Next Steps

Talk to people and organizations who can help your child take the next steps to find work. Here are some options:

• Your child’s IEP team. If your child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), tell the team you want your child to work.

• The Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) helps people with disabilities prepare for, find, and keep a job. Its services include Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard of Hearing Services and Blind and Low Vision Field Services.

• Your Family Support Services office. If your family has a Family Support Service Plan, tell your Family Support Coordinator that work is part of your child’s plan.
  
• A local WorkSource Georgia Center. Ask them about their youth programs.

Talk to a benefits expert to learn more about options and discover other helpful resources.

Use DB101’s School and Work Estimator to get a sense of how work could impact your child’s benefits.

For more about benefits programs and their rules, read DB101’s articles about:

• Benefits for Young People, including details about many different benefits and how rules change as your child gets older.
• Supplemental Security Income, which covers SSI’s rules in detail.
• Building Your Assets and Wealth, an introduction to asset-building strategies.
• Plan to Achieve Self-Support, an in-depth look at the ways a PASS can help.

Social Security’s Ticket to Work Program helps people with disabilities who get Social Security benefits re-enter the workforce and become more independent. The Ticket to Work Program offers free access to employment-related services, such as training, transportation, and vocational rehabilitation. You can call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 or 1-866-833-2967 (TTY).

A trained benefits expert can help you understand your benefits programs. Exactly who you need to contact depends on your situation and the benefits you get.

View DB101's full list of experts who can help you understand different benefits.

The Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) helps people with physical and mental disabilities prepare for and find work. GVRA can help you get the training or other services that you need to return to work, enter a new line of work, keep working, or get a job for the first time. Services are carefully chosen to match your personal needs, and your GVRA counselor will work with you to decide which GVRA services are best for you.

Learn more about GVRA services and how to apply.