Tag: Income

How to Afford Family Caregiving, Part 1: Paid Leave and Job-protecting Unpaid Leave in WA State

Posted on by Barb Koumjian

Being a family caregiver can be financially stressful. In addition to taking on the costs of caring for a close friend or family member, caregiving may make it difficult to work at a full time job. Caregivers may struggle to stay employed and be financially stable. This tip sheet is Part 1 of a series with information to help family caregivers with the financial side of caregiving.

Get paid while taking WA State Family & Medical Leave

This is not the same program as the Federal Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which is a job-protection program and is unpaid leave.

The State of Washington can grant you up to 90 percent of your average weekly wage. The number of weeks you can get paid for depends on whether you are taking medical leave, family leave, or a combination. Visit the Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave website for details about medical leave and family leave.

To see if you are eligible for paid leave, take the “quiz” on the Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave site.

To apply, on the Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave website, click on the small arrow on the “Individuals and Families” tab on the top of the website page. Click on items 1-5, in order to learn about the process, what paperwork you will need, and apply.

Unpaid leave job protection

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a federal law, protects the rights of employees to take unpaid leave without the threat of job loss for certain situations.

Every year employees are allowed up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for:

  • A child being born and/or care for child within a year of birth
  • A child being adopted or put into foster care in the employee’s care
  • Care for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent
  • Employee’s serious health condition that makes them unable to work
  • for qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status as a member of the National Guard, Reserves, or Regular Armed Forces.
  • Military service personnel are entitled to 26 work weeks of leave within a year to care for a spouse, child, parent or next of kin.

These benefits apply to most employees who have worked at the same employer for a year or more, if

  • The company has at least 50 employees
  • The employer is a school or part of the local, state, or federal government.
  • Use the US Department of Labor’s guidelines to see if you are eligible for FMLA. View or download this fact sheet on the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Important to Know:

  • Employers are allowed to require an employee to first use up their time-off benefits (vacation, sick time, etc.) as part of the FMLA time, BUT when paid leave is used for FMLA-covered reasons, the leave (and the employee’s job protections) are protected under FMLA.
  • On return from FMLA leave (whether after a block of leave or an instance of intermittent leave), the FMLA requires that the employer return the employee to the same job, or one that is nearly identical (equivalent). See the FMLA Factsheet above for details on what makes a job equivalent.
  • An employee does not need to take FMLA leave all at once. The law says leave can be used in several blocks of time (“intermittently”) or used to reduce an employee’s regular hours.
  • Using FMLA does not reduce your allowed Washington State Paid Leave benefit, so you can use both types of leave. It’s important to note that Paid Leave and FMLA usually run at the same time, since many Paid Leave events also qualify for FMLA.

For both types of leave:

Employers are allowed to ask for information to support reasons for the leave. Employees can provide this required information in several formats, including letters that are from a healthcare provider written on official letterhead, documents issued by a branch of the military, or on a Certification Form that can be found on the Department of Labor site or the Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave site.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Posted on by Nicol Walsh
Download the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) one pager

A Brief Overview

  • Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a monthly financial payment made to persons meeting specific eligibility requirements defined by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
  • A person may be eligible for SSI if they are aged, blind or disabled; have limited income and resources; and are a citizen or resident of the United States.
  • SSI is different from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which is an insurance that workers earn by paying into taxes on their earnings.
  • There is a special rule that allows dependent children of military families serving on overseas assignments to begin or continue receiving SSI benefits while outside of the United States.

Full Article

What Is SSI?

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a monthly financial benefit from the Social Security Administration (SSA) to people with limited income and resources who are age 65 or older, blind or disabled.  Blind or disabled children, as well as adults, can get SSI.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for SSI, a person must meet specific eligibility criteria, including:

  • SSA definitions of aged, blind, or disabled
  • Having limited income and resources
  • Citizenship or residency status

Aged Determination

A person who is 65 years of age or older may qualify for SSI as “aged” if they also meet the financial determination.

Blind or Disabled Determination

SSA defines “blind” as seeing at a level of 20/200 or less in the better eye with glasses or contacts, or having a limited field of vision that can only see things at within a 20-degree angle or less in the better eye.  A person with a visual impairment that does not meet the criteria for blindness may still qualify for SSI based on the disability.

An adult or child may qualify for SSI as “disabled” if they have a physical or mental impairment that can be medically diagnosed through clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques for anatomical, physiological, and psychological irregularities. The condition must cause marked and severe functional limitations, including emotional or learning challenges, that have lasted or are supposed to last for at least 12 months without interruption.

A person aged 18 or older must qualify as an adult, which includes proving they are unable to do substantial gainful activity.  Two (2) months before a child receiving SSI benefits turns 18, SSA will conduct a disability redetermination to determine whether the child meets the adult criteria to continue receiving SSI payments.

Eligibility for disability is determined by a team that includes a disability examiner and a medical or psychological consultant at a state agency known as the Disability Determination Service (DDS).  The team will review medical and financial documents, and determine eligibility based on the documents provided or request more documents be provided.

It is necessary to complete both disability and financial determinations when assessing eligibility. This is because SSI eligibility determination may be used in other programs within your state. 

Limited Income and Resources

SSI is a needs-based program. In order to receive SSI, the applicant must have limited income and resources.

If the applicant has too much income, their application will be denied, and they will be ineligible for SSI payments. A child does not earn income so part of their parent’s income will be attributed to the child. Different sources of income are treated differently and some have greater exclusions than others. When an adult applies on behalf of a child, the parent or guardian’s income is considered “deemed” income to the child. SSA will prorate the adult’s income among the family members to determine the amount applicable to the child.

If you received SSI in another state, be aware that some states have a higher income limit that allows an individual to receive SSI benefits despite being over the federally established income limits. Washington is not a state with a higher income limit and applications submitted in Washington state must meet the federal income limits.

Resources include both money (e.g., cash, bank accounts, Certificates of Deposit, stocks and bonds, investment accounts, life insurance) and property (e.g. vehicles, houses, real estate) that could be sold or converted to cash to pay for food or shelter. There are limits for how much an applicant may have in resources and maintain eligibility for SSI:

  • An individual may have up to $2,000
  • A couple may have up to $3,000
  • When applying on behalf of a child, an adult may have an additional $2,000 in resources and a portion of the adult’s resources may be applied to the child

Some resources are excluded from the eligibility determination, including:

  • Your house and the property you live on
  • The first vehicle (per household)
  • Most personal and household belongings
  • Property that can’t be used or sold for income
  • Up to $100,000 saved in an ABLE account
  • Properly distributed funds from a special needs trust (SNT) on behalf of the individual with a disability

Citizenship or Residency Status

SSI is only available to U.S. citizens and nations residing in the United States or the Northern Mariana Islands, and qualifying non-citizens with certain alien classifications granted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  SSI benefits will stop if a person leaves the U.S. for a full calendar month or at least thirty (30) consecutive days, with the exception of dependent children of active duty servicemembers serving overseas.

Is SSI The Same As SSDI?

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is not the same thing as Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).  SSI is a needs-based public assistance program for children and adults. The eligibility criteria include limited income and resources. SSI payments come from the general funds of the U.S. Treasury from tax revenues.

SSDI is an insurance that workers earn by paying into the Social Security through taxes on their work earnings. It is not affected by income or resources. In order to receive SSDI, the person must have worked and paid from their earnings into the Social Security trust funds in the U.S. Treasury.

How Do I Apply For SSI?

Family to Family Health Information Center (F2FHIC), a program of PAVE, provides technical assistance, information, and training to families of children, youth, and adults with special healthcare needs. The F2F website contains invaluable information and resources to help family members, self-advocates, and professionals navigate complex health systems and public benefits, including SSI. After reviewing F2F’s article about how to apply for SSI, if you have questions and would like to speak with an F2F team member, please submit a Help Request.

Special Consideration For Military Families Overseas

A special rule allows dependent children of military families serving on overseas assignments to begin or continue receiving SSI benefits while outside of the United States. The child must be:

  • is a U.S. citizen
  • living with a parent who is a member of the U.S. Armed Forces assigned to permanent duty ashore outside the United States
  • listed in the Command sponsorship orders.

If the child is receiving SSI benefits before moving overseas with the active duty service member, the benefits will continue based on the rate of the state in which they applied. If the child is born overseas or becomes eligible for SSI while overseas, you can apply for SSI by contacting the Federal Benefits Unit at the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consular Office, or by applying online. For additional support with your application, call SSA at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778).

Once the child turns 18, they will no longer be eligible for SSI until they have been living within the United States for thirty (30) consecutive days and will be subject to the disability redetermination process.

When relocating on military orders overseas, you must report:

  • the servicemember’s expected report date to the duty station overseas
  • the child’s expected date of arrival at the overseas location
  • the mailing address at your new duty station
  • changes in military allowances at your new duty station

Additional Resources