Unlocking Access: Mitigating Benefits Loss to Improve Cash Transfer Programs for SSI Recipients

For millions of families in the U.S. today, wages do not provide a consistent or sufficient buffer against everyday expenses to sustain financial security, let alone wealth building and economic mobility. When labor income and workplace benefits are not enough, people often use public benefits to build resilience, pursue opportunities, and lead economically dignified lives.

Yet there are gaps in these systems. For instance, families may not be able to access programs for which they are eligible; benefits may be insufficient to cover basic needs; or people may lose benefits despite continued eligibility.

To fill these gaps, cities, counties, and states across the U.S. are offering cash transfer programs. Unfortunately, state and local governments are increasingly confronting pain points between existing public benefits programs and emerging cash programs and pilots. To better understand the tension between programs providing cash, the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program in partnership with the Resilient Families Hub convened a working group on Interactions between Direct Cash Interventions & Public Benefits Systems. The working group was composed of state agency and human services leaders as well as city and county administrators of direct cash transfer programs from across the country. 

The working group found many frictions between public benefits and direct cash transfer programs, perhaps none more so than with Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSI provides monthly cash assistance to some of the most vulnerable members of our society: children and adults who have limited or no income and assets and either have a disability or are aged 65 or older. Due to their age or health condition, recipients of SSI have limited ability to earn income and are thus one of the groups that could benefit most from nascent direct cash programs.

Yet, with limited exceptions, SSI counts all resources, income, and other support applicants receive to determine eligibility. Without protections in place, SSI recipients participating in direct cash transfer programs experience a dollar-for-dollar reduction in their monthly SSI benefit amount and could risk losing SSI benefits entirely, limiting the ability of cash programs to support the needs of people experiencing the highest levels of financial insecurity in the U.S. 

This report examines current challenges of including SSI participants in direct cash programs; details takeaways from a working group meeting with Social Security Administration (SSA) representatives; and explores opportunities to remove barriers to including SSI recipients in cash programs that can provide needed financial support. 

Key Takeaways

• Direct cash transfer programs need clear and timely policy guidance on how program payments will be treated for the purposes of determining SSI eligibility and benefit amounts.
• State and local partners running direct cash transfer programs need greater clarity on who to reach out to within SSA for technical assistance and to determine whether their programs meet the criteria for a statutory exclusion.
• State and local partners face significant administrative burden navigating state and federal bureaucracy to determine what exemptions are possible to prevent the loss of other public benefits for participants. Complex and conflicting program rules require a program-by-program analysis.

While SSA can address some of the existing barriers identified by working group members to better support SSI participants and public administrators, additional reform will require federal policy change. Federal policymakers could further mitigate benefits reduction and loss for SSI beneficiaries who participate in direct cash transfer programs to ensure that benefits are coordinated and boost families’ financial stability.

If we hope to create more opportunities for financial security, we must contend with the myriad ways that existing public benefits rules are misaligned with policy goals and take steps to unlock cash and benefit programs for families who have been left behind for too long.