Shortly before homeschooled student Sylvie Heller turned 18, she received a message from the Social Security Administration marking that important milestone with a shocking accusation. Officials claimed she owed $12,000.
The debt notice represented the opposite of what Amber Heller (names changed for privacy) had been trying to achieve on behalf of her daughter. Weeks before Sylvie’s January birthday, Amber had filed the paperwork to extend her daughter’s Social Security benefits until the spring, when the teen is expected to graduate.
Amber visited the local Michigan Social Security office to resolve the mistake but was rebuffed. So she reached out to HSLDA for help.
Our legal team worked with the federal agency and helped Amber contact her US congresswoman for assistance. Together, these efforts yielded a positive result.
“We’re so pleased to have been able to sort out this situation on behalf of the family,” said Peter Kamakawiwoole, HSLDA director of litigation. “Many local Social Security officials don’t necessarily understand homeschool law, which can often lead to the wrongful denial of benefits and severe hardship for the family.”
Status under the Law
When Sylvie’s father retired, she qualified for Social Security benefits because she was still in school. These payments typically end when a student turns 18 but can be extended until age 19-and-two-months for those who have not yet graduated and attend classes full-time.
In her application to extend Sylvie’s benefits, Amber did her best to prove her daughter was enrolled in a legitimate homeschool program under state law, but to no avail.
“They kept saying Sylvie was not a full-time student,” Amber recalled. “But she is.”
Even worse than the refusal to extend Sylvie’s benefits was a letter claiming she had been overpaid and needed to refund the excess.
“It was so distressing,” Amber said.
After Amber contacted HSLDA, our team helped her prepare an appeals package to send to the Social Security office. Among the key documents we included was a statement of compliance outlining Michigan homeschool law and assuring officials that Amber’s program fulfilled these requirements. We also filed an attendance schedule and course list demonstrating that Sylvie was indeed meeting the 20-hour-per-week threshold for full-time status.
Joining Forces
By July, six months had passed with no response from Social Security officials. So we helped Amber reach out to her congresswoman, US Rep. Hillary Scholten.
“In our letter,” said Beth Tabor, HSLDA senior litigation assistant, “we made sure to explain how this situation was causing a financial and emotional hardship for the family.”
Scholten’s office contacted the Social Security officials within her congressional district, which apparently prompted them to reconsider the appeals packet HSLDA had helped Amber compile.
By August, Sylvie’s benefits had been reinstated, and she received back payments dating to January when her eligibility had been mistakenly revoked.
“I’m really thankful to HSLDA,” Amber said. She noted that she’d been reading about similar cases that had taken years to resolve and had warned her daughter to prepare for a very long battle. “I told Sylvie this might take forever. We were really happy that it didn’t.”