TRANSITION: Independent Living Resources

What you need to know about your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) when you turn 18
This booklet is for youth who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and their parents, teachers, health providers, caregivers, or representatives. Contains information on how SSI could change when someone turns 18 as they prepare to transition to higher education and employment.

Renting with Disabilities
The Tenant Resource Center provides tips for tenants with disabilities—things to help, things to think about, things to watch out for.

New Fact Sheets Explain Laws That Protect People with Disabilities 
Staff at the Research and Training Center on Promoting Interventions for Community Living (RTC/PICL) has created six new fact sheets to inform people with disabilities about their rights under U.S. laws.

Car Insurance for Drivers with Disabilities
The ADA makes it illegal to charge disabled drivers more for auto insurance. This site helps drivers with the challenges that accompany driving with a disability to find the best coverage for the best price.

Prepare for Emergencies Now: Information for People with Disabilities
Your ability to recover from an emergency tomorrow may depend on the planning and preparation you do today. This guide provides tips which individuals with disabilities and others with access and functional needs, and the people who assist and support them, can take to prepare for emergencies before they happen.

Individuals with Disabilities
After a disaster, you may not have access to a medical facility or even a drugstore, so it’s crucial to plan for the resources you use regularly, and what you would do if those resources are limited or not available.

Home Ownership for People with Disabilities
Buying a home often presents an entirely unique set of challenges. The Simple Dollar provides this fully accessible guide to home loans for people with disabilities.

20 Incredible Colleges for Students With Special Needs
A disability shouldn’t stand in the way of getting a college degree. These days, it’s easier than ever for special needs students to find the help they need, as more and more institutions work to understand their disabilities.

Loans, Scholarships, and Financial Aid for Students
The Federal government is the single largest source of financial assistance for postsecondary education for students with or without disabilities. Students with disabilities should consider all types of funding sources since many scholarships are not disability specific.

The Right to Make Choices: International Laws and Decision-Making by People with Disabilities
A Partner Resource | This Easy-Read Edition from ASAN defines Guardianship and explains its implications as well as introduces the idea of Supported Decision-Making as an alternative.

Just what is supported decision-making?
Interactive map allows users to find information and resources on guardianship laws by clicking on the various states.

ILRU Directory of Centers for Independent Living (CILs) and Associations
This complete listing of CILs throughout the US and UD Territories, is updated and published by the CIL-NET and includes an interactive map and an alphabetic list of states and territories to focus a search.

Supported Decision Making and Alternatives to Guardianship
An RSA-PTI Resource | The REACH project provides information and strategies to help parents, family organizations, and providers support youth/young adults in making their own choices and decisions.

Cents and Sensibility: A Guide to Money Management
The Financial Education page on the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation website provides the following resources to help people make more informed decisions about managing their personal finances and take control of their financial future: Cents and Sensibility: a guide to money management; Cents and Sensibility Educator Companion Manual; and Financial Fundamentals: Discussion Starters for Youth, which is used by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education.

Ten Tips That May Help Your Child’s Transition to Adulthood
An RSA-PTI Resource | This tip sheet from the PACER Center discusses planning for a child’s transition from adolescence to adulthood. The document explains Minnesota’s transition planning and services requirements in the Individualized Education Program (IEP).

The ABLE Act and Employment: Strategies for Maximizing the Effectiveness of the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act as a Tool for Financial Stability and Employment Outcomes of People with Disabilities
The LEAD Center produced this brief to demonstrate how provisions in the ABLE Act can be combined with federal benefit services and other federal programs and initiatives to further competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities. Contains a list of the provisions of the ABLE Act, their impact on the financial self-sufficiency and employment opportunities of persons with disabilities, and recommendations on how to best utilize the ABLE Act to maximize these outcomes.

Developing Financial Capability Among Youth
An RSA-PTI Resource | This RAISE webinar discusses how developing the capacity to manage financial resources effectively is an important part of preparing for adulthood. Focuses on how families have significant influence over youth’s financial knowledge and can assist them in practicing money management and decision making skills.

Serving People with Disabilities in the Most Integrated Setting: Community Living and Olmstead
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1999 landmark decision in Olmstead v. L.C. (Olmstead) plays a pivotal role in promoting community living through our vigorous enforcement of the ADA and other key civil rights laws.