By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – The state treasurer is calling attention to a savings program for disabled workers.

Mike Frerichs, visiting Hope Vocational Academy in Springfield, told the story of a young woman with Down’s syndrome who worked for a law firm, delivering mail to the lawyers.

“She would do it with a smile on her face, and the attorneys liked her. They got together and said, we’re paying her a little, we can pay her some more,” Frerichs said, continuing that the lawyers “called her mother up. And what did she say to that employer? She said, don’t do it. You see, the little extra money they would give her, although nice, would likely put her over her $2,000 means test. She would lose her benefits. She would lose far more than she would gain from that raise.”

The ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) program means that situation won’t happen now. The program, meant to work like a college-savings 529 account, allows disabled workers to earn money without jeopardizing government benefits.

This is National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]