The Role of Continuing Disability Reviews in Child Supplemental Security Income Program Participation Patterns

The Social Security Administration conducts periodic continuing disability reviews (CDRs) to determine ongoing medical eligibility for children receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. CDR volumes have varied over time because of funding availability. This article examines longitudinal patterns in the characteristics of and outcomes for child SSI recipients whose payments ceased because of a CDR. It also quantifies the extent to which CDR cessation patterns affect child SSI caseloads over time. We find that CDRs strongly influence child SSI caseloads. CDR cessations can explain three-fifths to two-thirds of changes in the number of SSI recipients, both as the program grew from 2002 through 2013 and as it subsequently declined. Despite variation in CDR cessation frequency, the characteristics of children with payments ceased because of a CDR were mostly stable, with relatively few children returning to SSI. Minimizing CDR volume fluctuations may help families plan for the potential loss of SSI payments.