Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Policymakers and disability advocates have raised concerns about the young adult outcomes of former child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients following the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) redetermination of eligibility at age 18 using an adult disability definition. Several state factors might influence post-age 18 outcomes, including differences in state cessation rates following the age-18 redetermination. This paper uses SSA administrative data to track at the state level all former child SSI recipients who received an age-18 redetermination from 1998 through 2006. We first present descriptive data on state cessation rates following the age-18 redetermination. We then compare state-level young adult outcomes of ceased former child SSI recipients (ceased recipients) to continued former child SSI recipients (continued recipients) at age 24.

We find: 1) State cessation rates following the age-18 redetermination range from 20 to 47 percent. Southern states had higher state cessation rates.  2) Ceased recipients had higher employment rates and lower rates of SSI or Disability Insurance (DI) benefits receipt in comparison to continued recipients. 3) Continued recipients who lived in states with higher employment rates also had higher DI benefits receipt rates.  The cessation rate findings highlight potential state administrative differences in processing redeterminations that could influence long-term outcomes. The SSA benefits and employment rate differences for ceased and continued recipients indicate that local and state factors, such as the availability of other supports, could play a significant role in a youth’s long-term transition decisions. More broadly, our findings raise questions for policymakers about the role of SSI in the overall safety net and the potential variations in state and local options available to former child SSI recipients following the age-18 redetermination.