by: Ronald S. Pearson Many years ago, I wrote an article 1 discussing the negative potential outcome of designating your child with a disability as a beneficiary of the military’s Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity. That article and the...
From: Sheri R. Abrams, Attorney at Law As a young adult with special needs approaches age 18, his or her parents will need to decide whether to pursue a legal Guardianship with the Virginia courts for the right to...
From: Sheri R. Abrams, Attorney at Law I hope this month’s newsletter finds you well and excited for a new year. 2020 has been challenging (to say the least), and I am looking forward to taking some much-needed time...
Does My Loved One Need a Representative Payee? If you have a friend or family member who receives Social Security benefits but no longer has the capacity to manage these benefits, you may be wondering how you can help...
Our plan was to continue to care for our daughter for as long as we were able. Then medical issues brought us to the realization that this was neither a realistic nor a good long range plan. For our...
My family member lived in a congregate living situation when I met Danny. It was Christmas Eve and everyone had left except my family member and Danny. As I was leaving with my family member, I asked when Danny’s...
I care for my great niece with autism, intellectual disability, sensory processing, pseudo Bulba Affect (uncontrollable laughing), and partial seizures; whose parents died when she was age 3. I met Terry and Linda Ritter during my work with setting...
Becky’s Jewels, Inc. was incorporated in March, 2003. The original eight members of the microboard had all been members of an informal circle of support formed during Becky’s high school years to begin planning for her future beyond high...
What is DARS? The Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services was created by legislation signed this spring, by Gov. McDonnell, to take the programmatic units of the current Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS), and the Virginia Department for...
The Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) provides assistance to citizens of Virginia to help them live their best lives, one child, one senior citizen, one person at a time. VDSS programs and services help people triumph over poverty,...