Community & Parent Resources

Special Recreation Active Adult program serves adults with disabilities, ages 22 and older. The program offers recreation and leisure opportunities in the Round Lake, Mundelein, and Vernon Hills area.

Active Adult Program

The Aspire Chicago organization offers programs that focus on life and career skills for adults with developmental disabilities. Programs are provided to adults throughout Chicagoland, surrounding suburbs, Southeast Wisconsin, and virtually.

Aspire Chicago

The Community Mental Health Center (CMHC), provided by Clearbook, serves individuals six years and older that need mental health therapy. The CMHC has locations in Rolling Meadows, Libertyville, and Crystal Lake.

Community Mental Health Center

Glenbard Parent Series (GPS) are free programs, presented by world-renowned authors and clinicians, to empower and strengthen families, individuals, and communities with practical strategies to support youth development.

Program topics include:

• Mental health
• Early childhood
• Elementary/middle school
• High school and beyond
• College/career
• Technology/social media

Glenbard Parent Series

The Independence Center in Waukegan provides housing, services and tools to adults with mental disabilities who seek the opportunity to be productive members of society and achieve their goals of independence.

Independence Center

The Lake County Center for Independent Living (LCCIL) offers programs to people with disabilities to lead self-directed lives as valued members of the community through mentoring, training, advocacy, and more. The center provides services for people of all ages residing in Lake and McHenry counties.

Lake County Center for Independent Living

Lambs Farm, in Libertyville, provides living, learning, and working programs to people with disabilities to encourage and support independent and fulfilling lifestyles.

Lambs Farm

Pace Dial-A-Ride Services

The Pace Dial-A-Ride (DAR) service is a demand-response program offered in Cook County, Dupage County, Kane County, Lake County, McHenry County, and Will County.

Dial-A-Ride Services

Pace On Demand

The Pace On Demand service is a reservation-based, ADA accessible, shared-ride service.

On Demand Service

Pace ADA Paratransit Services

The Pace ADA paratransit service offers fixed route services to customers whose disability or health condition prevents them from using Pace or CTA buses and trains.

ADA Paratransit Service

More information about Pace and the services they provide.

All Pace Bus Services for Riders with Disabilities

Protected Tomorrows, in Lincolnshire, serves individuals and families with special needs and disabilities. The services Protected Tomorrows provides include future planning, emotional support, advocacy, and financial planning.

Protected Tomorrows

Ride Lake County is a paratransit service that provides seniors age 60+ and people with disabilities transportation to any area of Lake County for work, shopping, medical appointments and more. The service is a reservation-based program.

Ride Lake County

Shining Abilities, in Lake Villa, provides recreational opportunities to children and adults with developmental disabilities.

Shining Abilities

Illinois ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts give people with disabilities and their families greater financial independence while preserving benefits.

ABLE Savings and Investment Accounts

Illinois ABLE Resources

• IL ABLE Brochure (English)
• IL ABLE Brochure (Spanish)
• General Comparison of ABLE and Special Needs Trusts

The Arc of Illinois advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, families, and community organizations to ensure that people with disabilities can live, work, learn, and play in communities across the state.

The Arc of Illinois

The Arc Resources

• The Arc Fact Sheets (available in English and Spanish)
• Resource Toolbox
• Self-Advocacy Resources and Illinois Advocacy Groups

The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), Division of Rehabilitation Services, is the state's leading agency serving individuals with disabilities. DRS works in partnership with people with disabilities and their families to assist them in making informed choices to achieve full community participation through employment, education, and independent living opportunities.

Department of Rehabilitation Services

The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) provides Illinois residents with access to integrated services, especially to those who are striving for economic independence, and others who face multiple challenges to self-sufficiency.

Illinois Department of Human Services

The Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission’s mission is to safeguard the rights of persons with disabilities by providing public guardianship services, legal representation in mental health proceedings, a process to investigate disability rights violations, and a resource for special education inquiries.

Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission

IGAC Resources

• Supported Decision-Making

ISBE is responsible for enforcing the requirements of the Disabilities Education Act and ensuring continuous improvement via Local Education Agencies.

• ISBE Notice of Procedural Safeguards (English)
• ISBE Notice of Procedural Safeguards (Spanish)

Illinois PUNS (Prioritization of Urgency of Need for Services), a service of IDHS, is a database that registers individuals who want or need developmental disability waiver services.

PUNS

PUNS Resources

• The Arc of Illinois

  • PUNS, The Basics / Actualización de PUNS, Conceptos Básicos 

  • PUNS Pathway Flowchart / Encuentre el Camino para personas con IDD

• Clancy & Associates
  • The PUNS List: What Is It, and How Do I Register?
• IDHS
  • A Guide to PUNS English Brochure
  • A Guide to PUNS Spanish Brochure
    • For more languages, select here.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI), under the department of Social Security, provides monthly payments to people with disabilities and older adults who have little or no income or resources.

SSI

SSI Resources

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

• Understanding Supplemental Security Income
• Arc of Illinois: Supplemental Security Income / Programa: Seguridad de Ingreso Suplementario (SSI)

Vocational Rehabilitation, a service provided by the Department of Rehabilitation Services, helps people with disabilities find and keep jobs.

Vocational Rehabilitation

• Disability Benefits
  • Illinois Disability Benefits 101
• Medicaid
  • General Medicaid Questions / La Tarjeta Medica: Preguntas y Respuestas
  • Comparison of Adult Medicaid Waivers Programs: DDD vs. DRS / Comparación de programas “Medicaid Waiver” ofrecidos por DDD v DRS 
  • Medicaid Waivers in Illinois for Children with Disabilities / Exenciones de Medicaid para Niños con IDD y/o Enfermedades Crónicas
• Supplemental Security Income
  • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
  • Understanding Supplemental Security Income
  • Arc of Illinois: Supplemental Security Income / Programa: Seguridad de Ingreso Suplementario (SSI)

• District Behavioral Interventions Policy (English)
• District Behavioral Interventions Policy (Spanish)

• Illinois Parents of Adults with Developmental Disabilities, Unite! (IPADD Unite)
  • Understanding Supported Employment Services
• Vocational Rehabilitation
  • Vocational Rehabilitation, a service provided by the Department of Rehabilitation Services, help people with disabilities find and keep jobs

• Illinois ABLE Savings for People with Disabilities
  • IL ABLE Brochure (English)
  • IL ABLE Brochure (Spanish)
  • IL ABLE Facts Sheet (English)
  • IL ABLE Facts Sheet (Spanish)
  • What type of investor are you?
  • ¿Qué tipo de inversionista es usted?

  • General Comparison of ABLE and Special Needs Trusts

• The Arc Illinois
  • Connect the Dots Transition Tool / Para entrender la Transicion para jovenes con IDD
  • Future Planning Information / Planificación Para el Futuro para Personas con IDD
• Illinois Parents of Adults with Developmental Disabilities, Unite! (IPADD Unite)
  • Transition Planning: Tips for Making the School to Adulthood Transition Meaningful and Productive
• Robert H. Farley, Esq. Attorney at Law
  • "The Book" How to Navigate the Illinois Disability System
• Round Lake High School
  • Parent Checklist: Preparing for Adulthood

• The Arc of Illinois
  • Adult Guardianship and Decision-Making Options / Opciones de Toma de Decisiones para Adultos con IDD
  • Guardianship Myths
• Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission
  • Supported Decision-Making / Decisiones Hechas Con Apoyo
• Institute for Community Inclusion
  • Consider the Alternatives: Decision-Making Options for Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities
• Round Lake High School
  • Supported Decision-Making vs. Power of Attorney vs. Guardianship
• Rubin Law
  • Electronic Filing (e-filing) Instructions for Guardianship for Lake County
• University of Illinois Chicago Division of Specialized Care for Children
  • Guardianship and Alternatives Tip Sheet (English and Spanish)

• The Arc of Illinois
  • Residential Options for Individuals with Disabilities / Opciones Residenciales para Personas con Discapacidad
• Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)
  • Supportive Housing 101
• Illinois Parents of Adults with Developmental Disabilities, Unite! (IPADD Unite)
  • Understanding Adult Residential Housing Options: Resources for Families

• The Arc of Illinois
  • Mental Health Resources in Illinois / Recursos Generales para la Salud Mental
  • Non-Emergency Mental Health Resources for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities / Recursos de Salud Mental / Salud Conductal (No Emergencia) para Personas con IDD

• The Arc of Illinois
  • PUNS, The Basics / Actualización de PUNS, Conceptos Básicos 
  • PUNS Pathway Flowchart / Encuentre el Camino para personas con IDD
• Clancy & Associates
  • The PUNS List: What Is It, and How Do I Register?
• IDHS
  • A Guide to PUNS English Brochure
  • A Guide to PUNS Spanish Brochure
    • For more languages, select here.