Providence, Rhode Island
Providence Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI
Downard & Associates represents adults in Providence, Rhode Island, with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applications and appeals. We work with clients by phone or video, help gather medical evidence, and prepare for administrative hearings. Start with a list of your treatment providers and the work tasks your condition limits. If you have already received a denial, have the complete decision available so we can discuss the next stage.
How we help
How We Help With a Providence Application or Appeal
If the case reaches an administrative law judge, we develop the medical record, help you prepare for the hearing, and present the legal argument.
For a new SSDI or SSI claim, we help prepare the application and gather medical evidence. The treatment history and work information should describe what happened and how your condition affects your activities.
At reconsideration, we address the reasons for the initial denial and add missing evidence. If the case reaches an administrative law judge, we develop the medical record, help you prepare for the hearing, and present the legal argument.
We handle SSDI cases for people who currently receive VA benefits, but we do not handle VA claims or appeals. We do not take disability cessation or continuing disability review cases, or new cases involving back-pay issues alone. We refer federal court appeals to a trusted affiliate rather than handling them in-house.
Our Rhode Island disability representation page provides the broader state context. You can discuss your claim with us by phone or video.
Benefit eligibility
SSDI and SSI Eligibility for Providence Adults
Duration rule
12months
SSDI generally requires enough total and recent work covered by Social Security, plus a qualifying disability. The required work credits depend on your age when the disability began. Younger workers may qualify with fewer credits. For statutory blindness, the recent-work test does not apply, but the total-work requirement still does. The Social Security Administration (SSA) explains the rules in its disability eligibility guidance.
SSI has separate financial rules for income and countable resources. It also requires eligibility based on age 65 or older, blindness, or disability, along with citizenship or eligible immigration status and other program requirements. SSI does not require an SSDI insured-work record.
For SSDI and adult SSI claims based on disability, SSA evaluates whether a medically determinable condition prevents substantial gainful activity, meaning significant physical or mental work of a kind usually done for pay or profit. Both the condition and the resulting inability to perform that work must generally have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 consecutive months, unless the condition is expected to result in death within 12 months of disability onset. SSA uses a sequential evaluation. It considers past work and adjustment to other work when the claim reaches those steps; some claims are decided earlier. You do not need to wait 12 months before applying.
SSI based on statutory blindness is different. SSA does not use substantial gainful activity to determine initial SSI eligibility for statutory blindness. SSI statutory blindness has no duration requirement. Income, resource, and other SSI requirements still apply. SSA’s SSI eligibility explanation describes the program’s categories.
Local claim process
How Rhode Island DDS Reviews Providence Medical Evidence
Rhode Island’s Disability Determination Services, or DDS, is part of the state’s Office of Rehabilitation Services. SSA handles the application and nonmedical eligibility review. DDS collects medical evidence and evaluates medical and vocational factors for the disability determination.
For your Providence claim, identify each doctor, clinic, and hospital that treated the conditions affecting your work. Include dates and contact information. A complete treatment list helps identify the sources of evidence for the medical review; it is different from the employment or financial information SSA needs for the program’s nonmedical requirements.
Treatment records
Requesting Rhode Island Hospital Records in Providence
If you received care at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, Brown University Health’s medical records instructions identify the hospital’s records department and authorization forms. Select the instructions for the facility that treated you and specify the relevant treatment period.
Brown University Health lists a separate resource for requesting medical images and reports. If a test is part of your treatment history, note where it was performed and whether you need the written report, the images, or both. Coordinate record requests with your representative so the requests match the evidence needed for your claim.
Get organized
Build a Treatment and Work Summary for Your Providence Claim
Include specialists and facilities outside Providence if they treated a relevant condition.
Use this checklist before discussing an application or appeal. It organizes your information without requiring you to finish every records request first.
List each treatment source, its contact information, and the dates you received care. Include specialists and facilities outside Providence if they treated a relevant condition.
Record the dates and locations of important tests, hospital stays, and procedures. Mark records you already have and requests still outstanding.
Write down your medications and the clinicians who prescribed them. Note side effects that affect your activities.
Describe your recent jobs by their duties, such as lifting, standing, sitting, remembering instructions, or maintaining a schedule. Note when your condition changed those duties or caused you to stop working.
If you have been denied, keep the full decision, its envelope if available, and a note of when it arrived. Separate the reasons for denial from any later evidence you have collected.
After a denial
Responding to a Providence SSDI or SSI Denial
Deadline
60days
For an initial SSDI or SSI denial, reconsideration generally must be requested in writing within 60 days after you receive the notice. After a reconsideration denial, a written request for an administrative law judge hearing generally has the same 60-day receipt-based period. SSA presumes receipt five days after the notice date unless you show it arrived later. Read the appeal instructions in your decision rather than treating every SSA letter as having the same deadline.
If that deadline has passed, request an extension in writing and explain why the appeal was late. SSA evaluates whether there was good cause; an extension is not automatic. Its good-cause rules address circumstances such as serious illness, failure to receive the notice, and limitations that prevented a timely request.
If your appeal reaches a hearing, our hearing-office guide provides office information. Follow SSA’s scheduling notice for your own hearing instructions.
Common questions
Providence Questions About Records and Representation
Can I work with Downard while staying in Providence?
Yes. We represent adults in Providence with SSDI and SSI matters and work with clients by phone or video. Client conversations are separate from SSA’s arrangements for attending a hearing.
Does Rhode Island DDS decide whether I meet SSI financial rules?
SSA handles the nonmedical requirements, including SSI financial eligibility. Rhode Island DDS evaluates the medical and vocational evidence for the disability determination. Meeting the medical standard does not replace the program’s other requirements.
Should I wait until all of my medical records arrive before applying?
SSA says to apply as soon as you become disabled and not to delay an application because some documents are missing. Keep an accurate treatment list and identify the records still outstanding so the application can move forward while evidence is gathered.
Can my Social Security hearing take place remotely?
SSA lists four hearing methods: in person, audio by telephone, agency video using SSA equipment, and online video using your own device. Online video requires your agreement. The appearance notice explains how and when to agree to online video or object to audio, agency video, or both. Objections are subject to SSA rules and exceptions. Follow your scheduling notice for the method and location. SSA’s hearing-options guidance explains the process.
Discuss your claim
Discuss Your Providence SSDI or SSI Claim
Contact Downard & Associates to discuss where your claim stands and the treatment and work information you have. We can help with an application, reconsideration, or administrative hearing within our service scope.