A new report warns that recent changes at the Social Security Administration under the Trump administration have made it harder for many of the nation’s most vulnerable people to access the benefits they need. Researchers from California State University, Sacramento, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the State University of New York at Binghamton conducted interviews with attorneys, benefits specialists, and others who assist applicants. Their findings suggest that people who are poor, disabled, or otherwise reliant on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are now at greater risk of financial instability, homelessness, food insecurity, and even suicidal thoughts.
The report highlights staffing reductions, updated phone systems, and policy tweaks as key drivers of these struggles. While retirement benefits for more than 50 million Americans appear unaffected, SSI recipients in particular are facing new hurdles. Advocates note that people who lack reliable internet access or who need face-to-face help are running into shortened office visits and long delays. In some cases, clients have been told that appointments must be limited to ten minutes—often too short to address the complex problems that come with SSI eligibility. Phone calls to field offices are also proving difficult, with lawyers being redirected to unfamiliar offices that cannot help with their cases.
The population affected by these changes is especially vulnerable. Of the 5 million people who receive SSI, nearly 900,000 have intellectual disabilities, 800,000 have autism or other developmental disorders, and another 350,000 live with schizophrenia. Strict financial rules mean these recipients can’t have more than $2,000 in the bank, creating an extremely fragile financial safety net. Advocates warn that when benefits are suddenly cut off—sometimes without warning—families are pushed into dire circumstances. Attorneys in cities like Philadelphia and Denver have already reported cases where their clients face eviction or homelessness after payments stopped.
The SSA points to improvements, such as reducing the backlog of disability claims and implementing electronic verification for wages and assets, which it says reduces burdens for claimants and improves accuracy. Agency officials also claim customer satisfaction remains high, with 90 percent of callers reporting positive experiences. In an interview, SSA commissioner Frank Bisignano emphasized the agency’s growing online capacity, noting that it handles trillions of digital transactions daily compared to far fewer in-person visits.
Still, critics argue the changes are compounding long-standing difficulties with the SSI system. Benefits specialists say the process has not become easier but significantly harder, leaving many applicants so discouraged they give up altogether. Some lawyers and advocates are especially concerned that disabled clients—those least able to navigate bureaucratic hurdles—are bearing the brunt of the fallout. The researchers suggest that while the SSA has succeeded in improving certain operational metrics, the human cost of these reforms is mounting among the nation’s poorest citizens.