To qualify for benefits through the Supplemental Security Income (SSI program), a child must be disabled or blind and must meet strict income and resource limitations. When applying for benefits on behalf of your child, keep in mind that the Social Security Administration takes your assets and income into account. What you own and earn may be deemed as resources and income available to your child.
An application for benefits filed on behalf of a child may be jeopardized when a parent who is not familiar with federal regulations fails to use allowable exclusions to reduce countable income. Working with a seasoned Social Security disability lawyer at Scully Disability Law ensures you have a knowledgeable and skilled representative handling your child’s application for SSI benefits.
You may also benefit from having a general understanding of deeming and how a parent’s income affects a child’s application for SSI benefits. The following information along with a consultation with a Scully Disability Law SSI lawyer, helps you avoid mistakes that could lead to a denial of the claim.
Benefits for Children Through SSI
A child must be blind or disabled to qualify for SSI benefits. Social Security uses the same criteria to define blindness in adults as it does for children, but it uses a different definition for “disabled” for children than it uses for adults.
A child must meet all of the following requirements to be “disabled” under federal law for purposes of SSI eligibility:
- Have a medically determinable physical or mental impairment or impairments.
- The impairment or impairments must cause marked and severe functional limitations.
- The impairment must be expected to last or have lasted for at least one year or be expected to result in death.
The law is also very specific as to its definition of a “child.” It defines a child as someone with the following characteristics:
- Unmarried and not the head of a household; and
- Younger than 18 years of age; or
- Younger than 22 years of age and regularly attending school.
When a child reaches 18 years of age or, in the case of a child attending school, 22 years of age, SSI benefits cannot continue unless the individual meets the adult definition of disabled, which focuses on the ability to engage in substantial gainful activity rather than on functional limitations. The adult definition of “disabled” also applies to applications filed for SSDI benefits through an SSDI lawyer.
Income Limits that Apply to a Child
Anyone applying for benefits through the SSI program, including a child, must meet the income limit, which is subject to annual adjustment. The income limit for an individual applying for SSI as blind or disabled is equal to the federal benefit rate, which for 2021 is $794 a month. The monthly rate for couples is $1,191.
It must be noted in any discussion of the SSI program that a distinction exists between earned income and unearned income, as well as the fact that SSA regulations exclude some sources of income for both a child and parents. Earned income includes money received as wages from working for an employer or the net earnings received through self-employment. Anything a person receives as compensation for other than their work effort is unearned income.
A child may have as much as $814 in unearned income each month and be eligible for disability benefits through SSI in 2021. Earned income may be as much as $1,673 a month in 2021 for someone already approved for and receiving SSI disability benefits.
However, the SSA uses monthly earned income as one of its criteria for determining whether a person applying for benefits is disabled; and earning more than $1,1310 means, according to SSA regulations, that a person is capable of engaging in substantial gainful employment and does not meet the disability standard to qualify for benefits. The monthly earned income allowance for a child or adult filing for benefits because of blindness rather than other types of disability is $2,190.
An SSI lawyer should be consulted when applying for Social Security disability benefits to determine how the guidelines specifically apply to your claim or the claim filed on behalf of a child. For example, some states supplement disability benefits paid through SSI, so the income limits may be higher for applicants residing in those states.
SSI Income Limitations and Deeming of Parental Income
The primary purpose of the SSI program is to make it possible for a beneficiary to pay for food and shelter. Therefore, other sources of income that a person has available may reduce the amount of the SSD benefits received through SSI.
Social Security considers anything that someone on SSI receives that can be used to pay for food or shelter as income. Income includes the following:
- Wages from a job.
- Income earned through self-employment.
- Interest and dividends.
- Cash gifts from relatives and friends.
- Food and shelter that is provided by friends and relatives without charge or below cost.
Income exclusions allow you to reduce countable income for SSI purposes. For example, a $20 exclusion may be applied toward either earned or unearned income a person receives each month. You may also exclude the first $65 and one-half of the remaining balance of wages and other earned income.
- Income tax refunds.
- Benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, which was previously referred to as food stamps.
- Money is received through state-administered social services programs.
When a disabled or blind child lives with one or both parents or with a parent and stepparent, a portion of the parent’s or stepparent’s income may be deemed available to the eligible child. As an example of how deeming might work in the case of a disabled child residing with one parent, who earns $2,555 in wages each month, and the eligible child’s sibling who is not disabled or blind.
Federal regulations allocate $420 of a parent’s monthly income in 2022 toward the support of each ineligible child living in the household. This would reduce the parent’s income in the example to $2,135.
If the parent has no income other than wages, the $20 and $65 exclusions apply to reduce the income to $2,050, which is then divided in half to reduce the parent’s income to $1,025. A parent is allowed an additional allocation equal to the federal SSI benefit, which for 2022 is $841, for living expenses. This leaves only $184 of the parent’s monthly wages deemed available to the support of the child receiving SSI.
Special Rule for Adults Disabled from Childhood
A disabled child who qualified for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits through the work record of a parent may continue to receive benefits after reaching 18 years of age. Speak with an SSDI lawyer if you believe you may be eligible for benefits through this rule.
Getting Help with Applying for SSD Benefits for Children
The normal challenges associated with the application approval process become augmented by deeming and other issues that may arise when filing an SSI application on behalf of a child. Instead of trying to do it on your own, rely on the knowledge and experience of an SSD lawyer at Scully Disability Law to handle your SSDI and SSI application or appeal. Contact us today for a free consultation and claim review.
