SSI for Children. Upon enactment, a new disability standard for new and pending applications will be established. The new standard will eliminate the comparable severity standard, the individual functional assessment, and references to maladaptive behavior. Within one year of enactment, the Social Security Administration must redetermine the eligibility of current beneficiaries based on the new definition. Recipients made ineligible due to the elimination of the reference to maladaptive behavior and the elimination of individual functional assessments will receive first priority in the review and redetermination process. Current beneficiaries found ineligible under the new SSI definition will not lose their benefits before July 1, 1997.
Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs). Reviews for continued eligibility will be conducted for low-birth-weight children within one year of birth and at least every three years for children under age 18. Representative payees for children will be required to present evidence at the time of the CDR that the child is receiving treatment to the extent considered necessary and available for his or her condition. Eligibility will be redetermined, using the adult criteria, within one year of a recipient turning age 18. An additional $150 million in FY 1997 and $100 million in FY 1998 is authorized and appropriated to conduct SSI CDRs and redeterminations.
Restrictions on Benefits
Maintenance of Effort (MOE) Requirement. The MOE requirements applicable to optional state programs for supplementation of SSI benefits remain in effect