The Supplementary Security Income (SSI)/Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) Technical Assistance Center has developed six custom SSI for Children information sheets that present SOAR-specific information about the disability application process for children in an engaging, easy-to-understand manner. Tips are provided for how community systems can contribute and assist in the application process. The six fact sheets cover the following systems:

  1. Parents/caregivers
  2. Youth providers
  3. The education system
  4. Child welfare
  5. Health and behavioral health providers
  6. Family shelters/homeless service providers

Each fact sheet answers the same four core questions:

  1. “How can SSI for children help?”
  2. “Who is eligible?”
  3. “How can I contribute and help a child access resources?”
  4. “What resources are available?”

SSI for children can help stabilize income for families and their child(ren), as well as provide income that can be used for supportive services (e.g., therapies, childcare), and can enhance health insurance coverage under Medicaid. Children (birth to turning age 18), with a physical or mental impairment that causes marked or severe functional limitations, and children and families with low income and resources are eligible for SSI for children. To help a child access resources, one can find a SOAR provider in their community and talk to them about the child’s needs; provide information about the child’s functioning while at school, at home, at the doctor’s office, etc.; help identify additional sources of medical or educational documentation; connect with family peer networks in the area; and review or complete the SOAR Online Course: Child Curriculum.

This resource was first shared in 2020.

Citation

SAMHSA SOAR TA Center. (2020). SSI for children fact sheets. Policy Research Associates. https://soarworks.samhsa.gov/article/ssi-for-children-information-sheets?_gl=1%2A1pf83ea%2A_ga%2AMjA5MTQxNjY0My4xNzE1NjI0NTgw%2A_ga_L7JFN98NL8%2AMTcyMTkzMDUzOS4xOS4xLjE3MjE5MzI3MDQuMC4wLjA.

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