People often associate Social Security with retirement because tens of millions of retired workers draw Social Security retirement benefits each year. While it is true that Social Security is a major source of retirement income for many people, the Social Security program is, more generally, supposed to be a source of financial help for the country’s most vulnerable people.
Supplemental Security Income, for example, is one program under the Social Security umbrella, and it is designed to help people who suffer from blindness, are disabled, or are at least 65-years-old, and who have limited financial resources. SSI is also available for children who have certain diseases or other disabling conditions.
Other Social Security programs require that a person have worked for a certain period of time and made contributions to the program through their paycheck before that person can qualify for the program. This is not the case with SSI benefits, however, because SSI is geared toward people with limited income and resources, and some people in this category simply do not have a long work history.
Like the general goal of Social Security, David Dopkin, Attorney at Law aims to assist clients who are most in need of financial help from government programs. Thus, we focus our Houston-based law practice on working with Social Security programs, including SSI. Our firm counsels people about applying for SSI benefits, and we assist them through every step of the benefits claims process. In addition, we have a website that has useful information about SSI and other Social Security topics.
Although Social Security programs are supposed to help the people who need it most, initiating the process and successfully acquiring benefits is not always easy. This is why those who need benefits should be as fully prepared before moving forward with their claim, which may mean seeking out legal assistance.