What can people with disability do if they make enough money at a job that makes them ineligible to get SSI money?
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
In addition to their everyday challenges, people with disabilities who receive Supplemental Security Income and work must avoid working so much that they exceed the maximum income threshold to receive benefits that they could not afford through employment alone.
The average federal SSI payment in 2025 is $698 and the New York average payment is $659 (state and federal payments are separate in most states). People who make too much would lose those benefits, even if what they earn would not support them.
Drew Richardson, 38, currently works for three human services agencies in the Rochester region. He formerly received SSI for nearly a decade before transitioning off SSI several years ago. Autism made social situations and maintaining employment very difficult. As he developed tools to meet these challenges, he began shifting off of SSI by finding competitive employment in a secure position.
Consulting with a benefits specialist helped him evaluate several scenarios and timeframes for transitioning off benefits, such as how long he could keep benefits once he started accruing above certain income thresholds, his wage per hour and what benefits he would lose. (The benefits specialist is no longer in business.)
In addition to SSI, at that time Richardson received a rental subsidy, SNAP, HEAP, Medicaid and Medicare. He lived mostly independently in a condo and had his driver’s license.
Once he earned more than the threshold, he became ineligible for the rental subsidy, HEAP and SNAP. But he made enough money to support himself thanks to his higher income.
Richardson currently receives Medicaid and Medicare and was recently re certified for SNAP.
However, he no longer receives any SSI.
“For the most part, I have been fairly successful at being competitively employed. However, now I have moved on to a more ‘freelance’ type of field, doing per-diem community habilitation for other adults with disabilities,” Richardson said. “While it’s not a stable 40 hours a week job, it provides me flexibility in my current situation. However, I have to take into account that I have to meet a budgetary threshold in order to pay my bills and provide for myself.
“With adults with disabilities, many receive benefits such as SSI that unfortunately place a limit upon how much an individual may earn before their SSI benefits start being reduced or paused altogether.”
He believes that at the federal level, a few changes could help alleviate the problem, including amending the substantial gainful activity (SGA) amount to reflect the local minimum wage.
“Currently, the SGA amount for SSI is calculated through indexing the national average wage. However, as New York state has a higher minimum wage than what is currently offered federally due to a higher cost of living, this reduces the amount of hours that a person earning SSI can work in a specific timeframe,” Richardson said. “Amending this will allow individuals receiving benefits to work more without having to worry about losing or jeopardizing their federal disability benefits.”
He also thinks that increasing the federal Medicaid asset limit — currently $2,000 — would help, as that has not been changed since 1989, nearly 40 years ago.
“With each passing year, it becomes more and more difficult for individuals with disabilities to qualify for benefits, as inflation is an unfortunate reality of life,” Richardson said. “Amending this to a higher limit, such as $10,000 — and additionally indexing it to the federal inflation rate — would benefit more individuals with disabilities who wish to become gainfully employed.”
Not everyone is capable of transitioning off SSI like Richardson.
In some situations, individuals will never work more than part-time or at jobs that pay minimum wage.
In fact, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics states that disabled people are twice as likely to work part-time. People with disabilities are typically under-employed. According to the bureau’s 2024 information, 22.7% of people who are disabled have employment compared with 65.5% of those who do not have a disability.
This affects the family of Brittany Jencik, president of Parents Helping Parents Coalition of Monroe County. She mothers 21 children, 14 of whom have intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her advocacy organization helps families navigate the early challenges of suspecting delays, seeing evaluations, receiving diagnoses and putting support services in place.
“I certainly have personal concerns for my children’s futures but also have insight into a broader set of concerns given my role as an advocate,” Jencik said. “Our biggest concerns for our children’s futures are that they are supported in ways that allow them to reach their greatest potential and have the quality of life they deserve.”
She believes this includes employment, as well as hobbies and interests. All people should feel like what they do matters, she said.
But if that employment teeters between too much and not enough income, that’s tough.
One mitigating factor could be obtaining additional training to help young adults acquire employment skills. Among people with developmental disabilities, this could include vocational resources. However, some parents do not take full advantage of these opportunities.
“Unless you’re a knowledgeable consumer, you don’t know what to ask for and what you should be receiving,” said Lorna Patanella, pediatric nurse practitioner at UR Golisano Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. “You have to be an advocate for your child if your child can’t advocate for themselves.”
One such resource is The Arc Ontario in Canandaigua. The organization provides a myriad opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to further their employable skills through their pre-vocational programming. This includes training in virtual reality and in a hospitality suite to find employment with a hotel or hospital providing custodial or housekeeping services.
Jenine J. Cleary, senior certified human resource professional and HR director at The Arc Ontario, said that the next step is expanding the training center to include culinary training.
“Once you are involved in our agency, you can go on job exploration ‘flights’ to learn about agriculture or retail,” she said. “It’s great to see the partnerships we have with so many businesses in the community. We offer vocational support in supported employment.”
This includes helping people find work and dispatching job coaches that accompany individuals as they embark on new jobs to assist in reviewing and reinforcing job skills as needed.
“We don’t want that burden to fall on the employer,” Cleary said.
As individuals gain competency, the job coaches reduce their involvement until they are no longer needed.
The Arc also operates Bad Dog Boutique (a dog grooming service and retail store), Northstar Café, Spot On Cleaning Company and FLX Premier Bottling. These businesses provide individuals with employment experience and community involvement.