Planning Now
A Futures and Estate Planning Guide for Parents of Children and Adults with Developmental Disabilities
The Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council has published a futures planning guide, Planning Now. Planning Now discusses the importance of planning; provides essential information, suggestions, and a framework for planning; and then explains various tools and resources to assist you. The guide provides information on the types of professionals who can help, and includes useful worksheets and additional resources in the appendix.
This information can assist you in developing a plan for helping your child become more independent and to grow into an adult lifestyle while you are alive. You can also use this guide to design a plan for your child that others implement after your death. This easy to read guide includes information on government benefits that your child may be eligible for, guardianship, wills, and trusts.
Specific to Maryland, Planning Now provides useful information on the services offered though the Maryland State Department of Education, the Developmental Disabilities Administration, and the Division of Rehabilitation Services, all with the aim of assisting individuals with disabilities and their families with the planning process.
The idea is that families become knowledgeable about resources and services and that they and their loved ones create a roadmap to meaningful employment, social relationships, living arrangements, recreation, and overall participation in the community.
- ATTENTION: HARD COPIES (in bound book form) OF THIS GUIDE ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE FROM THE COUNCIL. YOU CAN DOWNLOAD EITHER A PDF VERSION OR WORD VERSION OF PLANNING NOW FROM THIS WEBSITE.
To download a full 110 page PDF version of Planning Now, click here.
Be certain to also downoad the updates.
To download and print information from Planning Now section by section use the PDF Table of Contents, click here.
To download UPDATES for the PDF version of Planning Now, click here.
To download a Word document version of Planning Now, click here. (Updates are automatically included in this document)
If you have problems downloading these documents, please call our office at 410-767-3670
extension #1.
