benefits counseling to eligible Social Security beneficiaries, who have a disability, to help them make informed choices about work.
Who is eligible for WIPA services?
Individuals who receive:
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
SSDI-Related Medicare
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
State SSI Payment
SSI-Related Medicaid based on Disability
And:
Are working
Have a job offer pending
Are actively interviewing for jobs
Had an interview in the past 30 days
Have a job interview scheduled in the next 2 weeks
Area a veteran, or
Are age 14-25, (even if you are not actively pursuing work)
Who We Are
The Lighthouse WIPA Project is made up of a Project Director and Community Work Incentive Coordinators (CWICs), who provide free benefits counseling services. The team receives extensive initial and on-going training about Social Security and eligibility requirements for other Federal and State benefits programs.
We provide in-depth counseling to qualifying beneficiaries within our service area about working, earning more money, and how working may affect an individual’s benefits.
What We Do
The goal of our WIPA Project is to better enable SSA Beneficiaries with disabilities to make informed choices about going to work!
Provide work incentives planning and assistance
Conduct outreach efforts
Work in collaboration with Federal, State, and private agencies and nonprofit organizations that serve beneficiaries with disabilities to access other benefits and community resources
Screen and refer beneficiaries with disabilities to the appropriate Employment Networks of their choice
Provide information on the availability of protection and advocacy services
Our Service Area
We serve the following 30 parishes
- Acadia • Plaquemines
- Ascension • St. Bernard
- Assumption • St. Charles
- Calcasieu • St. Helena
- Cameron • St. James
- East Baton Rouge • St. John the Baptist
- East Feliciana • St. Martin
- Iberia • St. Mary
- Iberville • St. Tammany
- Jefferson • Tangipahoa
- Jefferson Davis • Terrebonne
- Lafayette • Vermillion
- Lafourche • Washington
- Livingston • West Baton Rouge
- Orleans • West Feliciana
Contact Us:
WIPA Referrals
To refer beneficiaries for WIPA Services, contact the Ticket to Work Help Line at:
(866) 968 – 7842 Main
(866) 833 – 2967 TTY/TDD Line
Monday – Friday 7 am – 7 pm (CST)
Lighthouse WIPA Project
Call Lighthouse Louisiana Baton Rouge Service Center (225) 529-2749
Or email: wipala@lighthouselouisiana.org