Credit where credit is due. The Boston Globe is publishing a major three-part story by staff reporter Patricia Wen that is highly critical of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Part One on Sunday's front-page bore the title, "A legacy of unintended side effects" that seemed designed to appeal to the dozen or so conservative Globe readers.Wen describes the federal SSI program as a "little-scrutinized $10 billion federal disability program has gone seriously astray, becoming an alternative welfare system with troubling built-in incentives that risk harm to children."The Globe's summary of the series:The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for children was created mainly for those with severe physical disabilities. But the $10 billion in federal benefit checks now goes primarily to indigent children with behavioral, learning and mental conditions. Qualifying is not always easy -- many applicants believe it is essential that a child needs to be on...(Read Full Post)