Intersectionality and Social Security Age-18 Redetermination: Reducing the Stress and Trauma of Transition for Black Transition-Age Youth with Disabilities.

Abstract

Greater attention is being paid to the transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities. We are also at a period of reckoning with the vestiges of slavery, Jim Crow, and a lack of constitutional protections for Black-identifying persons. The contemporary impact of inequitable access to opportunities, services, and supports that would improve the quality of life of racialized Black individuals has added consequences for Black youth with disabilities. A sub-population of youth with disabilities receives monthly support in the form of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), with a disproportionate number of Black-identifying youth qualifying for SSI. Such youth are impacted by the intersectionality of racism, disability, and poverty. The outcome of an SSI age-18 redetermination can be precarious and occurs in the backdrop of these intersectional forces, impacting the life course of racialized Black youth and their families on a scale that is concerning. The authors describe the time frames of pre age-18 redetermination, age-18 redetermination and post age-18 redetermination in the contexts of intersectionality and transition, and articulate what type of services and supports can reduce the experience of chronic stress in the lives of racialized Black youth facing an SSI age-18 redetermination, and thereby improve the outcomes of these youth as they transition to adulthood.