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If you or a family member are low-income and also elderly, blind, or disabled, you could be eligible for up to $794 a month in benefits through the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. That is, unless you live in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or American Samoa.
The federal SSI program is one of the country’s most essential social safety net programs, recognizing the inherent dignity of millions of the most vulnerable citizens by providing them with a basic income to help them care for their needs. While these critical benefits are taken for granted in most U.S. communities, because of discriminatory federal laws they are not available to otherwise eligible citizens in most U.S. territories.
This is wrong. But to end this discrimination we need your help.
We are looking to connect with:
- Residents of U.S. territories who would be eligible to receive SSI benefits if they instead lived in the states.
- Residents of the states who currently receive SSI and would like to move home but haven't because they would lose their benefits.
Here are some examples of people who could qualify for SSI if federal law didn't discriminate residents of the territories:
- Someone who is over 65 and who has little in the way of income, savings, or other assets.
- A child with a medical condition that causes severe functional limitations and whose family has little income, savings or assets.
- A child with severe autism whose family has little in the way of income, savings, or other assets.
- An adult with an intellectual disability that severely limits their ability to care for themselves.
- An adult who developed a chronic disease that severely limits their ability to work and who has little income, savings or assets.
This survey is to help us identify folks whose lives have been negatively impacted by the denial of SSI benefits in U.S. territories. We'd like to help tell these stories to the decision-makers in Washington who have the power to bring an end to this discrimination and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable residents of U.S. territories.
We will treat all information provided as part of this survey with sensitivity and care.