Work Support Programs

You may have heard many things about how working will affect your child’s disability benefits and health care coverage. You may be afraid that your child will lose their benefits if they work. You may be concerned about your child getting their benefits back if they stop working or need to work fewer hours because of their disability. Luckily, Social Security disability benefits programs have many rules that will let your child begin working without losing benefits. Your child may be able to get partial cash benefits, their health care can continue in many circumstances, and your child can get back their benefits if your child stops working but needs the benefits. The rules that make these things possible are called “work incentives.”

SSI Work Incentive Programs

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a cash benefit from the Social Security Administration for persons with disabilities who do not have a lot of income or assets. If your child is not currently getting SSI, but you think they may be eligible now, or will be eligible when they turn 18, contact your local Social Security Office. It takes about three months to complete the application process so it is important to begin the process as soon as possible.

Once your child is getting SSI benefits, the SSI program has special rules called work incentives. Work incentives are important because they support young people as they continue their education and start working. They may help your child keep a certain income and Medi-Cal benefits as they start a job or go to college.

It is important to make sure your child’s IEP/transition team knows your child is getting SSI so that you can all plan for it. This will help establish paid work as a possible transition goal. Work incentives may offer great opportunities for you, your child, and the IEP/transition team to explore job opportunities for your child while they are still in school. When students get work experience while in school, it makes them more employable when they graduate. Good work habits start young.

Work incentives can help your child in several ways. Depending on the incentive, it can:

  • Allow your child to earn money through working while still receiving cash payments or Medi-Cal benefits
  • Subtract work-related expenses from your child’s earnings for determining SSI payments
  • Encourage your child to save money for college or for starting a business
  • Help your child find a job that matches their skills and abilities

Available SSI work incentives include:

  • Earned Income Exclusion (EIE)
  • Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE)
  • Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS)
  • Impairment-Related Work Expense (IRWE)
  • Blind Work Expenses (BWE)
  • Ticket to Work

Each of these will be discussed in general here. More in depth discussions of each incentive can be found in other DB101 articles.

Earned Income Exclusion (EIE)

If your child gets SSI and begins working, the first $65, plus half of the rest of your child’s earnings each month, will not count as earned income when Social Security calculates your child’s SSI payments. This is called the Earned Income Exclusion. If your child has no unearned income, then another $20 per month is also excluded from your child’s earnings. This means that less than one-half of your child’s earnings are counted when calculating SSI payments so they can continue to receive some of their cash benefits even though they have a job. For a complete explanation of how this all works, read the DB101 page on SSI.

Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE)

If your child is younger than 22 and going to school, SSI can exclude up to $1,700 from their earnings per month when determining your child’s SSI payment amount. The maximum yearly Student Earned Income Exclusion is $6,840. This exclusion is applied to their earnings before the EIE. For more details, you can read more about it on the DB101 page on SSI Eligibility for Young People.

Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWEs)

Your child can deduct the cost of some impairment-related items from their earnings when calculating their earned income for SSI, if those items are needed in order to work. Such expenses may include attendant care, wheelchairs, transportation, assistive devices, or job coaches. For more details, you can read the DB101 page on IRWEs.

Blind Work Expenses (BWEs)

Similar to IRWEs, if your child is blind, they can deduct expenses related to their disability that are needed to work. The deductions are not counted when determining SSI eligibility and the SSI payment amount. For more details, you can read the DB101 page on IRWEs.

Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS)

PASS allows your child to set money aside to be used towards a work goal. For example, your child may set aside money for college, to pay a job coach, for transportation, for job-related equipment, or to start a business. This saved money will not cause your child’s SSI payments to go down. DB101 has a full article about PASS.

Ticket to Work

The Ticket to Work program is designed to help people with disabilities find and keep work. If your child is between 18 and 64 years old, and is getting SSI, your child can use a Ticket to Work from the Social Security Administration. If your child is eligible, they will automatically receive a Ticket in the mail when they turn 18. With this program, your child can get employment-related services and supports, such as training, job placement, job coaching, and vocational assessments from an Employment Network. For more information on this program, read the DB101 article about the Ticket to Work Program.

Work Supports

In addition to the work incentives offered by the Social Security Administration, the state of California offers plenty of support for your child as they enter the workforce.

You might want to start with the Employment Development Department’s Services for Youth website.

You can also contact the California Department of Rehabilitation which includes the office of Vocational Rehabilitation. This office offers independent living services, assistance for the blind, and employment supports all targeted to helping disabled people be economically independent. Here is a list of their office locations.

The Department of Rehabilitation also has an office dedicated to services for students transitioning from school to work. You can contact them here:

Department of Rehabilitation

Collaborative Services Section

721 Capitol Mall

Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 558-5407

Email the Department of Rehabilitation.

SSDI and Your Adult Child

If your child was disabled before age 22 and receives Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) through your earnings record, this is called Childhood Disability Benefits. In that case, your child can get the same help with work expenses as a child on SSI, as explained above. Cash benefits may continue until your child can work on a regular basis. In that case, special rules apply, which are CDB work rulesPopup Link. DB101 has a page dedicated to SSDI and Work where you can read more.