Mark Betancourt writes for Mother Jones about the problems caused by kicking large numbers of disabled people off SSI when they turn 18. Here's the key quote:
... Youth who lost benefits at 18 were twice as likely to be charged with a crime as they were to hold a job. Compared with those who stayed on SSI, they were 60 percent more likely to be incarcerated. Most were charged with income-generating crimes like theft, fraud, or prostitution. And they didn’t just commit crimes at a higher rate immediately after losing their checks but did so over the ensuing two decades. The study also found that increased spending on policing, adjudication, and incarceration nearly erased any government savings from reduced payouts; the added expenses far outstripped the savings when victims’ costs were included. ...
Being told you are disabled all your life because you may have a leaning disability doesnt make you healthy either.
ReplyDeleteMost of these were allowed for poor behavior to begin with. Cuss out the teacher. Fight with other students. Walk out of class and wander the halls You get marked limitations in three domains.
ReplyDeleteYes, it’s definitely the “disability” that is causing this and not the growing up in poverty.
ReplyDeleteLet’s just turn SSI into a social program so we can cure crime and homelessness all in one shot. If you don’t cut these kids off at 18, they’ll never commit crimes. I’ve never seen an adult cut off for 12 months of incarceration.
I have seen many adults have benefits terminated after 12 months of incarceration
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ReplyDeleteBeing told I was dumb until I was 18, when I discovered all it took was some minimal medication, is not healthy either.
I honestly think there should be automatic termination at 18. Give 9 grace months in case the individual wants to reapply under adult rules. Half the time the rep payee doesn’t even get the child rules vs. adult rules and just views the kid as a cash cow.
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ReplyDelete4:40 - you have it spot on! DDS does not have the manpower to do those CRDs timely, and by the time it gets to a hearing with continuing benefits going to the parents, a lot of money goes down the drain and never come back
Research: "terminating benefits at age 18 leads to a rise in behavioral problems and criminal activities"
ReplyDeleteY'all demons: "we should automatically terminate all benefits at 18!"
The article's findings about the consequences of not helping young people with disabilities made me think of a story I read.
ReplyDelete"...the first touch of humanity’s selfishness make criminals of the humble, and make killers of the sons of peace; thus does the early greed of humanity grow and strike back at humanity a thousand fold." - K. Gibran
So this study shows that adults who are disabled are less likely to commit crimes that require physical exertion.
ReplyDeleteInteresting - does spending years on SSI as a child have an adverse effect? After the Clinton welfare reform in 1996, low income mothers were limited to 5 years of welfare benefits, and many turned to SSI for income - which meant the family's economics depended on having a "disabled" kid. Whether so many kids would have been dx'd with ADHD had welfare remained unchanged, who knows.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what happens when you brainwash people from a very young age into believing they can’t fend for themselves. If you think about it, what really is that SSI money doing for “disabled” child A vs “not disabled” child B who is in the same socioeconomic status? Do you really think the parents are spending that extra money on medicine, counseling, therapy and doctor visits? I worked SSI cases and reviewed the payee accounting reports so I know better.
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