If your child has a serious medical condition, you may be wondering whether they qualify for disability benefits—and what those benefits could mean for your family. The answer is yes, children can receive disability benefits through Social Security, but the rules, eligibility requirements, and application process look different than they do for adults. Understanding how it all works can help you make the best decisions for your child's future.
In this article, we'll cover:
- Which Social Security programs provide disability benefits for children
- How SSI eligibility works for children under 18
- What qualifies as a disability for a child
- How your family's income and resources affect your child's benefits
- What happens when your child turns 18
- How to manage your child's benefits as a representative payee
SSI Is the Main Disability Program for Children
When it comes to children and disability benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is the primary program. SSI provides monthly cash payments to children under 18 who have a qualifying disability and whose families meet the program's financial requirements.
SSDI, the other major Social Security disability program, generally doesn't apply to children directly because it's based on a person's own work history. However, a child may receive benefits on a parent's SSDI record if the parent is disabled, retired, or deceased. These are sometimes called dependent or auxiliary benefits, and they don't require the child to have a disability—just a qualifying parent. If your child does have a disability and a qualifying parent, they might be eligible for both types of benefits, though offsets may apply.
For most families, SSI is the path to explore first.
How Does a Child Qualify for SSI?
To qualify for SSI, a child must meet three main criteria: they must have a qualifying medical condition, the family must meet income limits, and the family must meet resource limits.
The medical standard for children is different from the adult standard. Instead of proving a child can't work (which doesn't apply to young kids), Social Security evaluates whether the child has a "marked and severe functional limitation." In practical terms, this means the child's physical or mental condition must significantly and seriously limit their activities compared to children of the same age who don't have the condition.
Social Security maintains a Listing of Impairments (sometimes called the "Blue Book") that includes conditions for children. These cover a wide range of issues, from musculoskeletal disorders and neurological conditions to mental health disorders, immune system diseases, and developmental delays. If your child's condition meets or equals a listing, the disability standard is generally satisfied. Even if the condition doesn't perfectly match a listing, Social Security will evaluate how it affects your child's day-to-day functioning across six domains, including acquiring and using information, attending and completing tasks, interacting with others, moving about, caring for themselves, and overall health and well-being.
Income and Resource Requirements
Because SSI is a needs-based program, your family's financial situation matters. For children living at home, Social Security uses a process called "deeming" to count a portion of the parents' income and resources toward the child's eligibility.
Here's what that means in practice: even though the SSI resource limit is $2,000 for an individual, Social Security looks at the parents' resources too and applies a formula to determine how much is "deemed" to the child. If the family's countable resources exceed the allowed amount after the deeming calculation, the child won't qualify—even if the child personally owns very little.
The same concept applies to income. A portion of the parents' earned and unearned income is deemed to the child, which can reduce or eliminate the SSI payment. The maximum SSI payment for 2026 is $994/month, but most children who qualify receive less than that after parental income is factored in.
It's worth noting that not all income and resources count. Social Security excludes certain items, including the family home, one vehicle, and various types of income. The deeming rules are complex, so if you're close to the limits, it may be worth consulting with a benefits counselor or legal aid organization that specializes in SSI.
Applying for SSI for Your Child
You can apply for SSI for your child by contacting your local Social Security office or calling Social Security at 1-800-772-1213. Unlike adult SSI applications, children's applications cannot currently be completed entirely online—you'll need to speak with someone at Social Security.
Be prepared to provide detailed medical records, including doctor's reports, hospital records, therapy notes, school evaluations (such as IEPs or 504 plans), and any other documentation of your child's condition and how it affects their daily life. The more thorough your documentation, the stronger your application.
The process can take several months. If your application is denied, you have the right to appeal—and it's often worth doing so, since many children who are initially denied are approved on appeal.
What Happens When Your Child Turns 18?
This is an important transition that catches many families off guard. When a child receiving SSI turns 18, Social Security conducts a redetermination of eligibility. The good news is that at 18, the child is now considered an adult for SSI purposes, which means parental income and resources are no longer deemed to them. Many young adults actually see their SSI payment increase at this point because only their own income and resources count.
However, the disability standard also changes at 18. Instead of the childhood standard of "marked and severe functional limitation," Social Security applies the adult standard, which asks whether the person can engage in substantial gainful activity (SGA)—essentially, whether they can work at a level that earns more than $1,690/month in 2026. Some young adults who qualified as children may not meet the adult standard, though many do.
This transition is also a good time to think about tools like ABLE accounts, which allow people who became disabled before age 26 to save up to $20,000 per year without affecting their SSI eligibility. An ABLE account can be a powerful way to build savings for your child's future while staying compliant with benefit rules.
Managing Your Child's Benefits as a Representative Payee
When a child receives SSI, a parent or guardian is typically designated as the representative payee. This means you're responsible for receiving the benefits on the child's behalf and using them for the child's needs—food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and other necessities.
Being a representative payee comes with important responsibilities. You must keep records of how benefits are spent, report changes in the child's circumstances to Social Security, and complete annual accounting forms. Mixing the child's benefit funds with your personal accounts can create confusion, so it's a good idea to keep the money in a dedicated account where you can clearly track what comes in and what goes out.
This is where having the right banking setup makes a real difference. Using an account that's designed for representative payees helps you stay organized and meet your reporting obligations without extra hassle.
Navigating disability benefits for your child is a lot to manage. Purple offers checking accounts built for families receiving SSI, with tools to help representative payees track spending, monitor resources, and stay compliant with Social Security's rules.