DEC Update-
March 24, 2003, Federation for Children with Special Needs,
http://www.fcsn.org
On March 19, 2003, Mr. Castle (R-DE) introduced the republican House
IDEA Reauthorization legislation, H.R. 1350, “Improving Education Results
for Children with Disabilities Act of 2003.” The bill was introduced on
behalf of the leadership in the House who are responsible for IDEA and is
not a bipartisan bill. According to House staff, the bill is expected to
move quickly through the process with full Committee mark-up occurring
before the Congressional Spring recess period.
However, almost as soon as the bill was released, advocates began
expressing serious concern about its provisions and requested that
mark-ups be postponed to give everyone, especially parents, the
opportunity to carefully review the provisions. By any standard, the bill
significantly amends current IDEA. While some of the proposed changes have
been discussed a great deal in the last few months, others were a
surprise. An initial summary of portions of the bill is included below.
In addition, Mr. DeMint (R-SC) introduced H.R. 1373 on behalf of himself
and Mr. Boehner (R-OH) who chairs the Committee on Education and the
Workforce, the committee with IDEA responsibility. The bill, “IDEA
Parental Choice Act of 2003”, includes voucher provisions and also
provisions to allow children to stay in the Part C program for ages 3-5
years. It is not clear which funds would be used to pay for this
arrangement or which agency would be responsible.
Meanwhile, Senate staff called a meeting of the disability community late
last week to discuss the plans in the Senate. The Senate continues to
develop their version of IDEA revision in bipartisan negotiations, with
4-5 hour committee staff meetings occurring 4 days per week. The Senate
bill is expected to be introduced before the spring recess and staff
indicated that there would be a two-week period for comment on the bill
prior to Committee mark-up. The most difficult issues in the Senate are
expected to be funding and school choice.
It is expected that there will be significant differences in the Senate
bipartisan bill and the House republican bill. It is still not clear if
the House democrats will introduce a democratic version of the
legislation. Based on the provisions of the current House bill, it is
expected that there will be significant debate and deliberation before an
IDEA bill, agreed to by the House and the Senate, can be ready to go to
the President for signature.
An initial summary of the H.R. 1350 is provided below. Please note that we
are still reviewing the proposed changes, particularly those to Part B and
Part D. Significant changes are proposed to Part B including changes to
IEPs, procedural safeguards, eligibility, use of funds, discipline, and
parent rights. It also appears that permanent authorization of Section 619
Preschool Grants would be eliminated under the bill.
Part D changes are significant as well. There are numerous references to
consistencies with language in No Child Left Behind, the SIG grants are
modified, the Research authority under IDEA has been transferred out of
OSEP to the new Institute for Education Sciences (formally OERI), and the
Parent Training and Information Center authority under IDEA would be
consolidated with the Community Parent Resource Centers. Further
discussion of changes to Part B and Part D will be provided in a future
update.
Part C Changes– H.R. 1350:
(Note citations refer to the House bill)
• Maintains most of the definitions in current law without change
including the eligibility definition of an infant or toddler with a
disability. (Sec. 632)
• Changes the term “nutritionist” to “registered dietitians” in the list
of providers of early intervention services. (Sec. 632 (4)(F)(viii)).
• Changes a component of the definition of early intervention services,
changing the phrase “…are designed to meet the developmental needs of an
infant or toddler with a disability” to “are designed to address
family-identified priorities and concerns that are determined by
individualized family service plan team to relate to enhancing the child’s
development…” (Sec. 632(4)(C)). Note this change was requested by DEC.
• Changes current law, which indicates that in order to receive a grant, a
State shall demonstrate to the Secretary the State has adopted and
implemented the overall policy. The House bill changes “demonstrates” to
“provide assurances that.” (Sec. 634)
• Of the sixteen components included in Part C, three components were
changed in the House bill. These are:
o Adds the phrase “based on scientifically based research” to characterize
the services required in the component which ensures that early
intervention services are available to all eligible children and their
families. (Sec. 635(a)(2)).
o Deletes the reference to coordination with Part B CSPD in the Part C
CSPD component and changed the “may” to “shall” when listing the 3 of the
4 activities under CSPD in current law. Also, contains two things the CSPD
plan “may include” – training personnel to work in rural and inner-city
areas and training personnel in the emotional and social development of
young children. (Sec. 635(a)(8)).
o Deletes language that relates to the steps the state would take if all
personnel do not meet the personnel standards, while maintaining the
qualified standards language in current law. Also deletes language related
to paraprofessionals. (Sec. 635(a)(9)).
• Changes to the Individualized Family Service Plan include:
o Adds the phrase “including a description of the appropriate transition
services for the child’s entrance in school” to the overall requirement
that IFSPs must be developed. (Sec. 636(a)(3)).
o Changes the term “major outcomes” in the IFSP components list to
“measurable goals.” and uses “goals” throughout instead of “outcomes”.
Also, the phrase “including pre-literacy and language skills” is added to
the description of the “goals”. (Sec 636(a)(3))
o Adds the phrase “based on peer-reviewed research” to the IFSP components
as follows - “a statement of specific early intervention services based on
peer-reviewed research…” (Sec. 636(a)(4).
o Adds the terms “length” and “frequency” to the requirement to include
the anticipated duration of the services in the IFSP. (Sec. 636(a)(6)).
o Adds the phrase “including transition services” to the description in
the IFSP of the responsibilities of the named service coordinator as
follows – “…who will be responsible for the implementation of the plan and
coordination with other agencies and parties, including transition
services.” (Sec. 636(a)(7)).
• Changes to State Application and Assurances include:
o Deletes the requirement that information be included demonstrating the
State has in effect the statewide system (Sec. 637(a)(3)).
o Adds a new requirement that applications must describe policies and
procedures requiring the referral of a child under age 3 who is involved
in a substantiated case of child abuse or neglect for an evaluation
consistent with 635(a)(5). (Sec. 637(a)(5)).
• Procedural Safeguards (Sec. 639)
This section is not included in the House bill and there is no reference
to whether it remains unchanged or is deleted. The bill is silent on the
status of this section. We are checking with House staff to determine what
the House intends with regard to procedural safeguards.
• Payor of Last Resort (Sec. 640)
This section is not included in the House bill and there is no reference
to whether it remains unchanged or is deleted. The bill is silent on the
status of this section. We are checking with House staff to determine what
the House intends with regard to payor of last resort provisions.
• Allocation of Funds (Sec. 643)
This section contains the provisions for the distribution of funds to
“outlying areas”, to “Indians” and to states. There were no changes to the
distribution to outlying areas or states. One change is made as follows:
o Changes the report submission requirement of the tribe, tribal
organization or consortium to an annual submission instead of every two
years as in current law. It also requires the Secretary of the Interior to
report to the Secretary Education annually instead of biennially. (Sec.
643(b)(5))
• The Federal Interagency Coordinating Council (Current Law - Sec. 644) is
deleted in the House bill.
• Authorization of Appropriations (Sec. 644)
• Adds an authorization level for Part C of $447,000,000 for FY’04 and
such sums as may be necessary for 2005-2009, thus requiring
reauthorization in five years. The bill does not include permanent
authorization of Part C. |