I Had Wondered About This

You knew about disability claims for children under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, but did you realize there can be disability claims for children under Title II of the Social Security Act? They do and curiously enough, Social Security applies adult standards to these child disability claims. Seems odd to me. Here is some information from a recent addition to Social Security's Program Operations Manual Series (POMS):

Effective 9/1/81, P.L. 97-35 discontinued spouse's, mother's, and father's benefits when the youngest child-in-care attains age 16, unless the child is disabled. Although the spouse’s, mother’s, or father’s benefits may cease, the child's benefits continue to age 18 regardless of whether he or she is disabled. A disability determination for the alleged DMC [DisabledMinor Child] is needed only to entitle the mother or father to continue to receive benefits. ...

To determine if a child is disabled for the child-in-care provisions use the sequential evaluation process applicable to Title II Adult and CDB claims. See “Sequential Evaluation” (DI 22001.000).

At step 3 of the disability evaluation process (Does impairment(s) meet or equal a listing?), consider Part “B” of the listings first. If the child’s alleged impairment(s) does not meet or equal a Part “B” listing, consider the Part “A” listings.

NOTE: The “functional equivalence” policy applicable to Title XVI child cases (see DI 25225.001) does not apply to DMC, or any other Title II cases.

It is not clear to me from this whether the adult listings apply or the child listings. It would be weird to refuse to apply the child listings, but everything else about this policy is weird.