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Social Security disability

Disability benefits in Alabama

Social Security rules are the same in every state. This page covers what is different in Alabama: who decides your claim, state money added to SSI, Medicaid, hearings and free help.

You have 60 days to appeal each decision, plus 5 days for mail.

How to appeal a denialAppeal deadline calculator

Who decides your claim in Alabama?

Alabama Disability Determination Service (DDS)

A state office called the Disability Determination Service (DDS) decides the medical part of your Social Security disability claim. Social Security checks the other rules, like work credits and income. Social Security sends your case to DDS after you apply.

Find a Social Security office

Does Alabama add money to SSI?

State Supplementation (Old Age Pensions, Aid to Blind, Aid to Permanently and Totally Disabled)

Alabama's Department of Human Resources (DHR) pays a small state supplement to very few people. It is for people who get less from SSI than they got from Alabama's older aid programs for people who were aged, blind or permanently and totally disabled. SSI replaced those programs in 1974. In July 2026, 18 people in the whole state got it. The average payment was about $57 a month.

Paid by: the state

How to apply
DHR's website does not list an application for this supplement. For questions, contact your county Department of Human Resources (DHR) office.
Contact
Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR)
https://dhr.alabama.gov/

Medicaid in Alabama

If you get SSI in Alabama, you also get Alabama Medicaid. You do not need a separate Medicaid application. Social Security makes the Medicaid decision for the state when it approves your SSI.

Program
Alabama Medicaid
Medicaid agency
Alabama Medicaid Agency
https://medicaid.alabama.gov/
(800) 362-1504 (beneficiaries, toll-free)

State disability and paid leave in Alabama

Alabama has no state-run short-term disability or paid medical leave program listed here.

Hearing offices and federal court in Alabama

4 hearing offices serve Alabama. Hearing office locator (Social Security)

Birmingham, AL Hearing Office

Hearing office

Address
1st Floor, 1200 Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35285
Fax
(833) 968-1654

Florence, AL Hearing Office

Hearing office

Address
Walnut Street Executive Center, 204 South Walnut Street, Suite D, Florence, AL 35630
Fax
(833) 510-0094

Mobile, AL Hearing Office

Hearing office

Address
Suite 200, 550 Government Street, Mobile, AL 36602
Fax
(833) 968-1656

Montgomery, AL Hearing Office

Hearing office

Address
Suite 200, 4344 Carmichael Road, Montgomery, AL 36106
Fax
(833) 499-0271

Federal district court

If you appeal to federal court, you file in the district court that covers your county.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

Court help for people without a lawyer

Counties covered (31)
  • Colbert
  • Franklin
  • Lauderdale
  • Cullman
  • Jackson
  • Lawrence
  • Limestone
  • Madison
  • Morgan
  • Blount
  • Jefferson
  • Shelby
  • Calhoun
  • Clay
  • Cleburne
  • Talladega
  • Bibb
  • Greene
  • Pickens
  • Sumter
  • Tuscaloosa
  • Cherokee
  • DeKalb
  • Etowah
  • Marshall
  • Saint Clair
  • Fayette
  • Lamar
  • Marion
  • Walker
  • Winston

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama

Court help for people without a lawyer

Counties covered (23)
  • Autauga
  • Barbour
  • Bullock
  • Butler
  • Chilton
  • Coosa
  • Covington
  • Crenshaw
  • Elmore
  • Lowndes
  • Montgomery
  • Pike
  • Coffee
  • Dale
  • Geneva
  • Henry
  • Houston
  • Chambers
  • Lee
  • Macon
  • Randolph
  • Russell
  • Tallapoosa

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama

Court help for people without a lawyer

Counties covered (13)
  • Dallas
  • Hale
  • Marengo
  • Perry
  • Wilcox
  • Baldwin
  • Choctaw
  • Clarke
  • Conecuh
  • Escambia
  • Mobile
  • Monroe
  • Washington

Free help in Alabama

Protection & Advocacy agency (P&A)

Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP)

Phone
205-348-4928 (toll-free 800-826-1675, TDD 205-348-9484)

Legal aid

Vocational Rehabilitation (VR)

Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS)

ABLE savings account

Alabama ABLE Savings Plan

More free help across the country →

Good to know in Alabama

  • Alabama's state supplement to SSI is very small and reaches very few people: 18 people in July 2026, with average payments of about $57 a month. It is paid by the Alabama Department of Human Resources, not Social Security. (Alabama DHR Monthly Statistical Report, July 2026)
  • Legal Services Alabama helps people with problems with Social Security and SSI benefits. (Legal Services Alabama)

More RobinClaim guides for Alabama → · All states

Sources

Last checked: November 2026