News and Updates from the Illinois State Treasurer's ABLE Plan
IL ABLE Brochure Now Available in Spanish
The IL ABLE “Students with IEPs” brochure is now available in Spanish. Special education teachers and staff can share the brochure with Spanish-speaking students, parents, and guardians during annual Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings.
The brochure explains how an IL ABLE disability savings account can help eligible students and their families save for qualified disability-related expenses while protecting important public benefits.
Watch how he “Makes It Happen with His IL ABLE Account”
Receiving public benefits shouldn’t be a barrier to working. Check out Michael’s story: he works and maintains his benefits while saving money with his IL ABLE Account.
Pre-recorded webinar: ABLE Savings Plans Network (ASPN) webinar – ABLE Accounts: A New Tool to Support People with Disabilities – Your Employees & Your Community is now available.
Employment training is front and center.
Treasurer Frerichs recently visited Chicago’s Gateway to Learning (GTL) to observe participants with intellectual and developmental disabilities as they build job skills in food preparation, baking, and customer service in GTL’s commercial kitchen and Dorothy’s Can-Do Bakery & Cafe. While there, he heard first-hand from the program’s participants about their work and the impact of GTL’s programs.
Read More “Treasurer Frerichs’s Visit to Gateway to Learning”
Celebrate the contributions of workers with disabilities and help advance workforce access and equity.
Every October, we celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) and the diverse contributions of America’s workers with disabilities. With NDEAM’s theme “Advancing Access & Equity,” this month is a good time for workplaces to recognize and ensure that people with disabilities have equal opportunity to contribute their skills and talents – that means inclusive employment and workplace policies that benefit employees and employers alike.
Treasurer Frerichs visits the Open Door Rehabilitation Center’s Lemon Shake Up Stand.
A few raindrops didn’t get in the way of Treasurer Frerichs having a great time visiting the Open Door RehabilitationCenter’s (ODRC) Lemon Shakeup stand at the Sandwich Fair on September 8. While there, the Treasurer met with staff, volunteers, and clients of the disability services organization, some of whom own IL ABLE accounts. ODRC has a long history of serving fresh lemonade and pizza at the Sandwich Fair every year.
Students with IEPs are to receive information about IL ABLE at their annual meeting.
Parents, guardians, and others who support students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) should receive the IL ABLE brochure at their student’s annual IEP meeting. Starting this school year, schools are required to provide IL ABLE information to students and their supporters at the annual IEP meeting. (English IEP Brochure | Spanish IEP Brochure)
Read More “New at School: Students with IEPs to Receive IL ABLE Information at Annual Meetings”
Watch and hear how they “Make It Happen with Their IL ABLE Account”
IL ABLE’s “I Make It Happen with My IL ABLE Account” video campaign has launched! Six IL ABLE Account Owners share their stories about the benefits of owning an IL ABLE Account. A new video story will be released each month featuring IL ABLE Account Owners talking about how they use the money in their IL ABLE Accounts.
Read More “Service Animals: IL ABLE Account Owners Tell Their Stories”
IL ABLE at the Disability Pride Parade
It was a great day for the Disability Pride Parade in Chicago on July 22. This year marked the 20th anniversary of the event. The Chicago Disability Pride Parade’s mission is to promote pride among people with disabilities and celebrate disability as a “natural and beautiful part of human diversity.”
New law requires Illinois public schools to share information at annual IEP meetings.
It’s back to school! Did you know that, with this new school year, parents and guardians of Illinois public school students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) must now receive information about IL ABLE Accounts during their students’ annual IEP meetings?
Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs has partnered with the Illinois State Board of Education to ensure that the estimated 290,000 Illinois public school students who have IEPs – many of whom are eligible to own an IL ABLE Account –will receive information about IL ABLE Accounts at every annual IEP meeting. This is thanks to legislation, sponsored by Sen. David Koehler of Peoria and Rep. Dagmara “Dee” Avelar of Bolingbrook, which passed unanimously with bipartisan support.