Bad Decision, Worse Timing: Social Security Reduced as Parents Battle Cancer

Caridad Legere likes to say she and her husband Timothy have been homeschooling their daughter “since she was born” 18 years ago. But completing her education has proven challenging, as both Caridad and Timothy have been undergoing treatment for cancer.

They counted on help from Social Security payments. Timothy has been receiving Social Security payments since he retired about 10 years ago. During this time their daughter (also named Caridad) received Social Security in addition to Timothy’s payments because she is still in school.

When Caridad turned 18 officials threatened to terminate her share of Social Security payments because of a misunderstanding of homeschool law. (Timothy is still receiving the payments he is entitled to since he retired.) HSLDA helped resolve the issue involving Caridad’s payments.

“It was a blessing,” Caridad noted, recalling her relief upon hearing the benefits were being restored. She had worried about their finances since beginning cancer treatment last spring.

Getting it wrong

The crisis began in October when their daughter turned 18. Arizona Social Security officials contacted the Legeres to say their daughter no longer qualified for extra Social Security funds because they mistakenly believed she had reached the age by which she should have completed high school.

Caridad rightly questioned this assertion: Her teen isn’t expected to graduate until May 2025.

“Those guys have no idea how homeschooling works,” she said. “They said there was no real proof my daughter was being schooled full-time.”

The call came during the last week of her chemo and radiation treatments. “I was just beat up,” she said. That’s when she decided to make use of her HSLDA membership. “I told my husband, ‘Let me call HSLDA.’ Having that support available made such a difference.”

One of many cases

Drawing on decades of experience, our legal team quickly assured Caridad that education-related payments don’t stop just because a student turns 18. Social Security regulations stipulate that “benefits continue until your child graduates or until 2 months after they reach age 19, whichever comes first.”

However, officials at the state level are often unaware of how to properly document situations involving homeschooled students who have yet to graduate. As a result, HSLDA is currently working to resolve about 50 cases similar to Caridad’s in multiple states.

We encouraged Caridad to contact officials again with additional information. She did so, presenting the office with copies of state-specific Social Security regulations explaining what constitutes homeschool compliance.

After some back-and-forth, Caridad was invited to submit further documentation about her daughter’s homeschool program. By November, she received news that the benefits had been reinstituted.

‘Such a difference’

“It can be discouraging to face a bureaucracy where homeschooling is not widely understood,” said Beth Taber, HSLDA’s litigation assistant. “So educating one Social Security representative at a time is often the only road forward.”

She helps hundreds of homeschooling families each year with questions related to Social Security. “It is always exciting to have the opportunity to make a difference—and seeing that difference is amazing and a huge honor.”

Peter Kamakawiwoole, HSLDA director of litigation, added that he was especially pleased HSLDA could help the Legeres, who have been stalwart supporters of homeschooling in their community. For many years Caridad organized and ran a new-and-used curriculum sale, which generated funds that were employed to benefit home-educating families. She is also a Hispanic homeschool leader and has helped organize conferences for Hispanic homeschooling parents in Arizona.

“This family has given so much of their lives to the homeschooling community,” he said. “Through the support of our members and friends, we were able to help them in their moment of need—and that’s a real privilege.”

In turn, Caridad said it was a huge relief to have someone advocate for her family during an especially difficult time. She is now focusing on rebuilding her strength and helping her daughter choose from among the several colleges that have offered to enroll her. For several years, the teen has participated in youth civics organizations and wants to study for possible careers in government or as a writer.