Category: Autism

As many of our kids with special needs approach adulthood, a conflict becomes clear. How can my adult child gain independence with working and still be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) and Medicaid?

Your adult child can retain his or her federal government benefits and work part-time. The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) website is full of examples of the calculations you can use to determine if your child is earning too much money to maintain benefits eligibility.

See the chart below for more details about SSI monthly benefits.

Currently, the maximum monthly amount of SSI paid to an individual is $841.00. SSA will deduct from the maximum qualifying amount (using $841 in this example) a certain amount for earned income. The amount deducted depends on many factors.

For the new high school graduates under the age of 22 and attending college, these adults can earn income and have as much as $1,930 a month exempt from the benefits deduction. Keep in mind that there is an annual cap for this exemption of $7,670 earned income. For the months after the student has reached the total annual exclusion for “Student Earned Income Exclusion,” then the Social Security Administration can allow the student to exclude the first $65 earned, and then calculate one-half of the remaining monthly earned income to deduct from the $861 SSI monthly benefit. Math is not my friend, but here is my attempt to calculate – if your adult disabled child (who regularly attends school – at least 8 hours a week at college) works part-time and earns $400 a month, then Social Security ignores $65, leaving $335 to divide in half, leaving $167.50 as the amount to reduce from the monthly benefit of $841.00, yielding a $673.50 payment.

If your child wants to work so many hours a month that his or her benefits are jeopardized, one option is to suggest he or she perform hours of volunteer work for a local charity.

Qualifying for SSI and Medicaid is also dependent on the value of the recipient’s assets. Cash is considered an asset and the cap is $2,000.00.

Click here to see my video about SSI and bank accounts.

TIP: Do not have joint bank accounts with your adult disabled child. As a parent, you may be the Representative Payee (“Rep Payee”) for checks issued by the government, but keep your money separate from your child’s money. In other words, do not commingle your money with theirs. Other than a Rep Payee account, your adult disabled child should only have two other types of bank accounts – ABLE account, also known as a 529 A account, and an account owned by your child’s Supplemental Needs Trust. Here is a link to my video about bank accounts for people with disabilities.