Can I apply for SSDI while incarcerated?

Yes! You can’t receive Social Security benefits while incarcerated[1706]—but if you haven’t applied for SSDI before, and you think you may qualify, you can start the application process as early as several months before your release date. Keep in mind that review of an SSDI application can take 3-5 months.[1707] Some prisons and jails have a pre-release agreement with local Social Security offices to make this process easier.

IF THIS IS YOUR SITUATION:

THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

If your facility has a pre-release agreement

    Speak to correctional staff. They may be available to help you complete and submit your SSDI application before your release.
    Correctional staff should also notify the Social Security office about your release date.
    If a pre-release agreement is in place, staff should start working with you several months before your release, and Social Security should then process your application promptly so that your benefits will start shortly after you get out.[1708]

If your facility doesn’t offer pre-release assistance—and/or you have trouble working with correctional staff

    Call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY: 1-800-325-0778) to have application materials mailed to you and get help with them. Be prepared to give your Social Security number and release date.
    If Social Security’s automated phone system doesn’t accept your call, you should ask a non-incarcerated family member to call as an Authorized Representative (“AR”) on your behalf (use the form in Appendix F, PG. 518 to appoint a family member as an AR).
    An SSA representative will set a post-release appointment for you at a local Social Security office, ask you to bring your official release documents, and tell you what else you need to do.[1709]

PLEASE NOTE: If you become disabled while you are incarcerated, you can’t start getting benefits until (1) you’ve been disabled for 5 full calendar months OR (2) one full calendar month has passed after your release date—whichever is later.[1710]

  1. 1706

    20 C.F.R. § 404.468(a) ↑

  2. 1707

    Finding the Key to Successful Transition from Jail or Prison to the Community (2009), Bazelon Center, http://www.bazelon.org/News-Publications/Publications/List/1/CategoryID/7/Level/a/ProductID/17.aspx?SortField
    =ProductNumber%2CProductNumber     ↑

  3. 1708

    Entering the Community After Incarceration—How We Can Help, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10504.pdf; What Prisoners Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf;Arrested? What Happens to Your Benefits?, Bazelon Center, http://www.kitsaPGov.com/pubdef/Forms/LinkClick.Benefits.pdf ↑

  4. 1709

    Benefits Available to Paroling & Discharging Inmates (2011), Prison Law Office, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/BenefitsLetter,Aug2011.pdf; What Prisoners Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf;http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf; Entering the Community After Incarceration—How We Can Help, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10504.pdf; Arrested? What Happens to Your Benefits?, Bazelon Center, http://www.kitsaPGov.com/pubdef/Forms/LinkClick.Benefits.pdf ↑

  5. 1710

    Disability Benefits, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10029.pdf; Jail and Social Security Disability Payments, Disability Advisor, http://www.disabilityadvisor.com/jail-and-social-security-disability-payments/ ↑