The Obama administration has announced plans to improve the outcomes for children with disabilities who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The federal government will make available $10 million in grant money to selected states to help them establish demonstration projects through an initiative known as PROMISE: Promoting Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income. The projects would offer coordinated services and supports to promote better educational and career outcomes for SSI recipients ages 14 to 16.
The Education Department, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, as well as the Social Security Administration are collaborating on the new initiative.
As of 2011, more than a million children were receiving SSI benefits. The program provides assistance to children with disabilities from low-income families. Most children in the program continue to receive SSI when they become adults.
Poor educational outcomes and low employment rates are common among those with disabilities. Through these grants the U.S. Department of Education seeks to provide strong and effective partnerships with agencies to build capacity to achieve better results and outcomes for child SSI recipients and their families.
