Module #10

Assisting Youth in Transitioning to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Program

You can use this toolkit to explain to youth and their families: how a youth may become eligible for SSDI in the future; and the potential ways to qualify for or continue Medicaid eligibility after SSDI payments start.

This toolkit will help you understand key two ways a youth who receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) can transition to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, with or without retaining a smaller SSI payment—this includes SSDI on the youth’s own record, for a youth who has worked and paid sufficient amounts into the Social Security trust fund; and Social Security Childhood Disability Benefits on the record of a parent who has paid sufficient amounts into the trust fund, when that parent is disabled, retired, or deceased. 

1. For a youth to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, on the youth’s own Social Security record or that of a parent, the youth must have no more than $2,000 in countable resources.
True | False
2. Before age 24, a youth will be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits (SSDI) on his or her own earnings record, if: he or she has a disability that meets the SSDI criteria; and they earn enough in the 3 years before claiming disability to earn 6 Social Security credits.
True | False
3. An individual can earn no more than 1 Social Security credit during each 3-monthly period and up to 4 credits per year.
True | False
4. A youth with a disability that began before age 22 may be eligible for Social Security Childhood Disability Benefits, on the Social Security account of a parent, but only if that parent is now deceased.
True | False
5. If a youth was receiving SSI payments and now qualifies for SSDI based on his or her own earnings, it is then possible to qualify for both SSDI and SSI payments.
True | False
6. A youth, age 21, was receiving SSI of $771 per month and recently qualified for SSDI of $600 per month because the youth earned the minimum of 6 Social Security credits. The youth could put all or part of that new income into an approved Plan to Achieve Self Support (PASS) to pay toward expenses to support a vocational goal.
True | False

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