The Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability programs are the largest of several Federal programs that provide assistance to people with disabilities. The Social Security Administration runs both programs, and only individuals who have a disability and meet medical criteria may qualify for benefits under either program.
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) pays benefits to you and certain members of your family if you are "insured," meaning that you worked long enough and paid Social Security taxes.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) pays benefits based on financial need.
Of the roughly 2.5 million disability applicants each year, about two-thirds are turned down initially by state agencies, which make decisions without having an in-person interview. Only about 575,000 applicants then go on to file appeals, and two-thirds eventually win a reversal of the initial decision.
According to a December 2007 New York Times Editorial, the backlog of SSDI applicants who are awaiting a decision after appealing an initial rejection has soared to 755,000 applicants in 2007 from 311,000 in 2000. The average wait for an appeals hearing now exceeds 500 days, twice as long as applicants had to wait in 2000.
Bread for the City’s legal clinic has worked to advocate on behalf of our clients’ right to disability benefits since the inception of our legal clinic in 1991.
“It’s one of the major issues that compelled the formation of the legal clinic,” says Vytas V. Vergeer, Legal Cinic Director. “People would come in to the medical clinic and Dr. Randi [BFC’s medical director] would ask ‘What is your income?’ and it would be zero. And it would baffle her because they were disabled and should have been receiving SSI or SSDI income. It turned out that a lot of these patients had applied for benefits and were denied. That was the point where Bread for the City started to think, wouldn’t it be cool if we had a lawyer to help?”
Since the beginning of 2006, BFC has represented clients in roughly 29 SSI/SSDI cases in the hearing stage in front of an Administrative Law Judge. Of these, BFC won 28 cases, awarding $303,916 worth of back-payments to the clients. In addition to these back payments, each of these clients will receive up to $637 per month in SSI benefits.
“These are my favorite kinds of cases because they’re extremely rewarding. People come to us unable to work, and they have no prospects of being able to work. They have no income. They’re often at risk of being evicted. Many of these people have worked hard their whole lives, would work if they could, but just aren’t able to do it anymore.
“Winning a case means our clients have an income for the rest of their lives, as well as what usually amounts to a big back payment. Once our clients begin receiving benefits they can stabilize their lives. Receiving social security benefits doesn’t get them out of poverty, but it can save them from homelessness, maybe even allow them to put a down payment on a house. It makes a huge difference. “After a two or three year journey, when a client finally gets benefits—it’s some of the best reactions I’ve ever gotten in my career.”
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