The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers two federal programs that provide monthly disability benefits to those who qualify. The old age, survivor and disability program provides benefits based on retirement, disability or blindness to those who have worked and paid into the social security insurance system and to certain of their dependants/survivors. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is the disability program. The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program is a needs-based benefit available to low-income individuals who are 65 or older or who meet the disability or blindness standard. Part Two of this series will focus on SSI.

To be eligible for SSDI a person must have "insured status", gained by working and paying FICA taxes for the required number of quarters. In 2004, a worker earns one credit for each $900 of earnings, up to the maximum of four credits per year. Each year the amount of earnings needed for credits goes up slightly as average earnings levels increase. Covered work is work on which social security taxes have been paid. The rules for how much work is needed to qualify for disability benefits are as follows: Before age 24 - 6 credits earned in the 3-year period ending when the disability starts. Age 24 to 31 - credited work for half the time between age 21 and the disability. For example, if one become disabled at age 27, she/he would need credit for 3 years of work (12 credits) out of the past 6 years (between ages 21 and 27). Age 31 or older - in general, need to have the number of work credits shown in the chart below. Unless blind, the applicant must have earned at least 20 of the credits in the 10 years immediately before the disability.

Born after 1929, Become Disabled At Age:	Number of Credits You Need
31 through 42	20
44	22
46	24
48	26
50	28
52	30
54	32
56	34
58	36
60	38
62 or older	40

SSDI benefits are not need-based and have no income or asset test. The monthly benefits paid by SSDI are essentially based on the amount of time worked and the amount of earnings. The maximum monthly benefit in 2003 was $1741 per month.

There is a five month waiting period after the date Social Security finds that the disability began before SSDI benefits begin. The first Social Security benefit will be paid for the sixth full month. For example, if the disability began on June 15, 2003, the first benefit would be paid for the month of December 2003, the sixth full month of disability. Social Security benefits are paid in the month following the month for which they're due. This means that the benefit due for December would be paid in January 2004. The amount of the monthly disability benefit is based on the worker's lifetime average earnings covered by Social Security. For more information visit www.ssa.gov/pubs/10072.html.

Certain family members may be eligible for dependant's benefits on the wage record of an insured worker. The wage earner must be eligible for SSDI benefits. Eligible dependants include:

• A spouse caring for the de-pendant child(ren) of the wage earner.
• Adult children of a wage earner who are eighteen or older and who have met the adult disability standard since prior to age twenty-two.
• Unmarried dependant minor children up until the age of eighteen or, if enrolled in a full time secondary education program, until graduation or age nineteen, whichever comes first.

Prior to 1996 there were no citizenship or alien status requirements for Social Security insurance benefits. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 provides that for applications filed after December 1, 1996 non-citizens must be "law-fully present" to be eligible for social security benefits. The overall definition of "lawfully present" is an alien who has been inspected and admitted to the United States and who has not violated that status. Specifically included are legal permanent resident aliens, refugees, asylees, certain parolees, certain conditional entrants, temporary protected status, certain Cuban/Haitian entrants, Family Unity beneficiaries, deferred enforced departure status, and applicants for asylum.

Once eligible for benefits, all recipients will be eligible to take advantage of work incentives specific to the SSDI program as well as the Ticket to Work program. A trial work period, an extended work period of eligibility and a Medicare extension are just some of the available work incentive programs.

Individuals who receive an SSDI benefit based on disability are eligible for Medicare after receiving SSDI for 24 months.

For more information please visit www.ssa.gov or visit one of the Social Service "Resource Walls" on Founders 2 and Wang 037.

-Based on a basic benefits training by the Disability Law Center, Boston, attended by Elspeth Dwyer.

07/2004