RSDI and SSI Benefits - Texas Foster Youth Justice Project

There are different types of Social Security benefits that you may receive during and after foster care.

Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (RSDI)

Those who are under 18, or who are under 19 and still in high school full time, can receive Social Security benefits based on their parent’s social security earnings if their parent is disabled, retired, or deceased; this is called Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (RSDI) benefits and is usually paid as a monthly check. You can still receive this money even if your parent’s rights were terminated. While you are in foster care, the money is paid to DFPS to pay for your foster care expenses. If the money paid is more than the cost of your foster care expenses, or DFPS receives benefits while you have run away from foster care, DFPS is supposed to put the money in a special account. This money should be used for additional expenses you have, or, when you leave foster care at age 18, it should be released to you or sent back to the Social Security Administration. If you get RSDI benefits and have a disability, you can apply to continue to receive RSDI after you turn 18. You will need to show you are disabled and you must be unmarried. If you receive RSDI and get married, you will lose the benefits.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is for disabled or elderly people with limited income and resources; disabled children can receive it as well. While you are in foster care, any SSI benefits you receive go to DFPS to pay for your foster care expenses. If you receive SSI, you may be notified by the Social Security Administration when you turn 18 that you need to prove to them again that you are disabled. It is important that you provide the needed documentation of your disability and attend any evaluation appointments they schedule for you. If you have disabilities and don’t already receive SSI, you should ask your caseworker about applying for SSI well before you leave care. It can take a long time, even years, to establish with the Social Security Administration that someone is disabled, although some disabilities can be more easily established. Your caseworker should have a DFPS SSI coordinator assist with preparing the application and taking the necessary steps to obtain SSI and/or RSDI benefits for you. If you receive RSDI but the amount of the benefit is low, you should qualify to get some additional SSI benefits and the SSI specialist should help with that. The maximum amount of SSI benefits for an individual in 2026 is $994.

Exiting Foster Care While Receiving RSDI or SSI Benefits

Be sure to get a copy of documentation from the Social Security Administration that shows what benefits you receive. Your caseworker should request this from the SSI coordinator. Often there is confusion and incorrect information about whether a foster youth gets Social Security benefits and what type they get, so demand a written document from DFPS and the Social Security Administration. Applying for these benefits can be complicated, particularly providing the necessary documentation to establish that you have a disability. If you are denied benefits, be sure to appeal on time; you can keep appealing until you have a hearing with an Administrative Law Judge. Appealing a denial of SSI benefits means you are asking the Social Security Administration to change their mind and give you the benefits you asked for. If you apply for SSI after you leave foster care, be sure to get help from your transition support case manager or another caring adult throughout the process.

Your school records, evaluations related to special education, and psychological evaluations can be very important to help establish your disability. You should request them within four years of leaving school or the school may not have them anymore. See Individualized Education Plans (IEP) for more information.

If you stay in foster care after you turn 18, you will need to sign over your RSDI or SSI benefits to DFPS as long as you stay in extended foster care. If your benefits are more than the cost of your care, the money will be put in a personal account for you to use for expenses.

Once you leave foster care or extended foster care, you will need to go to the Social Security Administration office to ask that your payments be made to you directly instead of DFPS.

If you are worried about managing your money, you can ask a trusted adult to be your payee, which means they receive your SSI payments on your behalf. Be sure anyone you ask to be your payee can be trusted because they will have complete access to your money and can control how it is spent.

If you receive SSI, you may be placed on a different Medicaid program other than FFCC Medicaid. This Medicaid program should cover your healthcare needs as long as you receive SSI.

There is a limit to the amount of money you can have at any one time when you receive SSI. You are not allowed to have more than $2,000 at any time or you will lose your SSI benefits, along with your Medicaid if it is based on your SSI benefits. Be very careful to spend any money you have over $2,000 so you do not lose your benefits.

For more information about RSDI and SSI benefits visit: www.socialsecurity.gov.