Child Qualifications For Social Security Disability Benefits

Your child may be eligible to receive disability benefits under the Supplemental Security Income program.

If your child is neither married nor considered the head of a household and is under the age of 18 (or under age 22 and is a student regularly attending school), they may meet the requirements.

To be eligible for Supplemental Security Income benefits, your child must be either disabled or blind.

• Benefits may begin as early as the date of birth – no minimum age requirement

• They may receive benefits until they reach age 18

• Once turning 18, disabilities will be evaluated based on the definition of disability for adults

• A visual impairment may be eligible for SSI blindness benefits, based upon if the impairment meets the definition of statutory blindness:
  • central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a corrective lens, or
  • you have a visual field limitation in your better eye, such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees