Dede Leydorf

There are two primary legislative barriers that keep individuals with disabilities from setting up Individual Development Accounts, both of which would require Congressional action and amendments:

• Amending the Social Security Act by increasing the SSI resource limits or providing the IDA funds are an excludable resource for purposes of SSI eligibility; and

• Amending the Assets for Independence Act to allow for IDAs to have matched contributions that are made from SSI and/or SSDI funds, in addition to earned income.

In addition, once the eligibility barriers are removed, two specific concerns relating to individuals with disabilities need to be researched further and addressed:

• Physical and programmatic access to community programs that work with individuals setting up and maintaining IDAs; and

• The limited uses for IDA funds.

To develop and implement strategies for making these changes and addressing these concerns, we strongly recommend that:

• The New Freedom Initiative and/or the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities form an cross-agency work group to provide the leadership, collaboration and coordination necessary to develop an overall strategy for eliminating the barriers currently blocking widespread use of IDAs by people with disabilities, making recommendations for needed statutory and regulatory changes and further research needs, and sharing information about IDAs and IDA-like programs that exist and are being developed in Federal agencies.

• The World Institute a Disability and other disability representatives, IDA industry leaders, government agencies, and relevant nonprofit and private sector organizations hold a summit meeting to develop a platform statement of recommendations for addressing policy and programmatic barriers to IDA participation that are experienced by people with disabilities.

• Additional research and information gathering be carried out, including:

• Focus groups across the country, collecting feedback from people with a broad range of disabilities, on how IDAs can best meet their needs.

• A more accurate assessment of how many individuals with disabilities currently are participating in IDA programs, including possible revisions to the data base system currently used by most IDA providers.