Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
Search Saved

Federal, exists in every state

Monthly cash from Social Security (SSI)

Official name: Supplemental Security Income

Up to $994 a month in 2026 for a child with a disability, under Social Security's income and savings rules. This is SSI. An award also brings Medicaid in most states.

Up to $994 a month in cash, and Medicaid in most states.

Program details

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Start the disability report or call SSA, complete the SSI application and interview, send the requested income and account records, and follow SSA’s reporting and closeout deadlines.

Your social worker

The social worker helps with the child disability report and medical release, sends records to Social Security, and tracks missing information. You file the application.

The care team

Provides the diagnosis, relapse and transplant dates, pathology findings, treatment history and other medical records SSA requests.

Who decides
Social Security (the money rules) and the state Disability Determination Service (the medical rules)
Ask Social Security
“Can you record today as our filing date and flag my child's acute lymphoblastic leukemia claim for fast handling under Compassionate Allowances? What should I bring to the interview?”

How to apply

First step: Call Social Security at 800-772-1213 or start the online Child Disability Report. Ask to protect a filing date, then complete the SSI application by the deadline SSA gives you. Payments can start no earlier than the month after the protected filing date, if all eligibility requirements are met.

  1. Start the online Child Disability Report or call 800-772-1213 and ask to protect a filing date.
  2. Complete the SSI application and interview by the closeout deadline SSA gives you. Starting the disability report alone does not complete the application.
  3. Say “acute lymphoblastic leukemia” and ask for Compassionate Allowances handling.
  4. Report changes by the 10th of the following month.

Where it starts: Start the online Child Disability Report or call 800-772-1213. Then complete the SSI application and interview by the deadline SSA gives you.

What to gather

  • Pathology report and the oncologist's letter with the diagnosis date
  • Pay stubs for this month for every parent at home, and any unemployment, disability pay or child support
  • Bank, 529 and investment balances on the first of the month, with whose name each is in
  • Birth certificate and Social Security numbers for the child and parents
  • Admission and discharge dates for any full-month hospital stay

How long: Social Security says leukemia claims can be decided in weeks rather than months. In practice (experience, not a rule) families see the first check two to four months after filing. The field-office interview is the slow part.

Clock: Sign the formal SSI application within 60 days or the protective filing date is lost.

Clock: Appeal within 10 days of getting the letter to keep the check coming. You have 60 days to appeal at all.

What a yes looks like

An award letter naming the monthly amount, the start month and the representative payee. Then a Medicaid card in 34 states and DC with no separate application.

What a no looks like, and the next move

The notice explains whether the decision concerns income, resources or the medical finding. Follow its appeal deadline; most appeals are due within 60 days of receipt. Some notices stopping an existing payment have a shorter deadline to request continued payment during appeal. Ask SSA which deadline applies.

Watch out

  • Money in your own name, including a 529 you own, counts against your child's SSI until it is spent or genuinely given away. Moving money that belongs to your child, or an account you still control, does not help and can cost months of benefits. Ask Social Security before you move anything.
  • Before you fundraise: a GoFundMe payout to a parent is income that month and a resource on the next first of the month. Donors paying the hospital or landlord directly, or into an ABLE account, avoids both. Keep the records.
  • If your child will be in the hospital every day of a calendar month, tell Social Security. It changes the math for that month.
  • “Terminal illness” (TERI) on a notice is a processing flag Social Security puts on every acute-leukemia claim. It is not a prognosis.
  • Back pay over $5,964 goes into a dedicated account for medical, education and disability needs, not rent or groceries without Social Security's approval.

Dates that change this

2024-09-30: Since September 30, 2024 a parent whose income is counted in a SNAP budget is treated like a TANF parent: that income is left out of the SSI math. No rollback is in force.

2026-01-01: From 2026 an ABLE account can be opened for a disability that began before age 46; the first $100,000 is not counted against SSI; the contribution limit is $20,000 a year from everyone combined; anyone can pay in.

2026-09-18: See the immigration note on the Medicaid item; the same dates apply to a child’s SSI. The 2026 rule takes effect September 18, 2026 (no court order pausing it found as of September 8, 2026). Under the rule in force until then a parent who applies for a citizen child’s SSI is not treated as receiving it.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 7, 2026.

What it is worth

Up to $994 a month in 2026 ($11,928 a year) before reductions. The child's own money must stay at or under $2,000 on the first of the month.

  • $994/month (before reductions) — Maximum federal SSI for one eligible person
  • $11,928/year — Maximum annual federal amount
  • $2,000 (counted on the first of the month. Exactly $2,000 passes) — Resource limit for the child

Legal protection: Acute leukemia is a Compassionate Allowances condition. Listing 113.06A considers disability for at least 24 months from diagnosis or relapse, or at least 12 months from a bone-marrow or stem-cell transplant, whichever is later. Medical evidence is required. · An award is automatic Medicaid in 34 states and DC (Georgia, Texas and California included), with no separate application in Texas · Back pay is excluded from savings for 9 months. A parent payee is exempt from the annual accounting · A parent whose income is counted in a SNAP or TANF budget has it left out of the SSI math (since September 30, 2024)

What it costs the family: Free to apply.

The eligibility facts, as published

Disability
Childhood listing 113.06A: at least 24 months from diagnosis or relapse, or at least 12 months from bone-marrow or stem-cell transplantation, whichever is later; SSA reviews evidence and later evaluates residual impairments.
Parental deeming under 18
yes
Deeming chart 2026
The chart is a general guide for applicable households with all earned or all unearned income. Mixed income, a child’s own income and other listed exceptions require an individual calculation; net self-employment earnings are earned income.
Child resource limit usd
2000
Parental resource allowance usd
one parent: 2000; two parents: 3000; note: parents’ resources above the allowance are deemed to the child; effective ceilings $4,000 / $5,000 with a $0-resource child; retirement funds excluded
Public assistance household
a parent whose income is counted in a SNAP or TANF budget is excluded from deeming (SI 01320.141, since 2024-09-30)
Relative household
a grandparent or other relative is not a deemor; the check is usually the one-third-reduction rate ($662.67 in 2026) unless the child pays a share or the household is on public assistance
Unmarried partner
not a deemor
Hospital month
$30 payment limit in a full calendar month when Medicaid, or for a child private insurance, pays more than half; income deeming stops from the first $30 month, resource deeming turns on the temporary-absence test
Protective filing
Starting the online Child Disability Report can protect a filing date; follow its 60-day closeout notice to complete the SSI application. When contacting SSA by phone, request a protected filing date and follow the deadline in SSA’s written closeout notice.
First payable month
the month after filing

Decisions this site cannot make: SSA nonmedical rules (income, savings, living arrangement) · DDS medical decision

Expect friction on: The field-office interview is the binding constraint · Monthly reporting by the 10th · A review letter around month 24–30 (experience)

The trap: A child can meet the medical test and still get $0 because of parents' income. That is not a medical denial, and it is re-tested every month.

What changes by state: Whether an award is automatic Medicaid (34 states and DC, including Georgia, Texas and California) and whether the state adds money (California adds $97.27 for a disabled child at home. Georgia, Texas and Florida add $0).

Where I read this

← Pick your state