Welfare reform: loss of supplemental security income (SSI) for children with disabilities

To describe the changes the new welfare reform legislation, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, makes in children's eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and the implications of the changes for low-income children with disabilities and their families.

Low-income children and youth, 18 years of age and younger, who have one or more limitations in physical or mental function in performing age-appropriate skills.

The tightened federal standards for determining whether children are disabled place thousands of children at risk for losing SSI cash benefits. This loss of necessary financial support has the potential to adversely affect the physical and psychological health of low-income children with disabilities and their families. The new law represents a step backward from the long awaited gains the 1990 Zebley v. Sullivan U. S. Supreme Court decision legislated for children with disabilities.

Knowledge of the legal changes in children's SSI enables nurses to implement interventions that help low-income families maintain SSI eligibility for their children with disabilities and to advocate with the public and policymakers on behalf of this vulnerable population.