When Support Ends, Families Are Left to Figure It Out.
We help you prepare for what comes next.
For many neurodivergent young people and their families, support does not gradually fade. It suddenly stops. School-based services end. Case managers disappear. Longstanding routines and protections fall away.
This moment is often called the Services Cliff.
The Maher Foundation exists to help families understand this transition before it happens and to support them when they are already standing at the edge.
Our Approach
The Transition Gap
Why It Matters
What Is the Services Cliff?
During childhood and adolescence, neurodivergent individuals often receive coordinated support through schools, pediatric healthcare, and state or federal programs. These services are structured, familiar, and guided by law.
Then adulthood arrives.
Between the ages of roughly 18 and 22, many of these supports end or change dramatically. Eligibility rules shift. Programs become fragmented. Families are expected to navigate adult systems that are harder to access, harder to understand, and often harder to qualify for. For families, this can feel overwhelming, isolating, and urgent, especially if planning did not start early or circumstances changed unexpectedly.
Trusted Guidance
How This Website Helps
This website is designed to be a practical, calm, and trustworthy place to help families:
Understand what changes during the transition to adulthood
Explore multiple paths forward based on real-world needs
Learn what options exist before services end
Access clear explanations, not jargon, about complex systems
Find guidance when plans need to change quickly
Some families arrive here years in advance. Others arrive in crisis. Both are welcome.
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Care Directions
The Three Paths Forward
Every individual's future looks different. There is no single "right" outcome, only the right support for the person.
The Maher Foundation organizes resources around three common paths, or pillars. Each pillar represents a different level of support need and living arrangement, with dedicated guidance and resources for families navigating that path.
Living at Home with Family or Caregivers
For individuals who will continue living at home with ongoing family support. Resources focus on daily living skills, healthcare coordination, legal and financial planning, caregiver support, and creating sustainable routines at home, now and for the long term.
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Enhanced Care & Residential Support
For individuals who require significant, ongoing care and supervision. Resources help families understand residential options, funding mechanisms, waitlists, and how to evaluate care providers, while also outlining long-term solutions and future initiatives in this space.
Resource Library
Learning Hub
Smart Planning
A Knowledge Base First
Built to Inform, Not Overwhelm
This website is intentionally designed as a knowledge base: a place to learn, prepare, and return to as needs change.
You Will Find:
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Original guides, explanations, and planning tools
Curated links to trusted organizations and programs
Plain-language breakdowns of complex systems
Resources organized by real-life decisions, not bureaucracy
We focus on clarity, accessibility, and respect for the fact that every family's situation is different and often evolving.
Inspiring Stories
Our community members have shared inspiring stories of growth and progress, highlighting the positive impact of the Maher Foundation's approach in empowering children on the autism spectrum.
The foundation was a wonderful source of information to help prepare us for the sudden loss of services as we transition our son to adulthood.
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Evelyn Rogers
Parent
When our son turned 18, we felt overwhelmed. This foundation gave us clarity and a practical plan for what comes next.
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George Carter
Parent
Because of The Maher Foundation, we have been able to share this information with many other families that desperately needed the help.
Samantha Adams
Parent