I just received a call from DFCS asking why I wasn't claiming Ella's SSI on Kiera's Medicaid form. I insisted I had no idea she received it, ever. She told me to run, not walk, to the social security office and find out what's going on with it. She said she doesn't think it would stop and that it should be lifelong. She also suggested I get on the ball for the other kids because it has nothing to do with their adoption assistance amounts.
Anybody have any clue about why we wouldn't have been informed about Ella's SSI? Is SSI something you have to reapply for or could it have been discontinued for any reason? Anything I should know before filling out the SSI forms? Any advice would be appreciated.
About Me
- Tudu
- Deep South, United States
- I am the mother of 10 children, 6 are part of a large sibling group we adopted through foster care in 2006, 2 are our grown foster daughters, 2 are from independent infant adoptions in 2001 and 2008. Every one of them have their own issues to work through from Schizo-Affective Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Complex PTSD, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, ADHD, and Cerebral Palsy. Most of our children have been victims of sexual abuse by a close family member, most acted out sexually or exhibited predatory behaviors. We are currently trying to figure out where the trauma ends and mental illness begins in each of their lives.
7 comments:
No personal experiences but what I have heard is that you can't receive the total of both SSI and an adoption subsidy but can receive the excess if there is any.
So, if your subsidy is say 500 a month and the SSI is 600 a month, then you would only get 100 of the SSI every month.
I was told that my adoption support would be minus the ssi amount so I needn't worry about applying. Please post what you find out about this :)
In most cases, when a child is receiving SSI and is brought into the foster care system, the SSI payments revert to the states, not the foster parents. In a case where the child either goes back home or is adopted you have to go in and request that the payments be reverted to you.
I had a friend who was in a similar situation and 6 months later she is still having issues trying to get it ironed out.
I was told that if our little one gets an adoption subsidiarity it WILL affect her SSI. And that if it's high enough, it can stop her SSI.
I applied and they use the adoption stipend as income, thus we were denied.
my son's foster care worker told us to apply for ssi for him as an infant - but he didn't qualify for it at that point because his developmental delays (though profound) were not large enough for him to quality. A few years later, post-adoption, I was told that if he did qualify for it (based on our family income) that his adoption subsidy would be subtracted from it before any amount would be awarded - as in, if ssi payments should be $600/month and he gets $700 in adoption subsidy - he gets nothing, but if you get $500 in subsidy, you would receive $100/month. Also, I was a little intimidated by their rules - such as if the child gets a $25 check from grandma for their b-day, you need to report it, if someone gives the family clothing or you get a discount on school tuition (from the parochial school we were sending him to at that time), that needed to be reported too. Any benefit we received in any way, shape or form would be used against us. I have way too many things going on to worry about accidentally breaking the law and having to repay benefits. I think I will revisit this when they are closer to their 18th b-days because it would be very valuable to them then.
Regrading the rules mentioned in the last post, my cousin got SSI as a teenager. We were told we couldn't give her cash over $20 or $25 but could give her durable or usable goods instead. Just be sure to read the rules careful--not sure which of these is correct (or it may have changed).
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