DRA horizontal logo

Social Security

What Happens to SSI Benefits When Your Child Turns 18?

As kids transition from school to adult life, many, many changes occur.  What is your child going to do when they graduate?  Are they going to continue their education, or get a job, or get job training?  Are they going to continue to live at home?  How do your prepare for and make all of these transitions?

Oh, and have you thought about what might happen to any SSI benefits they are receiving?  How do these transitions in life impact benefits?

Social Security has developed materials that address some of the questions your may have.  One in particular that can get you started down the road to understanding some of the changes that might occur is called, “What You Need to Know About Your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) When You Turn 18”

To view this pamphlet, click here:  What You Need to Know About Your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) When You Turn 18

 

A great resource to find out about government benefits

Navigating your way through the benefits maze can be a challenge.  Say you find yourself suddenly unable to work because of a catastrophic health event or injury.  Maybe you know you need to apply for Social Security disability benefits, but what about other benefits?  You think you’ve heard of something referred to as SNAP, and then there’s Medicaid, but how do you find out about these programs and their eligibility requirements?

There is a website that can help you understand what types of benefits are available to help, and it can be found at:  https://www.benefits.gov/.  Benefits.gov was launched as part of an effort to provide citizens with easy, online access to government benefit and assistance programs.  The site allows you to look at benefits by state and, in fact, will go to the Arkansas page when you follow the link.  Need to know more about Medicaid?  ARKids First?  Transitional Employment Assistance?  You can find valuable information about each program here.  The site also allows you to look at benefits by category and by agency, and even has an “other resources” category.  If you are lost in the maze of trying to find out about various assistance programs, this site is a great place to start.

Social Security publication helps explain work incentive programs

Social Security has a booklet that is accessible online, called “Working While Disabled- How We Can Help”.  In it, they provide a quick overview of Social Security’s work incentive programs, explain how your earnings can impact your benefits, what happens if you lose your job and how/what to report to Social Security when you begin earning income.  The booklet can be found here:  https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10095.pdf

If you qualify, the Compassionate Allowances program can speed up processing of your disability claim

Social Security has implemented the Compassionate Allowance program, which can expedite the processing of your Social Security disability claim if you meet the criteria for the program.  The program covers both SSI and SSDI, but there is a limited number of very serious medical conditions under which you can qualify for the program.  Advanced pancreatic cancer and Huntington’s disease are two of the conditions; for a list of other qualifying conditions, click on this link:  https://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.  For more information about the program in general, click here:  https://blog.socialsecurity.gov/compassionate-allowances-speed-help-to-people-with-severe-disabilities/.