A research-grade resource center for families, states, and the field.
RISEI is a research lab at Northwestern's School of Education and Social Policy. Our ABLE Resource Center offers plain-language explainers, interactive tools, and rigorous evidence about the ABLE Act — free to use, without login or data collection, for anyone thinking about opening an ABLE account or supporting someone who is.
Plain-language answers, backed by rigorous research.
Since ABLE became law in 2014, families, self-advocates, employers, and state agencies have been building the ecosystem together. Our center adds one specific thing: a research-lab-grade evidence layer, delivered through interactive tools designed to be easy to use. We complement the excellent work of the ABLE National Resource Center, state program administrators, disability advocacy organizations, and benefits counselors nationwide.
Simple, honest, actionable
- Plain-language explainers written with self-advocates and family members
- An interactive eligibility explorer that returns personalized results in about 3 minutes
- Three RISEI Lab audience briefs (Families, Policymakers, Employers) that print in one click
- A "Listen to this page" button on every page for text-to-speech accessibility
- Free to use, no login, no data collection
Research-grade instrumentation
- Yin (2026) working paper on the causal effect of state ABLE launches
- All-51-state sortable comparator with launch year and program features
- State-launch dashboard and evidence dashboard with event-study paths
- Applied-econ tools for fees, taxes, and benefits interactions
- Independent of any state ABLE program — we are an academic research lab
How our team can be useful to you.
Whether you are a family member, a self-advocate, a state agency, an employer, or a journalist, here is what a Northwestern research lab can add to your ABLE work.
Rigorous research evidence
Yin (2026) uses staggered state ABLE launches to estimate the causal effect on take-up, employment, wages, and disposable income. Every claim on this site traces to that paper or another peer-reviewed source.
Independent perspective
We are an academic research lab, not a state ABLE program administrator. When we describe fees, features, or outcomes across plans, we can call it as we see it.
Interactive-first tools
We build interactive tools where they help most: an eligibility explorer, a 51-state comparator, dashboards, and printable briefs. Interactive tools sit alongside plain-language explainers for readers who prefer prose.
Applied economics toolkit
RISEI Lab has spent a decade building applied-econ tools for federal and state agencies (US Dept. of Ed., DOL, state VR agencies). Fees, taxes, and benefits math are native to our team.
Northwestern research infrastructure
Northwestern SESP, joint appointments at the Institute for Policy Research and the Institute for Public Health and Medicine. IRB support, sponsored-research administration, and communications infrastructure at scale.
Every tool we've built so far.
A growing set of free tools, briefs, and dashboards. No login. No data collected. Free to use with attribution.
Eligibility Explorer
Five-step personalized walkthrough. Determines eligibility, benefit interactions, and step-by-step application in about 3 minutes.
Open the Explorer →All-51-State Comparator
Every jurisdiction's program on one sortable page. Filter, search, compare any number of states at once.
Compare states →Resource Center hub
Five chapters — Learn, Get Help, Tools & Briefs, Evidence, Cite the Paper. Everything organized cleanly.
Enter the hub →State-launch dashboard
Interactive map of state launches 2016 to 2026. Timeline, program administrator, residency rules.
Open dashboard →Evidence dashboard
Event-study path for every outcome from Yin (2026). Log disposable income, transfer share, employment, wage income.
Open dashboard →ABLE Basics
Plain-language explainer for individuals and families. Written with self-advocates. English and Spanish.
Read the basics →Brief for Families
RISEI Lab brief format. Illustrative "Maria" example. Print-ready. Share with family members.
Open Brief 01 →Brief for Policymakers
Population effect sizes, take-up gap, Medicaid interaction, 2026 rollout implications. Print-ready.
Open Brief 02 →Brief for Employers
Why the $2,000 SSI cliff shows up in your hiring pipeline. What HR should do. RISEI Lab format.
Open Brief 03 →Visual summary
One-page visual summary of the working paper's main findings.
View infographic →Who runs the RISEI ABLE Resource Center.
A research-lab team. Not a corporate marketing department. Every finding on this site is signed by a named researcher who is available to respond to media, agency, and academic inquiries.
Michelle Yin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University. Joint appointments at Institute for Policy Research (IPR) and Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM). Founding Director of RISEI Lab. Elected member, National Academy of Social Insurance. Applied labor economist. Author of the 2026 working paper on ABLE causal effects.
RISEI Lab research team
Research team of applied economists, program evaluators, and data engineers at Northwestern. $50M+ in lifetime research funding across US Department of Education, Department of Labor, state VR agencies, and foundations. Vocational rehabilitation, subminimum wage, disability employment, AI measurement.
Northwestern University
Top-15 research university. School of Education and Social Policy is one of the leading applied social-science schools in the country. IRB, sponsored research support, communications infrastructure, media relations, and legal review are all provided by the institution — not by an ABLE plan sponsor.
State agency, foundation, employer, or journalist? Let's talk.
We collaborate with state ABLE program administrators, federal agencies (SSA, ACL, Treasury), foundations, employers deploying ABLE benefits, and media. Independent research, not marketing. Fast turnaround. Send us a note.
Send us a partnership note
This form composes an email in your default mail client — it does not send data through this site.
The RISEI ABLE Resource Center.
Yin, Michelle (2026). The RISEI ABLE Resource Center. RISEI Lab, Northwestern University. Retrieved from https://riseilab.org/able-resource-center.html.