RTC Home |CFS Home| de la Parte Institute

This report offers findings from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Family Impact Study. In 1996, a new federal law was passed that made significant changes in the supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. These changes altered the definitions and procedures for families with children with serious emotional disturbances to receive cash benefits on behalf of these children. In response to these changes, the Research and Training Center for Children’s Mental Health at the University of South Florida, with support from the federal Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA, and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, initiated a study to increase understanding of the impact of this policy change on families.

The study followed 40 families over a 22 month period, through a combination of in-person interviews and telephone interviews every three months. The families participating in the study came from rural eastern Kansas, New York City, and west central Florida.

The study used a longitudinal design, making it possible to describe the sequence of
events. Many of the families reported on what they believed the effect of the SSI changes to be, and, as researchers, every attempt was made to capture as accurately as possible the views of the parents involved. Therefore, while this study is basically a descriptive study it does include the views of the parents of the effects upon them and their family members of the changes in the law.

This is a publication of the Research and Training Center for Children's Mental Health which is jointly funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and the Center for Mental Health Services under grant number H133B90022. The opinions contained in this publication are those of the grantee and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Education or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.