Supplemental Security Income for Children With Mental Disabilities

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is the state-administered, federal benefit program that provides income support for low income families of children with disabilities in the United States. To qualify for benefits, children must have chronic impairments and their families must meet income requirements. More than 75% of children qualifying for SSI come from families below 150% of the federal poverty level. SSI provides critical income support to the impoverished families of these children, many of whom have had to curtail work hours to care for their children, and it provides access to other programs, such as Medicaid. Although there is considerable state-to-state variation among recipients, SSI provides support for slightly <2% of all US children (1.3 million) of whom half are eligible because of disability due to mental disorders. The number of child SSI recipients increased significantly over the past decade, as did the number of recipients eligible because of disability...