Let's Improve Public Benefits Access
here are programs being tested to improve access to public benefits. We need to make sure families know about them.
I hope September went as well for you as it did for me. The biggest "win" came towards the end of the month when my son received his SNAP EBT card. I count this as another big step towards his future independence. My hope is he'll eventually be able to live on his own, using his ABLE account, TrueLink Card, and SNAP benefits to provide for himself.
You'd think (well at least I did) he'd be eligible as soon as he turned 18. But I was told to wait until my son was 23 to apply for his SNAP benefits by the State of Maryland's Health and Human Services Department. I don't know what was so magical about his 23rd birthday, but it worked. I can understand why they may not consider him to be his own "household" while he was in school, but he's met their criteria (as I understand it) since he was 18.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and SNAP are not enough to sustain yourself, even if you are lucky enough to have a housing subsidy. I don't see how he would be able to live alone. This is why so many of us parents plan to have our kids live with us for the rest of our lives.
I count myself fortunate because I can continue to subsidize his lifestyle after I'm gone. Besides my life insurance policy, he'll receive 55% of my pension for the rest of his life. He's also able to stay on my health, dental, and vision insurance plans. I wish more families were able to do this. Sadly it's currently limited to retiring military, Federal Employees, and some State/County employees. I don't know of any large corporations offering this, but I'd love to see that change.
I believe our current social safety nets will not live up to the demands placed on them as more and more individuals with disabilities, and their families, choose to self-direct their services. Yes, some of this can be addressed by solving the un/underemployment issue, but this isn't a miracle cure. There will always be a percentage of the population who needs significant amounts of support. And there is another percentage who will fall on hard times and need help while they get back on their feet.
It's probably a pipe dream, but I'd really like to see the United States offer some type of Universal Basic Income to individuals with disabilities. I'd want it to be at least 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, and set to increase every year equal to the rate of inflation. That means a single individual with a disability would be guaranteed to receive $27,180 this year. A far cry from the $10,092 someone gets if they are receiving the full Federal SSI benefit in a State that doesn't supplement the Federal benefit.
This would require additional changes to SNAP, Medicaid, and Affordable Housing programs. Since it's extremely unlikely this will ever come to pass, I would like to see automatic enrollment in SNAP and Medicaid when you qualify for SSI become the national standard. It's hard enough to prove to the Social Security Administration that you're disabled, making you jump through additional hoops is (to me) ridiculous.
According to the Social Security Administration, 35 States and DC will automatically enroll you in Medicaid once you've been approved for SSI. You need to file a separate application if you live in Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and the Northern Mariana Islands. If you live in Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, or Virginia you have to file a separate application AND meet the State's eligibility rules.
A law was passed in 1997 requiring applicants and recipients of SSI to be given the opportunity to file a food stamp application at the SSA office when applying for SSI. This doesn't help those of us who apply online, but at least it's something (if the offices are telling applicants).
Back in 2004, Social Security, State agencies, and the Food and Nutrition Service started testing Combined Application Projects (CAPs). In theory, if you are a single-person household you would be able to complete a shortened SNAP application without an interview. Here is a list of the participating states I've been able to find - Florida, Massachusetts, South Carolina, New York, Texas, and Washington state. It looks like Michigan and Massachusetts have started using a CAP as well. If you, or anyone you know, lives in one of these states and has experience with this I'd love to hear your thoughts.
The bottom line is we need help. Filling out applications is tedious, especially since none of the agencies talk to each other. You can't just fill out a master document for SSI, SNAP, housing vouchers, etc. I will point you in the right direction and make sure you have the applications you need, but I don't complete them for you.
Maybe this is a business opportunity for someone. You'd have to work out the liability issues, I would definitely recommend putting some type of error and omission insurance in place. If there is anyone out there already doing this please connect me, at eric@specialneedsnavigator.us. I would love to explore opportunities to collaborate and send people their way.