October 24 – Supporting Employment for Transition-Age Youth with Disabilities: How ABLE Accounts and SSA Work Incentives Can Help!

October 24, 2019, 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. ET

Every October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), a month devoted to the importance of an inclusive workforce that values the skills and talents of people with disabilities. ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts can contribute to disability workforce inclusion by supporting the education and employment goals of qualified individuals with disabilities. In combination with Social Security Administration (SSA) work incentives, ABLE accounts can increase financial self-sufficiency and improve long-term outcomes.

The purpose of this webinar was to educate transition-age youth with disabilities, their families, providers and advocates on how effective use of an ABLE account, in addition to supports and work incentives offered by SSA to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and/or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries, can improve the life trajectory of transition-age youth. 

This webinar covered:

  • What ABLE account are, and how they can support transition-age youth.
  • SSA work incentives specific to transition-age youth.
  • How ABLE accounts and SSA work incentives can be used individually and/or together for transition-age youth.
  • Promising practices to consider.
  • Testimonials from ABLE account owners and parents/guardians of ABLE account owners.
  • Next steps and resources.

This webinar was moderated by Miranda Kennedy, Director, ABLE National Resource Center (ABLE NRC), and included a panel of ABLE-related stakeholders and experts:

  • Laurie Schaller, Disability Benefits Expert, ABLE NRC
  • Kevin Nickerson, Co-Director of the American Dream Employment Network, National Disability Institute
  • ABLE account owners and parents/guardians of ABLE account owners 

We encourage you to check out the resources below and others at ablenrc.org. We will be referencing these resources, but will not be going into deep detail about them on the webinar itself.

Webinar Materials

Presentation Slides
Transcript