The importance of schools in driving children’s applications for disability benefits

•COVID school closures led to reductions in child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applications.•Declines in applications mostly occurred in families with no prior connection to SSI.•Disruptions to referrals from staff and to networks likely drove the reduction.•School closures can explain a substantial share of pandemic-related declines in child SSI applications. We explore how schools affect children’s applications to Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools varied in offering virtual or in-person learning during the 2020–21 school year. We use this variation to better understand the way schools, potentially through teacher referrals and informal networks, influence SSI applications. We find that applications were nearly 20 percent lower in counties with virtual learning relative to counties where all learning was in-person. Subgroup analysis suggests that school staff, likely through offering identification and referral services, and informal networks were mechanisms contributing to these differentials.