Can Kids Collect Disability Benefits?

For kids inflicted with physical and mental disabilities and their parents, Social Security disability benefits can make a huge difference in their quality of life, including providing them with the means to outfit their homes and vehicles with equipment to help with their disability and afford medical treatment. However, without having been able to hold a job where they paid into the Social Security system, how can children qualify for disability benefits?

How Can Kids Collect Social Security Disability Benefits?

Kids can qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). However, the children must meet complicated criteria. For a child’s SSI application to be approved there must be proof that the child is medically eligible. To be considered medically eligible for SSI, a child’s impairment must limit his or her functional ability to the same degree that it would an adult. This is known as functional equivalence and it can be extremely difficult to prove. To even have a chance to establish functional equivalence, you must provide medical evidence as well as evidence from the child’s teachers and school records.

Our Raleigh disability benefits attorneys have been successfully helping people with Social Security disability benefits applications and appeals in North Carolina for years.