It was announced last Monday that the WIPA National Training and Data Center, would be shut down with immediate effect. The NTC, which was under the auspices of Virginia Commonwealth University, has been a primary source of training, education and support of Work Incentive Coordinators since 2007, but has now been cut adrift by Social Security, which funded the program.
The NTC issued the following farewell statement:
“We are writing to inform you that Social Security has opted not to fund the National Training and Data Center (NTDC). This means we must immediately stop all of our work, and our team will no longer be able to provide you with training, certification, technical assistance and other resource support. We are deeply saddened by this decision.
“Beginning tomorrow, myNTC will be taken offline and the resources within your myNTC account will no longer be available. The VCU NTDC website will also be taken offline.
We understand that you will have many questions about the ongoing availability of resources and continuing education, technical assistance, the future of your CWIC and CPWIC certification efforts and status. Please direct all questions you may have to WIPA@ssa.gov.
Our team has been so grateful to serve as your NTDC over these many years. It has truly been our pleasure to support you all in your journey through training, certification, and continuing education, and helping you grow your knowledge base and skill set as CWICs and CPWICs. We value the long-standing, wonderful relationships we’ve built with WIPA programs, community partners, and other stakeholders along the way.
We know you are passionate about the work you do to support Social Security beneficiaries, and we wish you all the best as you continue this great and important work!”
As there was no evident planning prior to the announcement there are no contingencies in place at the moment but should there be any further announcements you can be sure we at MDBCN will endeavor to make you aware of them.