Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 116

Richard Lord

Nearly 30 percent
of families raising a
child with a disability
live in poverty.

106? Chapter 3

The SSI program for children currently provides income assistance to 1.3 million children
with serious disabilities. This is about 20 percent of all U.S. children with serious disabilities,
and about 1.7 percent of all children in the country.74 At a congressional hearing on the program
in 2011, Katie Bentley, the mother of a ten-year-old disabled child from Covington, Kentucky,
explained the value of the SSI program to her family.75 Ms. Bentley’s son Will has a wide range
of disabilities as a result of lesions on his brain: the inability to use his hands due to delayed
motor skills; difficulty interpreting things he touches, smells, or hears; and speech delay because
of impairments in the muscles needed to form words. The income assistance the family receives
through SSI [a total of $710 in 2013]
has helped improve the quality of
Will’s life. For example, it allowed
Ms. Bentley to reduce her work
hours so that she can provide more
of the care that Will needs. “At one
time, Will was unable to do anything
for himself,” Ms. Bentley said. Now
he can write his name and has begun
l