Federal Programs

A number of federal entitlement programs provide support for individuals with serious mental disorders who are exiting the criminal justice system. Together, these programs allow people to overcome the many barriers they face in re-establishing their lives following incarceration.

• Perhaps the most important of these is the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, providing income support to low-income individuals who are aged, blind or disabled. Individuals who qualify for SSI benefits are generally eligible automatically for Medicaid. To be eligible for SSI on the basis of disability, individuals must have a diagnosed disorder, such as mental illness. Adults must be so disabled that they cannot engage in "substantial gainful activity" by working in any job that is available in the national economy. Juveniles must have "marked and severe" functional limitations when compared with other children of the same age.
• Income support is also available to people with disabilities who have a sufficient prior work history under the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. They are automatically eligible for Medicare health and mental health care benefits two years after they qualify for SSDI. Most people with serious mental disorders are on SSI (either alone or in combination with a small SSDI benefit) because they have a limited work history due to the severity of their illness and the young age at which they became disabled.
• Medicaid provides access to health and mental health treatment, including services to help maintain housing or a job or to continue education. Medicaid also funds case managers, who will assist the person in addressing problems of daily living. Medicaid is a means-tested program and to be eligible adults must meet other eligibility criteria as well.
• Veterans with a disability (including a psychiatric disability) are eligible for both income support and health benefits through the Veterans' Administration. Income support is provided through two programs: Veterans Pensions Benefits (for those with a nonservice-connected disability) and Veterans Compensation (for those with a service-connected disability).
• Individuals who are caretakers of children may be eligible for both cash assistance and services through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF).
• Many individuals with serious mental disorders who have been incarcerated will also be eligible for Food Stamps.⁽⁵⁾

While the details of these federal benefit programs' rules differ as to payment of benefits to individuals who are arrested and held in jail or who are sentenced to jail or prison terms, a general pattern prevails. For the most part, benefits are stopped immediately or soon after the person becomes an inmate of a jail, prison, detention center or other facility operated by a criminal or juvenile justice agency. This rule does not apply to non-secure settings connected with the criminal or juvenile justice systems--for example, when individuals are on probation or parole--or when a court places a juvenile in a psychiatric residential treatment center for treatment.

Several programs have rules that vary to some degree from this general approach. The specific rules for each program are summarized below.⁽⁶⁾

• SSI and SSDI cash payments are generally lost when an individual is incarcerated. SSI benefits are suspended (rather than terminated) for up to 12 months, except for someone incarcerated less than a full calendar month, whose SSI benefit is not affected.

  After 12 months of suspension, SSI benefits are terminated and the individual must apply again.

  To restore suspended SSI benefits, the person must have been released from jail or prison and found to still meet the financial-eligibility requirements of the program. Benefits can be paid as soon as this is determined, and partial benefits are available for the month of release, based on the number of days left in the month. To restore SSI benefits that have been terminated, the individual must submit all the evidence required of a new applicant, including evidence of disability and information that shows financial eligibility.

  SSDI benefits are suspended 30 days after incarceration but are reinstated after release, to begin only with the month after the month the individual was released. For both SSI and SSDI, reinstatement can take weeks.

• Veterans with service-connected disability income continue to receive benefits unless and until convicted of a felony and incarcerated for 60 days or more. Veterans with non-service-connected disability lose benefits if convicted of either a felony or a misdemeanor and incarcerated for 60 days or more. Veterans health benefits are not available while incarcerated, but are available to someone who is on probation, parole or work release or in a halfway house or state hospital.
• TANF assistance payments cease as soon as an individual is no longer a custodial parent--i.e., upon incarceration.
• Food stamps also are unavailable to incarcerated individuals.

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