If you are a minor who has been receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or if you are a youth’s parent, teacher, caregiver, or representative, this post discusses what you need to know about SSI when a youth turns 18.
If you are receiving SSI, when you have your eighteenth birthday (you become a legal adult), the Social Security Administration (SSA) will want to review your disability in order to decide if the agency should continue your SSI benefits.
What changes when I turn 18?
Once you turn 18-years-of-age, the SSA will want to review your eligibility to determine if you still quality for continued SSI benefits – this determination will be made off the disability rules established for adults. The SSA has a name for this process, it’s called the, “age-18 redetermination.”
When you turn 18, the SSA will see if you meet its “nonmedical eligibility rules,” and it will also conduct a medical review. As the SSA conducts its medical review, it’s going to send you a letter, which will ask you to provide information about your disability, such as:
- Any hospital stays
- Any surgeries
- Any visits to the doctor
- If you have been working
- If you’ve been receiving therapy or counseling
- If you’ve been attending school
- If you’ve been receiving tutoring
- If you’ve taken any special classes
- Information on any teachers our counseling who know about your disability
Once the SSA receives all of the above information, the SSA and doctors will decide whether you meet the SSA’s disability rules for adults. The disability rules for adults are not the same as they are for children.
Will you still qualify for SSI benefits once you reach adulthood? There is no way to tell for sure, but we can tell you that according to the SSA, about one-third of children who receive SSI benefits, become ineligible for benefits after they go through the age-18 redetermination.
If you lose your benefits after the age-18 redetermination and you wish to appeal the SSA’s decision, you must send the SSA a written appeal within 60 days of the date that you receive your letter from the SSA, explaining that you’re no longer eligible for benefits.
For help filing an appeal with the SSA, please contact Zendeh Del Law Firm, PLLC, to speak with a Dallas SSDI attorney.
