What’s inside
Introduction 1
The Age-18 Redetermination 1
Earnings and the Age-18
Redetermination 3
Social Security Work Incentives
and Supports 4
Continued Payments
(Section 301 Payments) 5
Student Earned Income Exclusion
(SEIE) 6
Plan To Achieve
Self-Support (PASS) 7
Work Incentives Planning and
Assistance (WIPA) 8
Protection and Advocacy for
Beneficiaries of Social Security
(PABSS) 9
Grants and Scholarships 9
Achieving a Better Life
Experience (ABLE) Account 10
1
Introduction
This publication is for youth who receive
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and
their parents, teachers, health providers,
caregivers, and representatives. You
should learn about the changes that
happen with your SSI payments when
you turn age 18. You should also
know of changes to services that are
available from Social Security and other
government agencies to help you prepare
for a successful transition into adulthood.
The Age-18 Redetermination
When you turn age 18, we will review
your eligibility for continued SSI payments
based on the disability rules for adults.
These include nonmedical eligibility rules
related to income, resources, residency,
citizenship, etc. These rules are different
than the rules that were applied when
you were a child. We call this review an
age-18 redetermination. We will make
sure that you are aware of this important
change and the process for providing
us with the information we need. We
will usually contact you within a year of
turning age 18. During this review, we will
send you a letter to ask for the following
information about your disability:
• Names of any medicines.
• Hospital stays and surgeries.
• Visits to doctors and clinics.
• Work activity.
• Counseling and therapy.
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• Schools and special classes or
tutoring.
• Teachers and counselors who have
knowledge of your condition.
Doctors and other trained staff will decide
if your impairment(s) meet the qualifying
disability rules for adults. Our disability
rules for adults are different from our
qualifying disability rules for children.
Historically, about one-third of children
lose their SSI eligibility following the age-
18 redetermination.
When we decide if you will continue
to qualify for SSI, we will write to let
you know about our decision. Our
letter explains your right to appeal
our decision — that is, ask us to
look at your case again. If you want
to appeal the decision, you must
send a written appeal to us within
60 days from the date you receive
your letter. If you appeal the decision
within 10 days of receiving the letter,
you can also choose to have us
continue to provide SSI payments
during the appeal process. For more
information on the appeal process, go to
www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10058.pdf
and read Your Right To Question The
Decision We Made On Your Claim
(Publication No. 05-10058).
3
Earnings and the Age-18
Redetermination
The age-18 redetermination is different
than ling a new application. Unlike
with a new application for SSI, your
earnings above the substantial gainful
activity (SGA)
1
level in a month will not
automatically make you ineligible for SSI
during your age-18 redetermination. We
will make a decision about whether you
meet the other medical and nonmedical
criteria to receive SSI. When deciding
if you meet the medical criteria, we
will also consider how well you were
able to perform various tasks in your
past work and what it says about your
ability to work in the national economy.
If you are able to work at the SGA level
only because of SSI work incentives
or other supports, we will consider that
information in the redetermination. Visit
www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/sga.html to get
the current year’s SGA amounts (blind and
nonblind amounts). You should also visit
www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10095.pdf
and read Working While Disabled: How
We Can Help (Publication No. 05-10095).
When we review nonmedical eligibility
during the age-18 redetermination, we
will ask for information about all of your
income, including any earnings. If you
use SSI work incentives and supports to
help you work, we will not count some of
your earnings. That will reduce your risk
1
Social Security considers your monthly earnings to
evaluate whether your work activity is at a level of
substantial gainful activity.
4
of losing your SSI or Medicaid because
of work. However, you must tell us about
your work activity no matter how little
you earn. Your SSI may continue while
you work if you still have a qualifying
disability. As your earnings go up, the
amount of your SSI will go down and may
eventually stop. Even if your SSI stops,
you may be able to keep your Medicaid
coverage and continue working.
Social Security Work Incentives
and Supports
We have work incentives that are
available to help youth and adults. We
also have additional information available
to assist with benets counseling and
work supports. Work incentives allow you
to continue receiving your SSI payments
or Medicaid coverage while you work. We
can give you information about our work
incentives and supports, tell you when
you qualify for them, and help you to use
them. Some of the work incentives and
supports are described below. For more
information on these and other Social
Security employment supports, visit
www.ssa.gov/redbook and read The
Red Book — A Guide to Work Incentives
and Employment Supports for People
Who Have a Disability Under the Social
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) And
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Programs (Publication No. 64-030).
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Continued Payments
(Section 301 Payments)
If we nd that you are no longer medically
eligible after the age-18 redetermination,
your SSI payments usually stop.
However, if you are participating in an
approved program of special education,
vocational rehabilitation (VR), or similar
services, your benets may continue until
you stop participating in or complete the
program.
To qualify for continued SSI payments
under Section 301:
• You must be participating in an
appropriate VR program or similar
services that began before your
eligibility ends under our rules.
• We must review your program
and decide that your continued
participation in the program will likely
result in you no longer receiving
disability benets.
Examples of appropriate programs may
include:
• An individualized education program
(IEP) for a youth aged 18 through 21.
• A VR agency using an individualized
plan for employment.
• Support services using an
individualized written employment
plan.
• A written service plan with a school
under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act.
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• An approved Plan to Achieve Self
Support (PASS).
Student Earned Income
Exclusion (SEIE)
Are you working or planning to work?
The SEIE allows youth under age 22
who are regularly attending school to
have some of their earnings excluded
from their countable income when
determining SSI eligibility and payment.
The amount we can exclude generally
increases each year. To nd the
current amount we can exclude, visit
www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10095.pdf
and read Working While Disabled: How
We Can Help (Publication No. 05-10095).
This means that earnings up to these
limits will not change SSI payment
amounts. The SEIE is available to you
if you are participating in any of the
following:
• Grades 7 through 12 for at least 12
hours a week.
• Under certain circumstances,
homeschooling meeting the
homeschooling laws of the state or
jurisdiction where you live.
• Online schooling authorized by the
laws of the state where the online
school is located.
• A college or university for at least 8
hours a week under a semester or
quarter system.
• A training course to prepare for
employment for at least 12 hours a
7
week (or 15 hours a week if the course
involves shop practice).
• A transition program preparing you for
employment while you receive special
education services.
• Any of the above for less time for
reasons beyond your control, such as
illness.
The SEIE is available during school
vacations if you attend classes regularly
just before and after the school vacation.
You must let us know.
Make sure to let us know if you are
attending school and working so we can
apply this work incentive to your earnings.
For more information about your
responsibilities when you work
and how to let us know, visit
www.ssa.gov/redbook and read The
Red Book – A Guide to Work Incentives
and Employment Supports for People
Who Have a Disability Under the Social
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) And
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Program (Publication No. 64-030).
Plan To Achieve
Self-Support (PASS)
A PASS is a written plan for your future
to allow you to set aside income and
resources for a specied period of time
so that you may reach a work goal that
will reduce your SSI payments. For
example, you could set aside some
of your earnings to pay expenses for
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education, vocational training, starting
a business, or other expenses related
to achieving your work goal. If you
have a PASS, you may also qualify
for continued SSI payments under
Section 301. Social Security must
approve your PASS. You can locate the
PASS Specialist for your area by visiting
www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/wi/
passcadre.htm. For more information
about PASS, read our publication,
Working While Disabled – A Guide
to Plans for Achieving Self-Support
(Publication No. 05-11017) or visit
www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-11017.pdf.
You can also visit www.ssa.gov/redbook
and read The Red Book – A Guide
to Work Incentives and Employment
Supports for People Who Have a
Disability Under the Social Security
Disability Insurance (SSDI) And
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Programs (Publication No. 64-030).
Work Incentives Planning and
Assistance (WIPA)
Beginning at age 14, WIPA projects
provide information and benets
counseling to help you understand
how work and earnings can affect your
benets. To learn more about work
incentives and to locate the WIPA project
serving your area, contact the Ticket to
Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 (TTY
1-866-833-2967) Monday through Friday
from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time.
Visit choosework.ssa.gov/ndhelp.
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Protection and Advocacy for
Beneciaries of Social Security
(PABSS)
PABSS organizations work to protect the
legal rights of Social Security disability
beneciaries who want to work. PABSS
organizations work with youth in transition
to identify and remove barriers to
employment and independence. These
organizations can provide information
about obtaining VR services. To locate
the PABSS organization in your state,
contact the Ticket to Work Help Line at
1-866-968-7842 (TTY 1-866-833-2967)
Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m.
to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time or visit
www.choosework.ssa.gov/ndhelp.
Grants and Scholarships
You may be planning to continue your
education in college, or in vocational or
technical school, and you may get grants,
scholarships, fellowships, or gifts.
As long as these items are used now, or
set aside to be used at a future date, to
pay for necessary educational expenses
at any educational institution (including
vocational and technical schools):
• We do not count them as income when
we gure your SSI payments.
• We do not count them as a resource
for 9 months when we gure your SSI
payments.
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However, these income and resource
exclusions do not apply to any portion set
aside or actually used for food or shelter.
In addition, when we gure SSI
payments, we do not count all student
nancial assistance received under:
• Title IV of the Higher Education Act of
1965, including the following:
—Pell Grants.
—Federal PLUS Loans.
—Perkins Loans.
—Stafford Loans.
—Ford Federal Direct Loans.
—Work Study programs.
• Bureau of Indian Affairs student
assistance programs.
Achieving a Better Life
Experience (ABLE) Account
An Achieving a Better Life Experience
(ABLE) account is a tax-advantaged
savings account for an individual with a
disability. You can use an ABLE account
to save funds for many disability-related
expenses. Anyone, including the account
owner, family, and friends can contribute
to the ABLE account. The account owner
of an ABLE account must meet one of the
following:
• Be receiving SSI based on disability or
blindness that began before age 26.
• Be in SSI suspense due solely to
excess income or resources and
otherwise be eligible for SSI based
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on disability or blindness that began
before age 26.
• Be receiving disability insurance
benets, childhood disability benets,
or surviving spouse’s benets based
on disability or blindness that occurred
before age 26.
• Have a certication that disability or
blindness occurred before age 26.
• Have conditions on Social Security’s
“List of Compassionate Allowances
Conditions” which are deemed to
meet the requirements for a disability
certication if the condition was
present and produced marked and
severe functional limitations before the
date on which the individual attained
age 26.
The money that you have in your ABLE
account (up to and including $100,000)
does not count as a resource under SSI
rules. You can use money in an ABLE
account to pay for certain qualied
disability expenses, such as those for
education, housing, transportation,
employment training, employment
support, assistive technology, and related
services.
To learn more about ABLE accounts,
please visit the Internal Revenue
Services’ website at www.irs.gov/
government-entities/federal-state-
local-governments/able-accounts-tax-
benet-for-people-with-disabilities.
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Please note: Social Security provides
this section as a courtesy to help
notify you of ABLE accounts.
However, Social Security is not
afliated with and does not endorse
any ABLE account provider or its
services.
National and Community
Supports From Programs Other
Than Social Security
There are many other free or low-cost
supports and programs available that can
help you prepare for your transition to
adulthood. Many of these are available in
the areas of health, education, nance,
and employment.
• If you have not already done so, we
encourage you to contact your local
school district. Services may be
available to you through the school
system. Ask about an IEP or a Section
504 plan.
• Get to Where You Want to Go is
a resource guide produced by the
Wisconsin Division of Vocational
Rehabilitation that provides tips
and resources to help plan for
adulthood and life after high school.
Visit www.beforeage18.org to get
information.
• Parent Centers, funded by the U.S.
Department of Education, help
families with children, and youth
with special needs from birth to age
26. You can nd out about services
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for school-aged children, therapy,
local policies, transportation, early
intervention programs for babies and
toddlers, and much more. Visit www.
parentcenterhub.org/nd-your-
center/ to nd a Parent Center in your
state.
• Family-to-Family Health (F2F)
Information Centers are funded
by the U.S. Health Resources and
Services Administration. They
provide information, education, and
peer support to families of children
with special health care needs. Visit
https://familyvoices.org/Ifpp/f2fs/
to nd an information center which
serves your state, territory, or tribal
community.
• The U.S. Health Resources and
Services Administration provides
nancial assistance to all states and
jurisdictions for the development
of certain service systems. These
systems may provide health services
for mothers, infants, and children.
These include children and older
youth with special health care needs,
and their families. Visit https://mchb.
tvisdata.hrsa.gov/Home to get more
information about state program
contacts.
• State VR agencies help youth
transition to adulthood. Visit
https://rsa.ed.gov/about/states to
nd your state VR agency.
• There are programs offering help with
health care costs, assessments, and
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treatments for youth, young adults, and
their family members. Upon turning
18, you may be eligible to keep your
current health insurance or you may
need to nd other health insurance.
To nd programs in your state
offering help with health care costs,
assessments, and treatment, visit
www.hrsa.gov or call 1-800-311-2229
(Spanish 1-800-504-7081).
• You can nd a low cost,
affordable health center by visiting
www.hrsa.gov/index.html online.
To get health insurance through a
Health Insurance Marketplace visit
localhelp.healthcare.gov or call
1-800-318-2596.
• Got Transition is a federally funded
resource center that provides
information and resources to help
with the transition from pediatric
to adult health care, particularly
for youth with disabilities. Visit
www.gottransition.org for more
information.
• If you have questions about health
insurance for youth or want to
apply, contact 1-877-KIDS-NOW
(1-877-543-7669) to connect to an
agency in your state. In addition, you
can contact your state’s Family-to-
Family Health Information Centers,
funded by the U.S. Health Resources
and Services Administration.
Visit https://familyvoices.org/felsc/
whataref2fs/ to nd an information
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center that serves your state, territory,
or tribal community.
• You may apply for Medicaid through
your state’s Medicaid agency. Visit
www.medicaid.gov/about-us/
contact-us/contact-state-page.html.
• Neighborhood Navigator Tool is
a resource application created by
the American Academy of Family
Physicians. This interactive tool can
support referrals from doctors, service
providers, counselors, families, and
caregivers. Visit the Neighborhood
Navigator Tool online at
https://familydoctor.org/
neighborhood-navigator/ to get
information on thousands of local
social services. These services can
assist with needs like childcare,
housing, transportation, employment,
and legal services.
• The National Center for a System of
Services for Children and Youth with
Special Health Care Needs supports
children in the United States who have
a special health care need and their
families and caregivers. For more
information visit www.aap.org/en/
patient-care/national-center-for-a-
system-of-services-for-children-
and-youth-with-special-health-care-
needs/.
• ABLE Toolkit provides information
about ABLE accounts in one location
for youth transition planning. Visit
www.ablenrc.org/service-provider-
toolkit.
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• American Job Centers (One-Stop
Centers) offer free education,
employment, and training services to
help job seekers. You can nd lists
of job openings, use computers with
internet access to search for jobs, and
get help writing your resume. You can
talk to career counselors about career
options and learn about education
and training for a new career. To nd
the nearest American Job Center, go
online to America’s Service Locator
www.servicelocator.org or call the
toll-free help line at 1-877-US2-JOBS
(1-877-872-5627).
• MyMoney.gov provides nancial
information on a variety of topics,
including how to earn, save and invest,
protect, spend, and borrow. Go online
to www.mymoney.gov to learn more.
• Hands on Banking is a program
available in both English and Spanish.
It teaches people at all stages of
life about the basics of responsible
money management. These basics
include how to create a budget, save
and invest, borrow responsibly, buy a
home, and establish a small business.
Visit www.handsonbanking.org to
get more information.
• YouthBuild engages young people
to rebuild their communities and
their lives by providing pathways to
education, employment, or training.
Visit www.youthbuild.org to get
information on YouthBuild.
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• Think College is a national
organization focused on developing,
expanding, and improving research
and practice in inclusive higher
education for students with intellectual
disabilities. Visit the website at
thinkcollege.net to learn about two
hundred college programs for students
with intellectual disabilities. These
programs include those that have
the Comprehensive Transition and
Postsecondary Program designation
from the U.S. Department of
Education.
Social Security is not endorsing any
particular nonfederal government
organization or program, or the
employees thereof by listing the
organization or program in this
publication. We include the names and
contact information for organizations
or programs only as a convenience to
you. For additional information directed
to our youth audience to assist them
with making a successful transition into
adulthood, please visit the Youth Toolkit
at www.ssa.gov/youth online.
Contacting Us
The most convenient way to do business
with us is to visit www.ssa.gov to
get information and use our online
services. There are several things you
can do online: apply for benets; start
or complete your request for an original
or replacement Social Security card;
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get useful information; nd publications;
and get answers to frequently asked
questions.
When you open a personal
my Social Security account, you have
more capabilities. You can review your
Social Security Statement, verify your
earnings, and get estimates of future
benets. You can also print a benet
verication letter, change your direct
deposit information (Social Security
beneciaries only), and get a replacement
SSA-1099/1042S. If you live outside the
United States, visit www.ssa.gov/foreign
to access our online services.
If you don’t have access to the internet,
we offer many automated services by
telephone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, so you may not need to speak with
a representative.
If you need to speak with someone, call
us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 or at our
TTY number, 1-800-325-0778, if you’re
deaf or hard of hearing. A member
of our staff can answer your call from
8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.
We provide free interpreter services
upon request. For quicker access to a
representative, try calling early in the day
(between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time)
or later in the day. We are less busy
later in the week (Wednesday to Friday)
and later in the month.
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NOTES
Social Security Administration | Publication No. 05-11005
August 2024 (Recycle prior editions)
What You Need To Know About Your Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) When You Turn 18
Produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense
