Maintaining and StrengtheningSupplemental Security Income forChildren with Disabilities
By Rebecca Vallas and Shawn Fremstad September 10, 2012
Introduction and summary
Tis year marks he 40h anniversary o Supplemenal Securiy Income. Signed inolaw by Presiden Richard Nixon in 1972, Supplemenal Securiy provides basic incomesupplemens o he elderly and o people wih severe disabiliies. Tis brie ocuses onhe largely unheralded role Supplemenal Securiy has played in improving economicsecuriy and opporuniy or children wih severe disabiliies, while a he same imereducing cosly and harmul insiuionalizaion o children.Supplemenal Securiy is a cenral pillar o our curren sysem o amily-cenered careor children wih severe disabiliies.
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Oher core pillars include Medicaid and heIndividuals wih Disabiliies Educaion Ac. In his sysem, he primary responsibiliy or he well-being o a disabled child ress wih he childs parens and amily. ogeher,hese suppors play a undamenal role in making i possible or children wih disabili-ies o live a home wih heir amilies and in heir communiies. As deailed in his brie, Supplemenal Securiy is an eecive suppor or children wihsevere disabiliies and heir amilies. Research shows ha Supplemenal Securiy: –Reduces cosly and harmul insiuionalizaion o children wih severe disabiliies by supporing amily-cenered care –Reduces povery and increases economic securiy by oseting some o he exracoss and los parenal income associaed wih raising a child wih a severe disabiliy –Suppors work and educaion or parens and youh –Reduces nancial and oher sressors ha can adversely aec parenal well-beingand can lead o separaion or divorce –Serves as a criically imporan complemen o oher services provided o children wih disabiliies –Provides iniial disabiliy deerminaions ha are exensive and highly accurae
1Center or American Progress | Maintaining and Strengthening Supplemental Security Income or Children with Disabilities
Supplemenal Securiy should be mainained and srenghened o urher increaseeconomic securiy and opporuniy or children and youh wih disabiliies. As recom-mended in his brie, his includes enhancing and promoing suppor or work andeducaion; ensuring ha he Social Securiy Adminisraion has he resources i needso conduc eligibiliy reviews so ha Supplemenal Securiy is limied o children whoconinue o mee medical eligibiliy crieria; and srenghening he proamily characero Supplemenal Securiy.Cerain misguided proposals would disempower parens and pu disabled children a amuch greaer risk o losing boh a secure home environmen and he opporuniies oreconomic, social, and amilial inclusion.
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Tese include cuting Supplemenal Securiy by convering i o a block gran o saes raher han a direc suppor o amilies, as well as oher policies ha would resul in sae micromanagemen o parens decisionsregarding how o care or heir disabled children.
Who receives Supplemental Security Income?
Disabiliy is a complex and evolving concep. In he mos general sense, a disabiliy isa healh condiion ha signicanly limis a persons aciviy or resrics heir paricipa-ion when compared o individuals wihou a similar healh condiion.
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In he UniedSaes, abou 6.6 million—or 9 percen—o school-age children have aciviy limia-ions ha resul rom one or more chronic healh condiions.
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Despie ha being hecase, only abou 1.3 million—or 1.6 percen—o U.S. children receive SupplemenalSecuriy Income benes. Te vas majoriy o children wih disabiliies do no qualiy or Supplemenal Securiy eiher because heir disabiliies are no severe enough o meehe Social Securiy Adminisraions sric sandards or heir amilies do no mee heprograms nancial eligibiliy crieria.Under he Social Securiy Adminisraions deniion o childhood disabiliy, a childmay qualiy or Supplemenal Securiy i she or he has a medically deerminablephysical or menal impairmen ha resuls in marked and severe uncional limia-ions and i she or he lives in a household wih very low-income and less han $3,000in asses.
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According o a 2012 Governmen Accounabiliy Oce repor, he SocialSecuriy Adminisraion has consisenly denied a majoriy o childrens applicaion orSupplemenal Securiy over he pas decade, using his sringen deniion o disabiliy.
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2Center or American Progress | Maintaining and Strengthening Supplemental Security Income or Children with Disabilities
How does the Supplemental Security help children with severedisabilities and their families?
Up unil he 1960s, parens oen placed children wih severe disabiliies ino insiuions. According o a public opinion survey conduced by he Minnesoa Governors Council onDevelopmen Disabiliies in 1962, 71 percen o he public said ha people wih develop-men disabiliies should be cared or in insiuions raher han a home.
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Since hen, asdiscussed in greaer deail laer in his brie, American atiudes have changed, and we haveshied away rom insiuional care o a sysem o amily-cenered care or children wihdisabiliies. Under his sysem, we expec parens o care or children wih disabiliies ahome, while providing hem wih necessary suppors and services.Supplemenal Securiy serves as a cenral pillar o amily-cenered care. Te modesincome supplemens provided by he program help amilies wih very limied incomesand resources in he ollowing ways: –Provides basic necessiies o care or a child wih a disabiliy a home insead o in aninsiuion or anoher, more resricive seting –Mees he addiional coss o raising a child wih a physical or menal disabiliy –Replaces some o he amily income los when a paren (or parens) mus say homeor reduce heir hours o care or he child – Assiss in providing disabled children wih a sable, secure home environmen andhe opporuniy or inegraion ino communiy lie, including school as childrenand work as aduls
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For children who apply or Supplemenal Securiy and are ound eligible by Social Securiy Adminisraion disabiliy examiners, he income supplemen ha he program provides ismodes. Te maximum monhly supplemen in 2012 is $698, an amoun ha amouns oabou hree-quarers o he monhly povery hreshold or an individual. Beween one-hird and one-hal o children wih severe disabiliies receiving Supplemenal Securiy haveamily incomes below he ederal povery line.
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I should be noed ha, as wih he povery line, he Supplemenal Securiy bene has been adjused or infaion over ime bu noor he increase in mainsream living sandards.For many amilies wih a disabled child, Supplemenal Securiy acs as a work sup-por. In December 2010, despie near-record-high unemploymen, some 41 perceno children receiving Supplemenal Securiy lived wih an employed paren. Jus adecade earlier, when he unemploymen rae was hal o he curren rae, mos chil-dren receiving Supplemenal Securiy lived wih an employed paren. For disabledchildren living wih a working paren, he supplemenal income amoun is reduced by abou hal o parens earnings (or nearly all o oher income). Reducing he bene by hal, raher han all, o parens earnings helps limi he exen o which work is penal-ized as a resul o means-esing.
Will Bentley
, 10, lives inCovington, Kentucky, withhis parents and sister. Nearlyrom birth, his parents knewsomething was wrong. Hewas slow in learning to speak and learned to sign so thathe could communicate. Hehad requent, violent seizures.An MRI eventually showedlesions on his brain. Hestruggles with anxiety andhas memory problems. Hismother Katie was orced toshut down her small businessso that she could stay homewith Will, whose care becamea ull-time job. Katie said, “Isurrendered my career so thatWill’s needs were met. SSI al-lows us to ocus on what Willneeds … At one time, Willwas unable to do anythingor himsel. He could not eveneed himsel. Now he canread and zip his own jacket.For a parent with a child witha disability, the support thatcomes rom SSI is a dreamcome true.”
3Center or American Progress | Maintaining and Strengthening Supplemental Security Income or Children with Disabilities
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Maintaining and Strengthening Supplemental Security Income for Children with Disabilities
Supplemental Security should be maintained and strengthened to further increase economic security and opportunity for children and youth with disabilities and to ensure the continued success of family-centered care.
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