Don’t Dream It’s Over: Expedited Reinstatement – 2026 Spring National Conference – Track II (Presented by National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives)

Debora Wagner, Work Incentives Training & Technical Assistance Specialist | Cornell University Yang-Tan Institute

Debora Wagner is a nationally recognized specialist in Social Security work incentives, benefits planning, and return-to-work issues, with a career spanning 25 years in legal services and law school clinical programs. Throughout her career, she has presented on benefits issues, including post-entitlement and return-to-work matters, for attorneys, vocational rehabilitation professionals, agency staff, individuals with disabilities, and their families. From 2016 to 2022, she led the statewide network of work incentives training and technical assistance for benefits planners in Ohio. Since joining Cornell University’s Yang-Tan Institute in December 2021, she has continued that work at a national level while also designing and teaching credential courses on Work Incentive Planning for Veterans and on Leadership of Work Incentives Planning Projects. She serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Benefits and Work Incentives Specialists, on the SSA’s Standing Committee of Medical and Vocational Experts for Disability Programs and is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance.

• Education & Credentials

Debora’s credentials are grounded in 25 years of practice at the intersection of legal services, clinical legal education, and disability benefits advocacy, with deep specialization in Social Security work incentives and post-entitlement issues. She has designed and teaches two credential courses at Cornell University’s Yang-Tan Institute: one on Work Incentive Planning for Veterans and one, co-taught with Aleyda Toruno, for Leaders of Work Incentives Planning Projects. Her membership on the SSA’s Standing Committee of Medical and Vocational Experts for Disability Programs and her election to the National Academy of Social Insurance further reflect the professional recognition she has earned in this specialized field.

• Recognition & Leadership

Debora serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Benefits and Work Incentives Specialists (NABWIS) and on the Social Security Administration’s Standing Committee of Medical and Vocational Experts for Disability Programs, two positions that place her among the leading voices shaping work incentives policy and practice at the national level. She is also a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. Her design and instruction of credential-level courses at Cornell’s Yang-Tan Institute reflects recognition of her expertise as a curriculum developer and educator, and her six-year leadership of Ohio’s statewide work incentives planning network demonstrates the institutional trust she has earned throughout her career.

• Professional Involvement

Debora’s professional engagement spans training, technical assistance, curriculum development, board leadership, and federal advisory work. At Cornell’s Yang-Tan Institute, she provides work incentives training and technical assistance through the Work Incentive Support Center while also teaching two credential-level courses. Her board service at NABWIS and her committee role at SSA reflect sustained involvement at the national policy level, and her presentations to attorneys, vocational rehabilitation professionals, agency staff, and individuals
with disabilities demonstrate an ability to communicate complex benefits law to diverse audiences across professional and community settings.

• Experience

Debora’s 25-year career in legal services and law school clinical programs has been defined by a consistent focus on Social Security benefits, work incentives, and the post-entitlement issues that affect individuals with disabilities who are navigating the intersection of benefits and employment. From 2016 to 2022, she led Ohio’s statewide work incentives training and technical assistance network for benefits planners. Since joining Cornell’s Yang-Tan Institute in December 2021, she has expanded that work to a national platform, providing training and technical assistance through the Work Incentive Support Center and designing credential courses that build capacity among benefits planners and program leaders. Her combined experience as a practitioner, trainer, educator, board member, and federal committee participant makes her one of the most comprehensively engaged professionals in the work incentives and disability benefits field.

Raymond Cebula, J.D., Program Director, Work Incentive Support Center | Cornell University Yang-Tan Institute on Employment & Disability

Raymond Cebula, J.D. is the Program Director of the Work Incentive Support Center at Cornell University’s Yang-Tan Institute on Employment & Disability, a position he has held since January 2005. He spent 23 years working in legal services and protection and advocacy programs, providing direct representation to individuals with disabilities in matters involving the Social Security Administration, with a particular focus on return-to-work issues, overpayments, impact litigation, and administrative appeals through the federal circuit level. He joined Cornell’s Work Incentive Support Center in 2000 before transitioning to his current leadership role at the Yang-Tan Institute. Ray is an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the recipient of NOSSCR’s Eileen P. Sweeney Distinguished Service Award.

• Education & Credentials

Raymond earned his Juris Doctor from the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law in 1982. He is a licensed attorney with 23 years of direct representation experience in legal services and protection and advocacy settings, handling Social Security matters at all levels of the administrative appeals process and in federal court through the circuit level. His legal background, combined with his long tenure at Cornell University’s Yang-Tan Institute, reflects a career that bridges direct disability advocacy and national-level program leadership in the work incentives field. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ray is the recipient of NOSSCR’s Eileen P. Sweeney Distinguished Service Award, one of the most prestigious honors in the Social Security disability advocacy community and is an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, a recognition of his expertise and contributions to social insurance policy and practice. As Program Director of the Work Incentive Support Center at Cornell’s Yang-Tan Institute, he leads one of the country’s most prominent technical assistance and training programs in the disability employment and benefits field. His two-decade-plus tenure at Cornell reflects the sustained institutional trust and professional recognition he has earned across the legal, disability, and work incentives communities.

• Professional Involvement

As Program Director of the Work Incentive Support Center, Ray leads a national program providing training and technical assistance on Social Security work incentives to benefits planners, advocates, and organizations serving individuals with disabilities. His involvement in this work dates to 2000, when he first joined the Cornell team, and has deepened through his leadership role since 2005. His earlier career in legal services and protection and advocacy programs, focused on return-to-work issues, overpayments, impact litigation, and SSA appeals, gives him a practitioner’s grounding that enriches his work as a program director and trainer. His NOSSCR Distinguished Service Award and National Academy of Social Insurance membership reflect the breadth and depth of his engagement across the field.

• Experience

Ray Cebula’s career spans more than four decades of work at the intersection of disability law, Social Security benefits, and employment support. He spent 23 years in legal services and protection and advocacy programs, providing direct representation to individuals with disabilities in complex SSA matters, including return-to-work issues, overpayments, impact litigation, and federal court appeals through the circuit level. In 2000, he joined Cornell University’s Work Incentive Support Center, and in January 2005 he became Program Director at the Yang-Tan Institute on Employment & Disability, where he has led the center’s national training and technical assistance mission ever since. His career represents a rare and powerful integration of frontline legal advocacy and national program leadership in the disability benefits and work incentives space.

I. Don’t Dream It’s Over: Expedited Reinstatement | 11:30am – 12:30pm

Did you know that people who work their way off Social Security disability benefits can get right back on benefits without filing a new application? This session will explore eligibility for Expedited Reinstatement (EXR), how to request EXR, and why some people decide to file a new application instead of requesting EXR.