Iam on disability and Ive raised my niece for 17 years why doesn't she qualifty for benefits?after all she is a member of my family. Does anyone have an answer for this question?

First its not a good idea to piggyback your question on someone else's. This can lead to confusion. You should start a new thread. So I've moved your question to its own thread.

Second, benefits are generally payable to immediate family. And a niece is not considered immediate family. But the real people to speak to are the Social Security people. Have you ever asked them? If so, what did they say?

One has to look at why you are raising her, why is her biological parents not raising her, and if you have court ordered custody, why the bio parents are not paying you child support for the child.