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Questions
and Answers
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Click
the answer button after each of the
questions below for a pop-up answer.
|
 Why
do I need to know about Social Security benefits
and special work incentives? |
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| If
my son or daughter gets a paid job, will benefits
be lost? |
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| What
are the work incentives that are available? |
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| What
are the steps to access work incentives? |
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| How
do I learn more? |
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Basic concept: SUBSTANTIAL GAINFUL
ACTIVITY:
To be eligible for disability benefits, a person must
be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity (SGA).
A person who is earning more than a certain monthly amount
(net of impairment-related work expenses) is ordinarily
considered to be engaging in SGA. The monthly SGA amount
for statutorily blind individuals for 2008 is $1,570.
For non-blind individuals, the monthly amount for 2008
is $940. |
Many
students with disabilities receive Supplemental
Security Income (SSI), which is a financial benefit
available to families who meet income and resource
requirements and who have a child with a disability.
SSI typically also comes with Medicaid.
Students,
who receive SSI as children, may continue to receive
SSI as adults after they will go through an eligibility
re-determination process when they turn 18. Students
with disabilities who were previously ineligible
due to the income or resources of their parents,
can reapply as adults. As adults, these students
will be evaluated based only upon their own disability,
income, and resources, even if they still reside
with their parents.
Accessing SSI work incentives during the transition
process expands current and future opportunities for
many students with disabilities.
Students with disabilities
can:
=> Engage in paid employment.
=> Increase
their income without decreasing SSI benefits or eligibility
for other benefits such as Medicaid (in most states).
=>Offset expenses incurred
as a result of their work.
=> Save for further post-secondary
education and training or to start their own business. |
