Social Security Administration officials want to make sure that children who are receiving disability benefits are entitled to them and want a study done to determine if fraud and abuse are occurring.

The SSA administrator said that nationwide, families can receive about $600 monthly if they have disabled children. Yet some federal officials fear that parents are making false claims regarding healthy children to get the benefits.

Using figures from a county in one state as an example, 5,016 people younger than age 18 received Supplemental Security Income benefits in December 2010. Cities in that county, a congressman said, face low incomes and high unemployment.

The SSA administrator said that a decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court about two decades ago states that Social Security officials must judge children's claims for disability in the same manner it assesses for adults. But the standards for adults often are related to an ability to work and can't necessarily help to determine a child's eligibility. He added that Social Security must constantly assess the medical conditions required to qualify for disability benefits.

Some parents, officials said, claim children who really have no physical difficulties, but suffer from social and behavioral impairments. While the administrator said he recognizes that financial times are tough, Social Security should not be confused with other sorts of public assistance.

Retirements and disability filings have grown by 30 percent since the start of the recession. And just as with other government agencies, Social Security is facing cutbacks and has seen its staff of 65,000 reduced by 7,000 over the past two years. There will be less face time with Americans and more work done online and via the telephone.

Parents should never feel intimidated into not applying for disability benefits for their children. It is the government's responsibility to root out fraud in the system, and parents with sick or disabled children should not be punished by extra delays because of a few bad actors.

Source: The Republican, "Social Security and Supplemental Security Income for children raise questions for U.S. Rep. Richard Neal," Jim Kinney, Feb. 13, 2012