Housing is too costly for people with disabilities living on Supplemental Security Income in nearly every place across the country, with apartment rents often exceeding an individual’s entire monthly income.

Nationally, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in 2014 totaled 104 percent of the monthly SSI payment for a person with a disability, according to a report out this week.

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Summer meals for youth! Youth can have free food and fun while school is out this summer through the Summer Food Program sponsored by the Fairfield-Unified School District.    Kids 18 years and younger can eat without charge at the locations listed. All sites provide lunch, while only some provide an early morning meal.

When Tatiana Ciudac found out in January that Medi-Cal benefits included childhood autism therapy, she was ecstatic.

Ciudac, originally from Moldova (near Ukraine) and now living in San Francisco, is the mother of a six-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder. Her son had been getting a type of autism treatment called applied behavior analysis — known as ABA therapy — through a program at her child’s school. The ABA therapy ran out once he hit age five, though. Read more.

The announcement of a California budget deal has not stopped pleas for the state to spend more on social services, as advocates for people with disabilities came to the state Capitol Wednesday, angry after additional funding for services was left out of the $115.4 billion deal. Read more.

Fresno City College and Fresno State programs teach independent living skills to young adults with intellectual disabilities. Students learn how to budget, maintain a schedule and take public transportation to jobs in the community. The two-year programs also open the door for students to take college classes. Read more.

Fifty-seven miles would be tough to walk, and even tougher with your brother on your back.
Hunter Gandee, 15, is sore and tired after carrying his 8-year-old brother, Braden, for 57 miles in Michigan to raise awareness for cerebral palsy, he told ABC News today.
Hunter’s trek began Friday and he finally crossed the finish line Sunday afternoon. He began walking from Braden’s elementary school in Lambertville, Michigan, and ended 57-miles later at the University of Michigan’s Pediatric Rehabilitation Center in Ann Arbor. See more.

Children with autism spectrum disorder who are in Medi-Cal managed care plans are not getting the care they need, according to children’s health advocates.

A specific autism therapy — applied behavior analysis, known as ABA therapy — became a Medi-Cal benefit in September 2014. But according to figures released last month by the Department of Health Care Services, as of May 5, fewer than 1,123 children have received behavioral health treatment services, which include ABA therapy. Read more.