The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced that Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients will have the $1,200 emergency COVID-19 relief checks automatically deposited in their bank accounts just as they would normally receive their SSI benefit. Meanwhile, the Internal…
Special Education Law and COVID-19
By Matt Keister, Esq. The closing of schools due to COVID-19 has raised many legitimate special education law concerns and questions among families of children with special needs. Several of these issues are particularly important and deserve some consideration: Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) First, the question of whether schools can meet the continued requirement of…
Crowdfunding for Special Needs Individuals: Good, Bad, or “It’s Complicated”?
Having enough financial resources to support someone with special needs is an ongoing worry for many families. If resources are short, one increasingly popular option is to set up a crowdfunding campaign through such outlets as GoFundMe or Kickstarter. While…
What Happens to an ABLE Account If the Beneficiary Is No Longer Disabled?
It is possible that an individual, once diagnosed as a person with special needs, sometime in the future will no longer qualify as “disabled” according to IRS regulations. The individual’s condition might have improved through remission or medical treatment, for…
Should 529 Funds Be Transferred to an ABLE Account?
Thanks to recent changes in the tax law, families can now make limited transfers from existing 529 accounts to ABLE accounts with no tax consequences. Families with special needs children may be thinking about rolling existing 529 funds into ABLE accounts. Perhaps on…
DOT Issues New Guidance for Travelers with Support Animals
As the number of passengers traveling with service and emotional support animals continues to increase, the federal government has provided some much-needed guidance on airlines’ responsibilities to accommodate people with disabilities. In the past year, multiple major airlines have been…
Disability Rights Groups Challenge New “Public Charge” Immigration Rules
New federal rules are likely to make it significantly harder for people with disabilities to obtain green cards, a change disability advocates fear is an attempt to reinstate exclusionary policies in federal immigration law. So-called “green cards” are permits that allow…
Supporting Your Special Needs Child in School
By Matthew S. Keister, Esq. With summer winding down, back to school preparations are in full swing. For parents and caregivers of children who are candidates for (or are already on) an Individualized Education Program (IEP) plan (for instance, due to intellectual, speech/language,…
The Grandparents’ Gift of Love That Lasts Many Holiday Seasons
It’s a scene familiar to many grandparents: small children in footie pajamas seated around the Christmas tree, tearing open one brightly festooned package after another and greeting the contents with whoops of joy over the model train set or Astronaut…
The Police & Your Disabled Child
The Police & Your Disabled Child A few years ago, we started scheduling regular visits for my daughter, Katarina, with the local fire department. The purpose of the visits were twofold: I’ve tried to teach my daughter to feel comfortable…