Social Security Disability For Children and Young Adults

Parents of children with disabilities have enough to worry about in taking care of their kids without having to worry about how they will pay for the child's medical help. Thankfully, if you can prove that your child or young adult has a truly limiting long-term disability, the Social Security Administration may determine that your child, up to age 22, is eligible to receive benefits from the government.

The Social Security Administration, or SSA, has fairly straightforward rules when it comes to determining disability requirements for children. First, the health issue can be mental or physical, and you must prove that it severely limits your son or daughter from participating in the normal activities for a child that age. Next, the problem must have lasted at least a year, or it must be expected to last at least that long. Also, your child can be eligible if the disability is supposed to end in death.

For both adults and children with disabilities, there is a list of disabling conditions that the SSA looks at in determining level of disability. The list comes in two parts, one for adults and one for children. Because the symptoms and levels of disability are different for adults and children, it is important to double-check the children's category in order to see if your child's disability is on the list. Although it does not guarantee that your son or daughter will receive SSA benefits, it can go a long way in helping you prove your case.

Because the parents are responsible for paying for a child, the SSA will look at the parents' income and resources in order to determine the funds that are available to help the child. If the need is present, the SSA will give your child Supplemental Security Income.

For young adults who are between the ages of 18 and 22, the SSA may decide to provide benefits to the adult child from the parent's Social Security. This is because most 18- to 22-year-olds have not yet had the chance to work and save money for dealing with medical issues. In these cases, you must prove that the injury happened before age 22, and the same adult definition of disability applies. Additionally, you have to show that the young adult has not yet made a substantial amount of income. This changes year to year, but the definition for a substantial amount of income for 2010 is $1,000 per month.

Proving that you or your child has a disability can be a complicated process that lasts for months. If you need help in proving disability to the SSA, check out the long-term disability lawyers from the Charles D. Hankey Law Office, P.C., today.

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