Turning 18 in DC with an Intellectual or Developmental Disability: A Family Checklist

Turning 18 is a big birthday. When your son or daughter has an intellectual or developmental disability, it also changes benefits, school rights and adult services, and some of the work starts years earlier. This guide goes age by age, so you can see what to do now and what can wait. Teachers and transition coordinators are welcome to share it.

A few names you will see: DDS is the DC Department on Disability Services. Inside DDS, the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) serves adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) runs job services. SSA is the Social Security Administration.

What changes at 18, in short

• SSI: If your teen gets SSI, SSA reviews eligibility under adult rules, usually in the year after the 18th birthday. If your income kept them off SSI, they may qualify now, because SSA stops counting parents’ income the month after they turn 18.
• Medicaid: In DC, anyone receiving SSI is automatically eligible for Medicaid.
• School: Special education rights pass to your young adult at 18 unless a court, an education power of attorney or an OSSE-appointed educational representative says otherwise. Special education can continue through the school year they turn 22.
• Decisions: Your young adult becomes a legal adult. A supported decision-making agreement or a power of attorney can help; guardianship is decided by a court, which must keep it as limited as possible.
• Adult services: Apply to DDA through DDS Intake at 202-730-1700. The IDD Waiver has had a waiting list in fiscal year 2026, and DC points students leaving school to the IFS Waiver.

The sections below go age by age, with what to do and where each rule comes from.

At 14: transition planning begins

• Ask for transition planning in the IEP. In DC, the first IEP in effect after a student turns 14 must include transition assessments and services (D.C. Code § 38-2614).
• Sign up for Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS). RSA offers Pre-ETS to students with disabilities starting at age 14: job exploration counseling, work-based learning, counseling on college and other postsecondary programs, workplace readiness training, and instruction in self-advocacy (DDS Pre-ETS policy). Your teen does not have to apply for full vocational rehabilitation first.
• Connect with RSA. Schools are expected to refer students as early as 14. You can also email the Pre-ETS consent form to RSA.Transition@dc.gov.

At 16: build on the plan

• Check that transition planning is in the IEP. DC starts at 14; federal law requires it no later than the IEP in effect when your teen turns 16 (34 CFR 300.320).
• Start the decision-making conversation. At 18 your teen becomes a legal adult. Talk about which decisions they want help with, and from whom.
• Start a records folder. Keep copies of psychological evaluations, IEPs and medical records. DDA will look for evidence that the disability began before age 22.

The year before 18

• Watch for the school’s letter. At least one year before your child turns 18, the school must tell you in writing that adult students are presumed competent and that special education rights will transfer to them at 18. The exceptions are a court ruling, an education power of attorney, or an educational representative appointed by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, OSSE (D.C. Code § 38-2571.04).
• Choose how school decisions will be made after 18. DC offers three paths (5-A DCMR Chapter 30):
  • Supported decision-making for education. Your adult student chooses to have you or another adult help. It must be in writing, the student’s choice wins any disagreement, and they can end it at any time.
  • An education power of attorney. Your adult student names another adult to make education decisions, receive notices and attend meetings, and can cancel it at any time.
  • An educational representative. For a student who cannot give informed consent, OSSE can appoint one, normally the parent. It takes a written request on OSSE’s form and two professional certifications, which can be submitted up to 90 days before the 18th birthday but take effect only on it. DC’s rules reserve this route for when supported decision-making is not appropriate.
• Contact SSA before the 18th birthday. Call 1-800-772-1213 and ask what the birthday means for your teen’s SSI.
• Gather documents for DDA. The DDA application asks for a birth certificate or state ID, a Social Security card if available, proof of DC residency, insurance information if any, and records that show the disability. The form lets you ask DDS for help gathering them.

At 18

What happens to SSI at 18?

If your teen already gets SSI, SSA must review their eligibility under the adult disability rules, usually during the year that begins on the 18th birthday (20 CFR 416.987). SSA can decide a young person does not qualify as an adult even though they qualified as a child. The notice explains how to appeal and how to ask that payments continue during the appeal, so read every SSA letter promptly.

If your teen could not get SSI because of your income or savings, that can change. SSA stops counting parents’ income the month after a child turns 18, and parents’ savings count only while the child is under 18. A young adult who was over the limit because of their parents may become eligible at 18 (SSA). SSA cannot pay for months before an application is filed, one more reason to call before the birthday.

If your young adult lives with you, help you give in cash or shelter now counts as their own income. Food you provide no longer counts, since September 30, 2024. If your young adult pays at least their per-person share of the household’s rent or mortgage, property taxes and utilities, SSA treats them as living in their own household, so the household’s help with shelter does not reduce their SSI (20 CFR 416.1133). Ask SSA how your arrangement will be counted. In 2026 the full federal SSI payment is $994 a month for an individual. SSA usually adjusts it each January and announces the new amount in the fall (SSA).

Who manages the money. SSA starts from the view that every adult has the right to manage their own benefits, and appoints a representative payee for an adult when that serves the person (20 CFR 416.601). SSA reviews how to pay benefits around the 18th birthday, so do not assume today’s arrangement carries over.

Does Medicaid continue after 18?

In DC, SSA makes the Medicaid decision for people who receive SSI, and the DC Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) says anyone receiving SSI is automatically eligible for DC Medicaid (DHCF). The SSI award letter says DC will be in touch about Medicaid. People who may not meet citizenship or immigration requirements are referred to DC for a separate decision.

Who makes decisions after 18? Supported decision-making and guardianship

• Supported decision-making agreements. Since 2018, DC law recognizes supported decision-making agreements (D.C. Code § 7-2131). A supporter helps your young adult understand options, get information and communicate their choice. The decision stays theirs. The official form says it plainly: “NOTHING IN THIS DOCUMENT GIVES MY SUPPORTER PERMISSION TO MAKE DECISIONS FOR ME.” It is signed in front of two adult witnesses or a notary (D.C. Code § 7-2132), and a person or DC agency that receives it must rely on it unless they have substantial cause to believe the person needs protective services (D.C. Code § 7-2133).
• Who can be a supporter. Someone who provides health care or disability services to your young adult, including Mercyland staff, cannot be their supporter unless they are a relative (D.C. Code § 7-2132).
• Guardianship and its alternatives. Adult guardianship cases go to the Probate Division of DC Superior Court. The court must choose the least restrictive type of guardianship and can limit a guardian’s powers (D.C. Code § 21-2044). The court lists less restrictive alternatives, such as a power of attorney, an advance directive, a representative payee and supported decision-making (DC Courts). If the person has no lawyer, the court must appoint one.

How do you apply for DDA adult services?

DDA serves adults with an intellectual disability diagnosed before age 22. Since a 2022 law, it also serves adults with a developmental disability that began before 22, is likely to continue indefinitely, and causes substantial limits in at least three major areas of life (D.C. Code § 7-1301.03). Without a psychological evaluation from before 22, DDA builds a social or developmental history instead (DDA eligibility procedure).

• Call first. Call DDS Intake at 202-730-1700 to schedule an appointment, or walk in. DDS lists two different sets of office hours (8:30 am to 5 pm, and 8:15 am to 4:45 pm), so call before you go (DDS: How to apply).
• Other ways to apply. Email the application as a PDF to dds-dda.intake@dc.gov, mail it, or bring it to DDS at 250 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20024.
• Proof of residency. A current lease, a current utility bill or a Social Security statement with your address works. Cell phone bills do not.
• Medicaid. If your young adult does not have Medicaid yet, DDS will help you apply.
• When. The DDA application is for adults. Ask DDS Intake when to send it.

Can your young adult get an IDD Waiver?

DDA eligibility comes before waiver services. For the IDD Waiver, a person must be a DC resident receiving DDA services, have Medicaid with income up to 300% of SSI, and meet an ICF/IDD level of care. The minimum age is 18 (Approved IDD Waiver, 2026).

DC activated a waiting list for the IDD Waiver for fiscal year 2026, and the waiver amendment approved effective August 1, 2026 includes it. DDS has said the list will shrink or end as funding allows, so ask your Service Coordinator whether it is still in effect. The DDS procedure groups people into four Priority Levels: Priority, Emergency, Urgent and Non-Urgent. DDS decides each person’s level, and the approved waiver describes the order slightly differently, so no single situation guarantees a slot. The abuse, neglect or exploitation criterion for the Emergency level is met only when DDS or Adult Protective Services has substantiated it; a report on its own does not meet that criterion. Our guide to the IDD Waiver waitlist covers notices, appeals and what to do while you wait.

Leaving school? Asked whether slots are set aside for students leaving school, DC said that among young people, only those aging out of Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) care at 21 have reserved waiver slots, and that young people leaving school can get services through the Individual and Family Support (IFS) Waiver. DDS’s 2023 IFS fact sheet lists services such as In-Home Supports, Individualized Day Supports, Companion and Respite. IFS does not include residential services such as Host Home or Supported Living, and it has an annual cost cap per person.

Through 22: finishing school well

• Special education can continue through the school year your student turns 22. If the 22nd birthday falls in the summer between school years, eligibility ends then (5-A DCMR 3001.5).
• Know what a diploma means. A regular high school diploma ends special education eligibility, even before 22. An IEP Certificate of Completion is a different credential, so ask the IEP team how each option affects services.
• Expect an adult-services plan a year before leaving school. At least one year before the expected diploma or certificate, the IEP team must identify which adult services might fit and what evaluations are needed. The school does not have to do those evaluations itself, so plan who will (D.C. Code § 38-2614).
• Finish the employment plan. For students in RSA vocational rehabilitation, DDS says the Individualized Plan for Employment is completed before graduation or aging out (DDS Youth in Transition). DDS documents give different upper ages for Pre-ETS, so ask RSA how long your student can keep receiving them.

At any age: an ABLE account

An ABLE account is a savings account for a person with a disability. DC has its own program, DC ABLE, run by the DC Office of the Chief Financial Officer. You can also use another state’s program if it accepts DC residents, but each person can have only one ABLE account.

• Since January 1, 2026, a person can qualify if the disability began before age 46. Before that, the cutoff was 26 (SSA).
• The 2026 contribution limit is $20,000.
• The first $100,000 in an ABLE account does not count against the SSI resource limit (SSA).

Numbers to keep handy

• SSA: 1-800-772-1213
• DDS Intake: 202-730-1700
• DDA evening and weekend emergencies: the DDA Duty Officer at 202-498-9077, or 211
• RSA transition services: RSA.Transition@dc.gov

How Mercyland can help

Once your young adult is eligible for DDA, Mercyland Healthcare can be part of their team. We provide In-Home Supports, Individualized Day Supports, Respite, Companion, Behavioral Support, Host Home and Supported Living, depending on the waiver and services DDS approves. To get started, visit Intake and Referrals or call 202-525-1563.

Last checked October 2026. Rules, amounts and contacts change, so check with your Service Coordinator, SSA or DDS before you act on any detail here.