Trump, House Republican Cuts to SSI Would Harm Children With Disabilities
End Notes
[1] Kathleen Romig, SSI: A Lifeline for Children with Disabilities, CBPP, May 11, 2017, https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/ssi-a-lifeline-for-children-with-disabilities.
[2] Office of Management and Budget, “A New Foundation for American Greatness – President’s Budget FY 2018,” The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/budget.pdf.
[3] Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Policy Basics: Introduction to Supplemental Security Income, December 2, 2015, https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/policy-basics-introduction-to-supplemental-security-income.
[4] The family’s countable income must be under $735 per month, or less than $9,000 a year. Countable income is essentially half of earnings over $65 a month, plus all unearned income with minor exceptions, minus amounts allocated (or “deemed”) to other family members for their own needs. For more information, see https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-child-ussi.htm. Although SSI does not explicitly use the federal poverty guidelines to weigh eligibility, the deeming rules mean that working families may qualify for a full benefit for a disabled child with earnings up to about 100 percent of poverty and may qualify for a small SSI benefit with earnings up to about 200 percent of poverty.
[5] Federal SSI benefits top out at $735 in 2017. Many states supplement the federal SSI benefit, though some have cut those additional payments over the years.
[6] SSA, Program Operations Manual System (POMS), https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0204440008.
[7] SSA, SSI Annual Report, Table V.D4, https://www.ssa.gov/oact/ssir/SSI16/V_D_Redet_CDRdata.html.
[8] Most, but not all, of these households would have their benefits cut under the Trump proposal, which affects only members of the same family who receive SSI. Government Accountability Office, “Supplemental Security Income — SSA Provides Benefits to Multiple Recipient Households but Needs System Changes to Improve Claims Management,” September 15, 2016, https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-674.
[9] National Human Genome Research Institute, “Specific Genetic Disorders,” January 18, 2017, https://www.genome.gov/10001204/specific-genetic-disorders/.
[10] Jacqueline Gulledge, “Flint water crisis leaves long-term impact on children's health,” CNN, January 31, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/31/health/iyw-flint-water-crisis-two-years-later/index.html.
[11] Cristina Lego et al., “Proximity to Industrial Toxins and Childhood Respiratory, Developmental, and Neurological Diseases: Environmental Ascription in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana,” Population and Environment, Vol. 33, No. 4, June 2012, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41487571.
[12] The proposed cuts are similar to those outlined by the 1995 National Commission on Childhood Disability, but the Trump proposal would also cut the benefits of children who live with a parent receiving SSI. Report to Congress of the National Commission on Childhood Disability, October 1995, https://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/SSI/ChildhoodDisabilityReport.html.
[13] Joyce Nicholas, “Prevalence, Characteristics, and Poverty Status of Supplemental Security Income Multirecipients,” Social Security Bulletin, 2013, https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v73n3/v73n3p11.html.
[14] Susan Parish et al., “Material Hardship in U.S. Families Raising Children with Disabilities,” Exceptional Children, Vol. 75:1, 71-92 (2008) and “Material Hardship in U.S. Families Raising Children with Disabilities: Research Summary and Policy Implications,” University of North Carolina, March 2009.
[15] Subharati Ghosh and Susan Parish, “Prevalence and Economic Well-Being of Families Raising Multiple Children with Disabilities,” Children and Youth Services Review, September 2013.
[16] Mark Stabile and Sara Allin, “The Economic Costs of Childhood Disability,” The Future of Children, Spring 2012.
[17] Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, “Preserve Supplemental Security Income for Children with Disabilities: Speaker Ryan’s Poverty Plan Proposes Harmful Elimination of Benefits,” June 7, 2016, http://www.c-c-d.org/fichiers/Preserve-SSI-for-Children-and-Families-06-07-16.pdf.
[18] National Commission on Hunger, “Freedom from Hunger: An Achievable Goal for the United States of America,” 2015, https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Hunger_Commission_Final_Report.pdf.
[19] SSA Office of Inspector General, Supplemental Security Income Payments to Multi-Recipient Households, August 2012, https://oig.ssa.gov/sites/default/files/audit/full/pdf/A-06-09-29149.pdf.
[20] CBPP, Policy Basics: Introduction to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), March 24, 2016, https://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-introduction-to-the-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap.
[21] However, some have proposed eliminating SSI’s couple benefit and giving each spouse an individual benefit, arguing that doing so would improve equity, reduce disincentives to marry, and simplify program administration.
[22] Nicholas.
[23] Peiyun She and Gina Livermore, “Material Hardship, Poverty, and Disability among Working-Age Adults,” Cornell University Research Brief, April 2006, http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1223&context=edicollect.
[24] Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. and Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, Housing Task Force, “Priced Out in 2014: The Housing Crisis for People with Disabilities,” June 2015, http://www.tacinc.org/media/52012/Priced%20Out%20in%202014.pdf.
[25] Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, “America’s Rental Housing: Expanding Options for Diverse and Growing Demand,” December 9, 2015, http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/jchs.harvard.edu/files/americas_rental_housing_2015_web.pdf.
[26] Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, “Preserve Supplemental Security Income for Adults and Children: Oppose Cuts for SSI Recipients Who Live in the Same Household,” May 22, 2017, https://www.c-c-d.org/fichiers/CCD-SSTF-FactSheet-Preserve-SSI-05-22-17.pdf.
[27] Romig, SSI: A Lifeline for Children with Disabilities.
[28] Kathleen Romig, Cuts Weakening Social Security Administration Services, CBPP, March 15, 2017, https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/cuts-weakening-social-security-administration-services.
[29] Government Accountability Office.
[30] Congressional Budget Office, An Analysis of the President’s 2018 Budget, July 13, 2017, https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/dataandtechnicalinformation/52899-ssssi.pdf.