Follow-Up Lacking in Coveted Benefit

HOLYOKE, Mass. — Her toddler was adorable and rambunctious, but his vocabulary was limited to "Mommy" and "that," while other children his age knew dozens of words. When little Alfonso tried a full sentence it came out in a swirl of sounds, often followed by a major league tantrum when he realized he was not understood. And so his mother, Roxanne Roman, was not surprised when the 18-month-old was diagnosed by a specialist with speech delay.
It came as a shock, however, when she learned from relatives that Alfonso's problem might qualify him for thousands of dollars in yearly disability payments through the federal Supplemental Security Income program. For Roman, pregnant with her second child at age 17 and living at her mother's, the extra income was attractive. She wanted to rent her own place.
Within three months, the boy's application was approved. Alfonso receives $700 in monthly cash benefits, plus free government-paid medical coverage. Roman said her relatives told her she can pretty much count on the disability checks for Alfonso, now 5, to keep arriving in the mailbox for the rest of his childhood.
Alfonso is part of the wave of very young children swelling the ranks of this $10 billion disability program — once primarily for those with severe physical disabilities but now dominated by children with behavioral, learning, and mental disorders. Children under 5 are the fastest-growing age group qualifying for SSI benefits, representing four of every 10 new cases, according to data obtained from the Social Security Administration, which runs the program.