Disabled Children Need Volunteer Representation
By Laura Ort-Presley

Supplemental Security Income, (hereinafter referred to as SSI), is an effective part of the Federal safety net in reducing poverty among disabled children. The National Survey of SSI Children and Families was conducted to assess the role of the SSI program in providing assistance to low-income children with disabilities and their families. 1 Survey results showed that most children receiving SSI lived in a family headed by a single mother, and less than one in three lived with both parents. Approximately half lived in a household with at least one other disabled individual. Approximately 70 percent were enrolled in special education. SSI support was found to be the most important source of family income, with earnings a close second at approximately 40 percent of the family’s income. The survey found that 54 percent of those children who received SSI payments lived in families above the poverty threshold, when all annual income was considered. This is notable since the federal SSI program guarantees an income level below the poverty line. 2

The survey supplemented the Social Security Administration’s records regarding the disability diagnoses and severity of impairments of children receiving SSI. The survey indicates that there are wide variations in severity, reflected in reports of the presence or absence of six functional limitations, perceived overall health status and perceived impact of disability. The survey revealed that physical disabilities were most common among children ages 0 to 5, and mental impairments were most common among children ages 6 to 17. About 36 percent of children reportedly had disabilities that affected their abilities to do things “a great deal,” and 21 percent had disabilities that affected their abilities to do things “very little” or with “no impact.” All children receiving SSI payments are covered by some form of health insurance. Medicaid is the most common source, but substantial variation was reported in utilization. The findings show however, that SSI payments are not used to cover medical expenses for the majority of children. 3

The president signed into law P.L. 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which substantially changed the definition of disability for children under the SSI program. 4 Approximately 264,000 notices of redetermination were sent, and 60,000 age 18 redetermination notices were sent out in November and December 1996. It was estimated that 135,000 children would lose their SSI payments under the new definition, and due to age 18 redeterminations. The administration’s records show that by July 1999 nearly 104,000 children had been found no longer eligible for SSI. The total estimated savings from the new SSI provisions were estimated at more than $8 billion through the year 2002. 5

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that 22 percent of eligible disabled children under the old law would become ineligible under the new statute, between 1996 to 2002. The extent of the financial impact on the states and the families of these lesser disabled children has not been tracked. It is clear that the impact will fall to the individual states and the families of these children to provide for the care of these lesser disabled children. It is estimated that, as a piece of the federal domestic budget excluding defense and international affairs, spending on children will decline under current law from 15.4 percent in 2006 to 13.1 percent in 2017. Interestingly, spending on children declined from 20.1 percent in 1960 to 15.4 percent in 2006, although the aggregate amount grew from $53 billion in 1960 to $333 billion in 2006 at the value of the dollar today. 6 Children benefited from 20.1 percent of federal domestic spending in 1960, 14.7 percent of the increase in spending between 1960 and 2006, and will receive only 5.6 percent of the increase in spending on the domestic budget between 2006 and 2017. 7

“Kids’ Share 2007: How Children Fare in the Federal Budget” tracks federal spending from 1960 to 2006 and utilized current policy and some assumptions to project activity through 2017, by taking a look at more than 100 major programs aimed at improving children’s lives through income security, health care, social services, food and nutritional aid, housing, education, training, and tax credits and exemptions for their families. 8

Supplemental Security Income has become an important part of the federal safety net for children. As part of a growing trend in decreased allocation of increasing federal budgets due to increased gross domestic product, SSI for children was reformed due to shifting political policy which deemed that lesser disabled children would no longer receive this form of income, shifting the costs associated with these children to their families, local communities and the states. Many children remain eligible for SSI. Many of these children who would otherwise be found disabled upon appeal, go unrepresented in their claims for benefits and must rely on the representation of their parent or guardian if their claim is appealed before an administrative law judge.

As members of the profession whose oath of office it is to uphold the laws of our state and the federal government, I encourage members of the Oklahoma Bar Association to volunteer to represent these children in their claims for SSI payments. Members of the bar who wish to fill this need may do so by contacting their local bar association officers, the state’s legal aid offices and the local Social Security offices in their area as some will maintain lists of volunteer representatives.

This article was written by Laura Ort-Presley in her private capacity. No official support or endorsement by the Social Security Administration or the United States is intended or should be inferred.

1. A profile of Children with Disabilities Receiving SSI: Highlights from the National Survey of SSI Children and Families, by Kalman Rupp, Paul S. Davies, Chad Newcomb, Howard Iams, Carrie Becker, Shanti Mulpuru, Stephen Ressler, Kathleen Romig, and Baylor Miller; Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 66, No. 2, 2005/2006.
2. Id. The survey breaks down the assets of the families of children receiving SSI: some children lived in households well below the poverty threshold and other lived in households well over 200 percent of the poverty threshold; one-third lived in families owning a home; two-thirds lived in families owning at least one car; about 40 percent lived in families with no liquid assets; and less than 4 percent lived with adults who owned stocks, mutual funds, CDs or savings bonds.
3. Id. The use of supportive therapies also varied widely, with physical, occupational and speech therapy the most commonly used therapies. In this dominant service category, only 11 percent reported having unmet service needs, while more than one-third had unmet needs for mental health counseling and three-quarters had unmet needs for respite care.
4. The Effect of Welfare Reform on SSA’s Disability Programs: Design of Policy Evaluation and Early Evidence, by Paul Davies, Howard Iams and Kalman Rupp, Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2000. Under the act, the individualized functional assessment and all reference to maladaptive behavior in the Listing of Impairments, was eliminated. A new disability definition for children was added, defining disability as “a medically determinable physical or mental impairment or combination of impairments that causes marked and severe functional limitations.” Additionally, individuals eligible for SSI as children are to be reassessed for eligibility against the adult disability criteria upon reaching age 18.
5. Supplemental Security Income for Children with Disabilities, Part of the Federal Safety Net, by Pamela J. Loprest, No. A-10 in Series, “Issues and Options for States,” July 1, 1997, Urban Institute Publications: www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=307041
6. Federal Resources for Children Challenged by Automatic Growth in Adult Entitlement Programs, by The Urban Institute, March 15, 2007; www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=901056
7. Id.
8. Id.