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  Last Updated on 07/13/2018

IDEA On Fast Track – Two House Bills Introduced

 

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.

 

 

 

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