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What Obama’s New Budget Proposal Means For Individuals With Disabilities

February 11, 2016

While IDEA Funding Remains Mostly Stagnant, Budget Makes Other Provisions For Disability Programs

President Barak Obama’s budget proposal for 2017 was released on Tuesday, marking the last spending proposal of his presidency. While specific funding for special education sees only modest increases, other provisions within the budget, both in and outside of education, are likely to have an impact on the lives of individuals with disabilities.

For the most part, the budget follows the Obama Administration’s priorities in education and disability policy, including prioritizing early childhood education, providing better supports for individuals with disabilities as they transition out of high school and into the community, and, considering that the majority of special education students are now mostly educated in general education settings, more emphasis upon what the department of education is calling “equity and excellence” for all students.

Here is a breakdown of several key aspects of the budget that are likely to affect those with disabilities.

In Education:

  • TITLE I:

The new budget adds an extra $450 million dollars to Title I grants, which go toward meeting the needs of at risk students, including those with disabilities. While the increase is definitely welcome, some are concerned that because ESSA allows states to set aside 7 percent of Title I for school improvement, districts may actually see cuts to their Title I allocations, which could potentially negatively impact students with disabilities.

  • IDEA:

Many have been surprised to learn that in the new budget, IDEA funding has essentially flatlined at $11.9 billion. While this is still subject to change upon the budget’s approval (some advocates are forecasting that it will), if districts are not seeing the same numbers in Title I funding due to the 7 percent set-aside, this could end up depriving special education departments, which are already underfunded.

  • EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION:

What the budget does not do for school-aged children under IDEA, it makes up for in early education. As a part of the administration’s larger push to improve early childhood education, the budget adds $80 million in federal funding for early intervention and PreK services specifically for students with disabilities, $15 million of which is earmarked for services to promote early intervention.

  • TEACHER RETENTION:

Teacher retention and recruitment has become a major issue across education, but has disproportionately affected special education, with 49 out of the nation’s 50 states reporting shortages in special education teachers. The budget addresses this issue by creating a $1 billion program intended to retain and recruit high-quality teachers “by increasing compensation and paths for advancement, implementing teacher-led development opportunities to improve instruction, and creating working conditions and school climates conducive to student success”

IDEA promises students with disabilities access to the services they require to succeed in school and the IEP acts as a centralized document for coordinating these services while they remain in school. But as students with disabilities leave the high school and transition from a system of entitlement to eligibility, services tend to fall off significantly, with many families struggling to get their children access to the services they need to live independently in the community.

If full inclusion is the nation’s goal for individuals with disabilities, services and supports must extend beyond school and into the community. The new budget allocates funding to address some of the main challenges individuals with disabilities and their families face upon leaving (and outside of) the educational system.

In The Community:

  • LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING:

Following other similar incidents, the recent shooting death of a young man with autism has brought national attention to the need for more training for law enforcement on dealing with individuals with disabilities. As a part of the department of justice’s initiative to “”protect vulnerable populations,” the new budget includes an additional $983,00 to “ensure the nation’s police are properly trained to interact with children and people with disabilities, and to support enforcement, technical assistance and the issuance of guidance and regulations related to the Americans with Disabilities Act,”

  • HOME AND COMMUNITY-BASED SUPPORTS:

Empowering individuals with disabilities to live as independently as possible is key to making the American Dream a reality for everyone in this country. Expanding access to community-based supports are critical to providing equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities. The president’s budget plan provides an increase of $10 million toward this end, and includes provisions for “expanding and simplifying eligibility to encourage more states to provide HCBS in their Medicaid programs.”

  • VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION:

Further empowering independence, the new budget includes $3.4 billion toward vocational rehabilitation, which is critical in providing individuals with disabilities opportunities to live and work in their communities.

  • HOUSING ASSISTANCE:

Housing is a major barrier to independence for individuals with disabilities and supporting them into adulthood can be a major financial burden for families. The president’s budget calls for $154 million for housing assistance to low-income households with people who have disabilities to help ease the burden on families and promote independent living.

While IDEA funding remains mostly stagnant in the current budget proposal, planned investments in individuals with disabilities before they enter and after they leave the educational system may be evidence of a more holistic approach to supporting individuals with disabilities. Let’s hope the trend continues and such provisions remain and even increase in the final 2017 budget.