Photo of State Senator Will Schroder, Ashley Meier Barlow, Parent Allison Ball, KY State Treasurer Amanda Stahl, Advocate

Spring Seminar: “ABLE Accounts and other Financial Planning Tools: The Importance of Developing a Financial Identity”

Millions of persons with disabilities and their families are often relegated to a life of poverty as a result of not being allowed to build even the most modest levels of resources. Persons receiving supports through Social Security, Medicaid and other publicly-funded programs are often disqualified from those supports if they have more than $2,000 worth of countable resources or assets.  –Carolyn Wheeler

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2017 KentuckyWorks Transition Summit & Community Conversation

KentuckyWorks will be hosting two Kentucky events for family members, youth, professionals, and employers to discuss strategies for successfully transitioning students from high school to employment. A community conversation will be held at the Morehead Conference Center in Morehead from 5:30-7:30pm on February 27. A statewide transition summit, featuring national transition expert Dr. Erik Carter of Vanderbilt, will be held at the Administrative Office of the Courts in Frankfort from 9am to 4pm on February 28. All who are interested in participating are welcome to attend. Continue reading

Photo of Jessica Gregory in a ballerina pose. She has brown hair and glasses.

Research Assistant Spotlight: Jessica Gregory

Article by: Bill Mazzoleni

Jessica Gregory is a PhD student at the University of Kentucky. She is in her second semester studying school Psychology. She is originally from Kansas City, Missouri; however, she has been living in San Antonio, Texas for the past 8 years. Jessica moved to Kentucky for the PhD program at UK.

Jessica is currently at HDI working on the Quality of Life survey with Laura Butler. She obtains data regarding individuals who transitioned from Personal Care Homes. Jessica is interested in working with individuals whom have developmental disabilities. She did not receive any training about the special needs population during her Master’s Degree. Working at HDI gives her the opportunity to further her education.

Jessica stated, “I am really excited to be able to advocate for individuals who may not be able to advocate for themselves.”  She also added,” the more she works, the more she sees that there’s an extreme need for it.”

Jessica’s favorite flavor of ice-cream is chocolate chip cookie dough. Her favorite book would have to be one of the many books from the Star Wars series.