Cleveland SSI Benefits Lawyer
Getting Social Security Benefits for Your Children
Raising a child with a disability is a huge challenge. If you lack the financial resources to provide for the child's special needs, it's heartbreaking. But you can apply for child disability benefits to make sure your child gets what he or she needs.
Maybe you applied once already and were denied. Don't let that discourage you. In Ohio, only 14.5 percent of first-time applicants get approved for government benefits.
Let the law firm of Shifrin Newman Smith Inc. help. We have handled Social Security and government benefits cases exclusively since we opened in 1985. We help clients and families that other law firms think are hopeless. Our lawyers have a reputation for achieving the impossible. And if we are not able to obtain benefits for your child, you don't pay us.
Click here or call 877-230-5500 for a free consultation.
Does your child qualify for disability benefits?
Technically, child disability benefits are considered a form of Supplemental Security Income (SSI). That's because they are benefits based on disability, and they are paid to an individual (your child) who doesn't have a significant work history. A child is eligible for child disability payments (or SSI) only if his or her parent or guardian's income doesn't exceed a certain limit.
Of course, the child also has to be considered legally disabled. This requires an official finding that your child's impairment (or combination of impairments) meets or medically equals one of the listings for children. Failing that, your child can still qualify for benefits if the SSA finds that his or her impairment (or combination of impairments) functionally equals a listing.
For more information on the SSA's functional equivalence evaluation process, see:
- Acquiring and using information (learning)
- Social interactions (getting along)
- Focus and follow through (concentrating, completing tasks)
- Physical movement (mobility and motor skills)
- Self-care (e.g., bathing and brushing teeth at the appropriate age)
- General health and well-being
These days, more and more mental disabilities are being diagnosed. And the government is more likely to recognize illnesses like ADHD and manic depression as legitimate disabilities. Before, these kids would have been likely to drop out of school. Now, they can get help.
For a free consultation with an attorney at Shifrin Newman Smith Inc., call 877-230-5500 or contact us online.
