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Illinois officials want more families to know about a government-operated savings account for people with disabilities. State lawmakers approved a new law this spring requiring schools to inform students with 504 plans and children receiving Early Intervention services about the Illinois Achieving a Better Life Experience, or ABLE, account.
For parents of children with disabilities like Alysia Townsend, a mother of five living in the suburbs of Chicago, getting that information through a school or during Early Intervention services would help save time and effort.
After Townsend’s youngest son, now 9, was diagnosed with Down Syndrome while she was pregnant and spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit when he was born, she started to worry about how to pay for future medical expenses.
She found out about ABLE accounts by listening to podcasts targeted to parents who have children with disabilities. The accounts allow families of children with disabilities to save or invest money for present and future expenses like housing, education, transportation, and assistive technology such as wheelchairs or hearing aids without being taxed. In 2017, she opened a state ABLE account and has been saving money since.
Illinois has required school districts to tell students with an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, about ABLE accounts since the 2023-24 school year, but a new law expands that to require schools to also tell students with 504s or receiving Early Intervention services about the program. Gov. JB Pritzker signed the law in August.
“The reason this is important for our school-based population is that our families need to start saving early,” said JJ Hanley, deputy chief officer of financial products at the Illinois State Treasurer’s office, in an interview with Chalkbeat. “They need to have a vehicle in which they can save that will protect their children’s benefits when their children become adults.”
ABLE accounts were created under a 2014 law passed during the Obama administration, which allows states to support families in opening a tax-exempt savings account for people with disabilities. ABLE accounts are similar to 529 college savings plans, the latter of which allow families to save money and withdraw it later for college-related expenses without being taxed.
There are two requirements to be eligible for an ABLE account: Someone can sign up for an account if they notice symptoms of their disability before the age of 26 and are receiving Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. Due to a change in federal law, the age limit will increase to 46 in 2026.
Saving money in an ABLE account does not affect a child’s ability to access federal benefits such as Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance, or Medicaid once they become adults. Families can save up to $100,000 without losing a child losing some of their federal public benefits. However if an account goes over $100,000, Supplemental Security Income payments will be suspended until the account is below the $100,000 threshold.
Forty-nine states offer ABLE accounts, according to the ABLE National Resource Center. Each state has some different benefits. For example, both Illinois and New York started their ABLE accounts in 2017. An Illinois taxpayer can donate up to $10,000, or $20,000 for a couple, to someone’s ABLE account and receive a state income tax deduction, but New York does not offer a tax deduction.
Under the new Illinois law, school districts must inform students with a 504 plan, a document that outlines accommodations for students with disabilities, about ABLE accounts during the 2026-27 school year. Families with children between birth and 3 who are receiving Early Intervention services will get information on ABLE accounts during the creation and review meetings regarding a child’s Individual Family Services Plan, which outlines the child’s needs, starting Jan. 1, 2026.
According to the law, the Office of the State Treasurer will create materials to give to the Illinois State Board of Education to distribute to local school districts. The office will also create materials to distribute to the lead agency in charge of Early Intervention services. Currently, the state Department for Human Services provides Early Intervention services but the program will transition to the state’s recent Department of Early Childhood by July 1, 2026.
Townsend, the mother of five living in the Chicago suburbs, said her son’s Individualized Education Program allows him to get therapy in his public school, so she and her husband are using the account to save for his adulthood.
“I didn’t need to immediately focus on spending ABLE money around certain needs, because I already had those needs met,” she said. “What I was seeing is that as he gets older he needs more things and different things.”
Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.
