What Services Are Available For Adults With Disabilities?
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Adult Services, The Missing Piece
The laws protecting people with disabilities are actually pretty good from birth to age 22– and pretty decent for college.
It is after that that the problems start. The only federal law still in effect is ADA. ADA gets you curb cuts and elevators, not services.
The bleak answer is that if you are poor, there is little after age 22. And many, many adults with disabilities wind up in jail. About 40% of people in jail have disabilities (from Prison Policy Org). About 23% of prisoners have an intellectual disability according to the Office of Justice Programs.
The truth is that we don’t serve adults with disabilities well. Adults with disabilities are three times more likely than the rest of the population to commit suicide (per the CDC).
Some communities have stepped up and offer amazing programs– but the federal protections and federally mandated programs stop at age 22.
And for adults with more significant disabilities, there is an enormous gap. Below are some of the programs sort of filling the gap. It is not a complete list so email admin@spedhelper.org with more to include!
Adult Services
Federal Services: SSDI
The major law protecting adults with disabilities is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). ADA guarantee physical access to spaces, not services. However, there are a few programs that often benefit adults with disabilities.
The first is SSDI or Social Security Disability Insurance. SSDI explains what is offered and who qualifies like this:
“Social Security pays benefits to people who can’t work because they have a medical condition that’s expected to last at least one year or result in death. Certain members of your family may be eligible for benefits based on your work history. They include:…
•Your spouse at any age, if he or she is caring for a child of yours who is younger than age 16 or who is disabled.
…
• Your unmarried child, age 18 or older, if he or she has a disability that started before age 22. The child’s disability must also meet the definition of disability for adults.”
This can be challenging for families to get. What they get is a small monthly payment. If the person with a disability works for a wage, that can impact the amount they get from SSDI. The amount that people get from SSDI varies based on the payments into Social Security by the parent– a parent has to have paid into Social Security for their child to get benefits from it.
Federal Services: Medicaid
Many adults with disabilities get health insurance and supports from Medicaid. In fact, per Kaiser Family Foundation, 35% of adults with disabilities of any kind have Medicaid for their health insurance.
Just like with SSDI, not all adults with disabilities will qualify– but for those who do, Medicaid can be a life saving program.
State: Voc Rehab Programs
States often have some form of state programs to support adults with more significant disabilities.
For example, in California, vocational rehabilitation centers provide services like supported employment, independent living centers, and day programs for adults to go to while their care giver works. Massachusetts provides similar services through voc rehab centers. Other states invest less in these programs. For example, New Hampshire’s voc rehab primarily focuses on job training without the additional programs offered in other states.
Non-Profits
Many non-profits have stepped in to provide more services across the country for adults with disabilities.
One of the key ones is the Easter Seals. Easter Seals will often help with supported employment (where someone goes to work with you to bridge the gap) and other key areas of need.
Paid Services
There is often still a gap for families and adults with disabilities. Many communities have paid for-profit or non-profit organizations offering adult day care, transportation, and other key supports that the local, state, and federal communities have neglected to provide.
Advocacy Groups
This is a key area of advocacy for and by individuals with disabilities. The Arc has been around a long time and has good information on their website. However, almost all local communities have disability advocacy organizations created by local community members. To learn more, reach out to someone in your community about what options exist for adults near you.
