The Basics
Work makes life better. If you, as a parent, make work part of your child’s plan now, your child will be much more likely to work as an adult.
Talk about work with your child and your child’s entire support network, including your child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) team, guidance counselors, teachers, mentors, case managers, family members, and friends. They all need to know that work is in your child’s future.
Together, you can be a team with a shared vision, so you are all exploring options, developing skills, and looking for job opportunities for your child.
Having a job early is one of the best ways to build future employment success. It could be a part-time weekend gig or a summer job. Any job where your child is making minimum wage or better is a good start.
A job offers real work experience and employers are especially patient with young employees; they know that a first job is how a young person learns what work is all about.
If anybody says that your child can’t or shouldn’t work, show them DB101’s article Work is Possible.
Learn more
Get Everybody Thinking About Work
Expectations are a key. If your child, you, and his or her support network all have work as the goal, everybody will work harder to make it happen.
Explore Options with Your Child
Help your child start thinking about work:
- DB101’s Finding the Right Job for You article can help your child think about what type of work he or she might like.
- Help your child find a mentor or role model. This person can help with advice and support that can make work more realistic.
- Give your child chores. They teach your child skills and to assume responsibility.
- Get your child involved in the community. Social experiences, summer camps, volunteer projects, community education classes, and internships all teach aspects of what work is like and let your child meet more people who might help with work in the future.
- Encourage your child to enjoy hobbies. Activities like sewing, cooking, woodworking, or anything else can teach skills, enrich life, create job possibilities, and help develop relationships that may lead to work.
- Introduce your child to the local America's Job Center of California (AJCC) (One-Stop), also called a One-Stop. It’s a good place to see what types of strategies other people with disabilities use to find and keep work.
It’s hard to teach a child to make decisions and take actions independently. At age 14, your child will not be making every decision, but as your child gets older, graduates high school, and reaches age 18, he or she needs to be ready to handle the broader world. Knowing how to make decisions and take action are key skills for personal and work success. Starting early with small steps will build future success.
Learn more about the child-parent relationship in DB101’s Start Planning Now article.
Make Work a Part of Your Child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP)
If your child is still in middle school or high school, he or she probably has an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Make sure that your child’s IEP team knows that your child’s long-term objective as an adult is work and make it a part of the IEP Transition Plan. For example, the IEP could increase its focus on developing work skills, such as reading with understanding, using technology, and having interest-based work experiences.
Connect with the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR)
A counselor from the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) can help your child integrate work into his or her IEP transition plan. Usually, this happens when your child is two years away from graduating high school, but if your child is ready to work earlier, a Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) counselor can help any time after your child turns 16. DOR also has services for people who are blind or visually impaired, and services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Your child can apply for services at the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) directly or can be referred to DOR by a high school counselor, the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), a behavioral health clinic, or an America's Job Center of California (AJCC) (One-Stop). For students ages 16 – 21, DOR's services are called "DOR Student Services."
After high school, your child’s IEP will end, but DOR may still help your child with counseling, training, job skills, and job placement. DOR also has Work Incentives Planners (WIPs) who can help your child understand how work affects benefits.
Learn more about DOR Student Services and DOR's other services for young people.
Make Work Part of Your Child’s Community Service and Support Plan
If your child has a county case manager, make sure the case manager knows work is in your child’s future and discuss what employment supports the county will offer as your child becomes an adult. You can also work with the case manager to develop a vision for your child’s life as an adult, including both work and other aspects of adult life.
It can be scary when your child actually reaches the goal of finding a job. Read DB101’s Working article with your child, so that you can both learn more about how to make a first job successful.
Learn more
Resources
Learn More on DB101
For more about how to support your child as he or she looks for a job and gets one, read DB101’s articles:
- Start Planning Now, which covers many of the basic issues faced by young people with disabilities as they become adults.
- Finding a Job, which discusses the processes involved in deciding what sorts of work to look for and strategies for finding that work.
- Working, which looks at what happens after your child gets a job and includes valuable suggestions about making sure work goes well.
- Four Ways Benefits Support Work, which looks at why your child will be better off when working.
- Use DB101’s School and Work Estimator to get a sense of how work could impact your child’s benefits.
Getting Help with Your Benefits
If you get Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), or Childhood Disability Benefits (CDB), and you're looking for a job, a trained Benefits Planner can help you avoid problems with your job plan. If you need help or have questions about your situation, you can call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY), Monday through Friday.
View DB101's full list of experts who can help you understand different benefits.
Community-Based Organizations
Various community-based organizations guide people through state, federal, public, and private health and income programs. Some organizations may work with specific populations while others work with people with any type of disability. Here are a few examples
Goodwill Industries services range from personal evaluation and office skills training to career counseling, childcare, and transportation. Some Goodwill Industries centers also do benefits planning for people who get SSI, SSDI, and Medicare. Find locations at www.Goodwill.org, or by calling (voice) 1-800-466-3945.
The California Foundation for Independent Living Centers lists centers serving people with all disabilities. Many of these centers do benefits planning for people who get SSI, SSDI, and Medicare. If they don't offer benefits planning themselves, Independent Living Centers can refer you to local benefits planners. Find the list of independent living centers at www.CFILC.org, or by calling (voice) 1-916-325-1690 or (TTY) 1-916-325-1695.
The California Department of Public Health's Office of AIDS lists 1,300 organizations offering HIV/AIDS services throughout California. Some of these organizations provide case management, benefits planning, and benefits counseling services that can include help with public and private benefits programs. You can search the list online, or call (voice) 1-800-367-AIDS (2437) or (TTY) 1-888-225-AIDS (2437).
Disability Rights California provides representation for consumers of public programs who are disabled. Website publications include topics on health care, benefit programs, and In-Home Supportive Services.