Nearly 20,000 people with disabilities in Illinois are on the waiting list to receive state aid after they age out of public education. The damaging delays may not end there. Charlene Synoga has a 23-year-old son with severe autism who needs constant aid and supervision. He made it off the waitlist only to be rejected by 12 programs and encounter another that his mother said was woefully understaffed. Jason has nowhere to go and nothing to do. After school ended, Synoga said, “his whole life has changed so much, he’s miserable. … He could still be learning things.” Behavioral support, life skills and for some, job training, can transform lives like Jason’s. Those options also can free caregivers to seek or keep their own jobs.