SSDI, or Social Security Disability Insurance, is one of the federal benefits programs administered through the SSA, otherwise known as the Social Security Administration. It offers monthly payments to individuals who have specific disabilities or health-related issues. For children, SSDI offers a monthly cash benefit for adults who became disabled before age 22. If you want to learn more about the SSDI benefits for children, you can read about it in this post.
Social Security Disability Benefits for Children
In general, SSDI offers monthly payments to individuals who have paid Social Security taxes and need to receive disability remuneration when they have a condition that causes them to be unable to work. With respect to individuals who became disabled before they were 22 years old, they may be eligible for the SSDI “child’s” benefit even though they are an adult based on what their parents have paid into the system. To be eligible for this benefit as a disabled adult, at least one of the individual’s parents must:
- Receive Social Security disability or retirement benefits
- Be deceased and have worked long enough to qualify for Social Security benefits
If an adult received these benefits as a child based on their parent’s work record, they may be eligible to continue receiving them after age 18 if they continue to be disabled. However, the SSDI benefit of children may be affected if the disabled adult receiving “child’s” benefits gets married.
Who Can Apply for SSDI Benefits?
In general, to qualify for these types of benefits, an individual has to have worked for a certain period of time and have a disability that prevents them from working and earning a living. In most cases, it applies to adults with disabling conditions.
For an adult, applying for the SSDI benefit from the SSA means that they must have work experience and paid into the program through taxes. The threshold amount is available on the SSA’s Benefits Planner page.
If a child has a disability or health ailment that will prevent them from working in the future and their condition meets all of the requirements of the SSA, they may also qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. There are many medical conditions for which a child could qualify, such as cerebral palsy, diabetes, and epilepsy.
For certain medical conditions that a child may have, they would be available to receive SSI payments right away, for up to six months, while the agencies perform research into whether the child has a qualifying disability. Some of these conditions include:
- Complete blindness
- Complete deafness
- Cerebral palsy
- Down syndrome
- Muscular dystrophy
- Severe intellectual disability for children who are at least 4 years old
- Symptomatic HIV infection
- Low birth weight of less than 2 pounds, 10 ounces
How Does SSDI Work for Children?
Generally, SSDI pays the monthly benefits to the people who are incapable of working for around or more than one year due to their disability or illness. After that time frame, the SSA continues to offer benefits until a redetermination (or review) is made to decide whether the child requires continuing the disability benefits program.
SSDI benefits are offered monthly, and every concerned person who qualifies will receive a unique amount based on their or their parents’ work credits and their total annual income. It is also imperative to understand that workers’ compensation and public benefits for disabilities can directly impact an adult’s ability to continue receiving their “child’s” SSDI benefits. However, getting a lawsuit settlement from a private insurance company will not affect any benefits from the SSA.
How Does the Child’s Benefit Work Under SSDI?
The SSDI benefits program can offer a maximum of half the full retirement or the disability benefits of the individual’s parents. In some cases, the individual can also receive 75% of the Social Security disability benefit of a deceased parent. However, the amount depends on several factors, including:
- The Social Security record for parent’s earnings
- Whether there are any other family members who are applying for the benefits of Social Security retirement based on the work record of the same parent
- The number of years that the parent has paid the taxes to the SSA
The administration does not pay anything to the child until the parent is deceased or starts collecting the retirement or disability benefits. For cases in which a parent dies before they begin collecting the disability or retirement benefit, the child would be able to get the SSDI benefits if the parent had worked long enough and paid enough into the system.
When Does a Disabled Adult Lose the SSDI Benefits for Children?
The individual may no longer qualify to receive SSDI benefits when:
- When they start working
- When their medical condition has improved and they are no longer unable to perform work and earn a living
- If they do not follow the medically recommended treatments that could help them gain the ability to work (for instance, deciding not to opt for physical therapy or other treatments)
- Does not update their contact address with the SSA or moves to another country
- Convicted of certain crimes or spends 30 consecutive days in prison
You can contact one of the leading Social Security lawyers in San Antonio to file a claim. They can help even if the child’s application for SSDI benefits has been denied before.
