The Bonilla family is one of thousands of low-income families who will suffer from steep budget cuts.

The state estimates that the children of 9,100 families with parents so severely disabled that they qualify for federal Supplemental Security Income benefits will lose their state cash assistance as a result of the $600 million in budget cuts that Governor Deval Patrick announced late last month. The $15.8 million reduction of the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, on top of $8 million in cuts made earlier this fiscal year, means families who receive the assistance will lose an average of more than $400 a month.

“I don’t want to be out on the streets,’’ said Bonilla, of Boston, whose family will lose $238 in state assistance Jan. 1, and she cannot work because of her heart. “That little amount of money helps a lot. If they take it away, my kids will suffer. I’m scared.’’

State officials said that they regret having to make the cuts but that the state budget is in such bad shape that they have no choice. While they acknowledge the pain, they said the cuts avoid eliminating programs and preserve the state’s workforce of case managers.

“In the face of unprecedented economic challenges, the governor has had to make some very difficult budget decisions,’’ said Jennifer Kritz, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. “We recognize that there is a person behind every dollar; however, the governor has needed to make adjustments in order to close a significant budget gap. . . .. We are working with our community partners and other stakeholders to minimize the impact.’’

Advocates for low-income families contend that the cuts are unwise because federal stimulus dollars could reimburse the state up to 80 percent of the cost of paying the benefits, or $19 million of the $24 million eliminated. But Kritz said state officials are “confident that we will be able to identify other qualifying state funds’’ so Massachusetts does not lose federal money.

The advocates say the cuts mean that more families are likely to lose their homes, exacerbating the strain on the budget. In recent months the state has seen record numbers of homeless families, with 2,000 families packing state shelters and another 1,035 families living in state-subsidized motel rooms as of this week. It costs the state on average $36,000 a year to shelter a family.

“Just at the time the administration has vowed to end homelessness, hundreds of additional families will become homeless,’’ said Ruth Bourquin, a lawyer at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. “The state’s shelter system is already overwhelmed by demand. The last thing we need is to jeopardize the tenancies of disabled parents and their children, families who often have extra expenses due to disabilities and need to be residing close to their medical providers.’’

In addition to the cuts, which do not affect the other 41,000 families who receive transitional aid, the state will require parents who are capable of working and whose youngest child is between ages 6 and 9 will have to work 30 hours a week to get benefits, six more than required now. The advocates say the additional work requirement could lead to more families losing benefits.

“This cut is a prime example of the truly vicious cycle that we are in,’’ said Marylou Sudders, president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. “Pulling basic supports from children whose parents are so severely disabled will surely increase the number of children who end up in the care and custody of the Commonwealth. . . . The results, especially for the children, cannot help but be tragic.’’

The advocates say about 40 percent of the affected families have no housing subsidy and are unlikely to be able to afford rent. The rest of them will have to scrimp to pay for basic necessities, such as clothing, transportation, and medical supplies.

For Nasim Aziz-Rivera of Worcester, who has not been able to work since injuring his back in 2003 working for the Homeland Security Department, the cuts mean a loss of $199 a month for his family, or more than 20 percent of their cash assistance.

As a result, Aziz-Rivera, his wife, and their 6-year-old daughter are worried about how they will pay for basics, such as food. The 46-year-old said his wife, who earns less than $11 an hour working about 12 hours a week in school cafeterias, will seek more hours.

“It’s very hard,’’ he said. “It’s very hard to see your daughter, all three of us, in a situation that I don’t think any human being should be in.’’

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.