Budget Crisis in California

 

Regional Center Service Cuts - August 2009 update from Suze Black:

Please read my latest blog post HERE.  VMRC is cutting services like horseback riding and citing a recent revision to the Lanterman Act.  This revision is irrelevant to most of the services being cut.  If you are trading your respite hours for services like horseback riding, camp, music therapy, etc and those services are being cut, we feel this is not legal since these services are traded for respite and respite is not being cut at this time.  We recommend that you immediately fill out the paperwork that came with your Notice of Proposed Action to request a Fair Hearing.  We recommend you check NEITHER box for mediation or an informal meeting and proceed directly to Fair Hearing.  Timelines are very tight to request a Fair Hearing.  If you have any questions, please contact Suze at suze@valleysnafu.com.

Regional Center Budget Cuts - April 2009 update from Shirley Nutt:

I have been receiving MANY phone calls from parents telling me the regional center is cutting their child's ABA program, respite, etc etc.  Disability Rights California (formerly Protection and Advocacy) have an excellent article on how to protect your child and what to do when your child is facing possible cuts.  YOU CAN FIGHT BUDGET CUTS!  A quote from Disability Rights California, "The state budget crisis, the regional center’s expenditure plan, and the regional center’s purchase of service guidelines cannot be the reason for cutting or changing your services or supports as long as you can show that those services meet your needs as described in your IPP."  Read the rest of the article HERE. 

 

California's budget crisis is exerting unprecedented pressure on many programs.  However, children with IEP's are afforded certain protections.

March 6, 2009 Update from Shirley Nutt: 

I received another series of emails and phone calls today from panicked parents regarding the budget crisis and the cutting of autism/ABA services by VMRC.  Just to reiterate, these budget cuts will affect children under the age of 3.  If your child is over the age of 3, the burden of paying for these services falls on the school district under the federal law called IDEA.  Under IDEA, school districts cannot use budgetary and/or personnel reasons to determine the placement and services of a child.  Services must be based on the child's individual needs.  Rest assured that if your child is over the age of 3, their program must remain intact.  However, if your child is under the age of 3, these budget cuts may very well affect your child directly.  Regardless of the age of your child, it is still important to show VMRC and others how critical ABA and other services are for your child. 
 
Letters such as THIS ONE from CVAP cause unnecessary panic by not explaining the child's rights under IDEA.  If you are a service provider, please consider rewording your letters to fully-inform parents on their child's rights under IDEA.
 
From Wrightslaw:  http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/iep.law.appendixa.htm:
 
Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401, et seq.), unless otherwise noted. This is from Appendix A of IDEA:31. Must the public agency ensure that all services specified in a child’s IEP are provided?
    Yes. The public agency must ensure that all services set forth in the child’s IEP are provided, consistent with the child’s needs as identified in the IEP. The agency may provide each of those services directly, through its own staff resources; indirectly, by contracting with another public or private agency; or through other arrangements. In providing the services, the agency may use whatever State, local, Federal, and private sources of support are available for those purposes (see Sec. 300.301(a)); but the services must be at no cost to the parents, and the public agency remains responsible for ensuring that the IEP services are provided in a manner that appropriately meets the student’s needs as specified in the IEP. The SEA and responsible public agency may not allow the failure of another agency to provide service(s) described in the child’s IEP to deny or delay the provision of FAPE to the child. (See Sec. 300.142, Methods of ensuring services.)

As you can see, if VMRC decides to cut funding for ABA services, the school districts must pick up the tab.  This is obviously an unfair burden for school districts...especially since the federal government has never fully-funded IDEA as was promised.  However, we must put our children first ahead of budgetary issues.  Hopefully school districts will rally parents together as well and lobby the federal government to fully-fund IDEA.  The Obama administration has increased IDEA funding to its highest level ever.  Additonally, school districts will be receiving additional funds from the stimulus package (see http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/01/school-districts-will-benefit.shtml to see how much your district stands to receive).  San Joaquin County school districts will also be receiving some funds from a class-action lawsuit settlement regarding special education and behavior plans.  However, all of these funding sources take time (some as long as two years) to trickle down to our school districts.  During this time, make sure you understand and enforce your child's rights under IDEA and other state and federal laws.  As always, if you have any questions or comments, please let me know.

If your child is over the age of three years old, he or she is protected by the federal law called IDEA.  IDEA requires school districts to provide a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to all children over the age of three regardless of budgeting, funding and/or personnel issues.  Several parents have contacted SNAFU because their school districts, regional centers or private providers contracted with school districts have expressed children's programs may be in jeopardy.  Due to the recent budget standoff in California, some providers have issued memos to parents like THIS ONE.  It is SNAFU's opinion that issuing memo's like this is irresponsible since it puts most parents in a panic and does not explain the child's rights to receive a FAPE regardless of any type of budget issues.  The fact is, your school district should know their responsibilities to provide a FAPE under IDEA and your child's services should not skip a beat.  If, however, the school district denies services to your child and/or wants to reduce services due to this budget crisis, please let us know.  In the meantime, DON'T PANIC.  Instead, SNAFU recommends that you write a letter to your Special Education Director.  You may use this sample language:

Dear Mrs. Special Ed Director,

I received the attached letter regarding my child's [ABA, speech, etc] services.  I am concerned with the current budget standoff in California but I also understand that the school district is responsible for continuing to provide my child's services according to his IEP.  I am forwarding a copy of this letter to you so that you are aware of the information that is being distributed to parents.  As I'm sure you will agree, I look forward to the day California has a balanced budget and hope the federal government will keep its promise and fully fund IDEA.

Sincerely,

Parent

 

February 15, 2009 News from the Council of Parent Advocates and Attorneys (COPAA):

Summary of Some Key Points in the Stimulus Bill for Special Education

I think everyone saw the alerts last week. The Senate Stimulus bill would have allowed SEAs/LEAs to use all IDEA funds to supplant state/local special-ed funds, thus allowing them to cut special-ed spending overall. So, instead of an increase in special-ed funding, as the stimulus contemplated, there would be a decrease. The provision applied to all Part B and C funds (not just the extra stimulus money). If it had passed , it would have changed a provision that's been a fundamental part of the IDEA since 1975. What this would have meant is that the school districts could use their entire Part B and C allocations (regular allocations plus stimulus money) to reduce the amount of money they have to spend on special education. This would have meant real cuts, in the sense that districts could divert not only their stimulus funds, but then cut more money because of the Part B and C funds they would be receiving through the regular process.


What Happened in the Final Bill: The very good news is that this provision was entirely eliminated from the final bill. Thanks much to Congressman Miller, Congressman Obey and their staffs on the House side; Senator Kennedy, Senator Harkin and their staffs on the Senate side, and to the members of the Conference Committee and Appropriations Committee for working to protect the needs of children with disabilities. We also thank the Disability Policy Collaboration (ARC/UCP), Easter Seals, National Center for Learning Disabilities, National Downs Syndrome Society, and the many disability organizations and individuals who worked on these issues over the last few weeks. In particular, we thank the many COPAA members and other parents, family members, friends, advocates, attorneys, and others who rallied against the Senate provision in response to our alert. We received many many letters which were delivered to the conferees, and we know many more calls and faxes were sent. COPAA members and other child advocates put the alerts out through listservs and yahoo groups, on their webpages, and on Facebook and other social-networking pages. I don't think anyone you-tubed it, but we'll get there <grin> Thanks to everyone who promoted the alerts and who worked on this issue!

Thoughts on the Bill: Below are my initial thoughts on the bill, as I was asked by a member to provide them. This is not a complete analysis, even though it looks long (because its hard to reduce this into 2 sentences and make it understandable). The final stimulus bill emerged yesterday (Friday) and it will take some time for a lot of people to look at it and determine how it works and interacts with the IDEA. So, please do not read this as a final analysis, or even a semi-final one.

Bill Provides Major Increase in Special Education Funding. Overall, the bill will provide a major increase in special education funding, including$12.2 billion total for IDEA. This includes $11.2 billion for IDEA Part B, $400 million for IDEA preschool funding, and $500 million for Part C. This is in addition to the regular Part B and Part C allocations.

IDEA has long been woefully underfunded and we have all seen the effects of this, with children who are not identified for special education, or when identified, receive inadequate services and assistance. While there are many school districts that strive to provide good special education programs, it is important to ensure that all children with disabilities receive appropriate educations that prepare them for adult living.


As we have all seen in our communities, many families are experiencing severe economic stress, losing jobs, working reduced hours, facing cuts in their businesses and in their retirement funds. These include parents of children with disabilities who now face constraints in the services they can provide for their children. Children with disabilities are a very vulnerable population, and even before the current recession, many lived in families facing financial stress. Even before the recession, approximately 2/3 of children with disabilities lived in families earning under $50,000 a year; approximately 35%, in families earning under $25,000 a year. Children with disabilities need appropriate educations and services to be able to achieve and work towards maximum independence. It is thus important that the stimulus bill provides these additional IDEA funds to meet the needs of children with disabilities. Just as adults with disabilities are vulnerable populations who need additional funding, children with disabilities are, too. It is important, IMHO, that Congress delineated these funds for IDEA-not simply additional block funding to school districts or even block funding for school district job creation/preservation only. I think Congress recognized that families of children with disabilities are facing job losses and severe economic burdens and it acted to protect those children and their needs in this additional IDEA funding, including providing appropriate educational and related services, equipment, assistive technology, training for teachers, access to nurses, etc.

You should begin working with other advocates in your community and state to give input on how these funds will be spent. Find out the process your state and school district will use to award and spend the funds, and how you can have input. While some states have complained that getting money for 2 years for special-education is useless, one questions this claim. Assistive technology, equipment, training in reading and other methodologies for teachers are all important things that will have an impact for a long time. The same is obviously true for providing appropriate services; districts must provide FAPE. Moreover, you want to watch for the impact of layoffs on special education. What about requirements for providing highly-qualified special education teachers? Are appropriate staff providing services, and are those services appropriate? Are children being shifted from 1:1 and 1:2 therapy to large, group therapy? Ask what your state will do to make public how the additional IDEA and School Stabilization funds are spent. What will be the accountability mechanisms in place? Be part of the process and have an impact.

Two Sources of Funding to School Districts: In the stimulus bill, school districts will get 2 different kinds of money: additional IDEA funds for 2009-10 and then stabilization funds. The increase in IDEA funding is a substantial increase. Stabilization funds can be used for a broad variety of purposes, including special education and the school modernization you heard so much about in the press. (Separately, there are also additional funds for Title I and other educational purposes.)

Under the Stabilization Funds portion of the bill (a separate title called State Fiscal Stabilization Funds), the Secretary of Education will get limited waiver authority to count the stabilization funds as non-federal funds when calculating maintenance of effort. This waiver authority is intended to be very narrow. What this means is that if a school district spends its stabilization funds on special education, and the Secy of Ed gives a waiver, the district can count those stabilization funds as if they were the school district's own money and cut its own contribution to special education by a similar amount. Again, this waiver authority only applies to the stabilization funds and requires approval by the Secretary of Education. It does not apply to the Part B or C funding the school district receives every year or to the additional IDEA funds in the stimulus bill. This is a strong improvement from the language in the Senate bill, which would have allowed waivers to be granted for all IDEA funding and would have thus allowed greater cuts in school district and state special-education spending.

But there may be an impact on maintenance of effort requirements under the IDEA. The stimulus bill has $11.3 million in Part B funds for FY 2009 and 2010. It is possible these funds could be awarded in a lump sum to the states, which then will allocate them to school districts. Under Section 613 of the IDEA, when a school district's allocation of Part B funds is greater than in the past fiscal year, the school district may reduce its spending by 50 percent of the amount of that increase. The additional IDEA funds in the Stimulus Bill may affect this.


Reporting Provisions: The final law also includes a list of reporting requirements in the State Stabilization portion of the bill, including how the state stabilization funds were used, the state's progress in hiring highly-qualified teachers, and its progress in developing valid and reliable assessments for limited English proficient students and children with disabilities.



Modernization/ADA Compliance. State Stabilization funds can be used for school modernization. Find out what your school district will do to ensure that school buildings are made ADA-compliant, and how to prioritize this goal. Identify schools that need improvements to be ADA-compliant and advocate with your school board; help them understand why this is so crucial.


How to Find the Bill:

The final bill is posted in several places. The Stimulus bill's formal name is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

One place the bill is posted the House Appropriations Committee website, http://appropriations.house.gov/

The provisions relating to special education, IDEA, and the Stabilization fund are in the Document marked Bill Text, Division A:

http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/Recovery_Bill_Div_A.pdf

The Education section begins on page 168 of the PDF (it says p.22 at the top but that's just the page of the section its in), and then the section relation to State Stabilization Funds and waiver begins on page 425 of the PDF, the Title named State Fiscal Stabilization Funds.

Thanks again to everyone who worked to protect funding for children with disabilities in the stimulus bill!! And we're all looking forward to seeing everyone at the COPAA conference in March.


Jessica Butler, Co-Chair, Congressional Affairs
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA)
a national voice for special education rights and advocacy
www.copaa.org

© Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA) (2009)

 

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