State

Legislature

Short session will begin on April 24, 2024. The short session allows legislators to review and adjust the state’s two-year budget that was adopted the previous year. During the short session, lawmakers may only consider new legislation that impacts the budget or bills that passed during the long session. Two areas of particular interest for people with I/DD from the previous budget were the 350 Innovations slots and the $60 million for increasing direct support professional salaries. Both items address critical areas but fall short of what is needed. The short session is an opportunity to continue education and advocacy around the need for more Innovations slots and the additional funds needed to increase DSP rates to at least $18 an hour.

Tailored Plan Readiness and LME/MCO Streamlining

During the long session, the legislature gave the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) more authority over the LME/MCOs and directed the Secretary to reduce the number of LME/MCOs to four or five. As a result, Secretary Kinsley issued a directive on November 1, 2023 that describes the process of reducing the number to four LME/MCOs:

• Sandhills, Eastpointe, and Trillium will be combined
  • Exceptions: Davidson County to Partners; Harnett County to Alliance; Rockingham County to Vaya
• Four remaining
  • Trillium Health Resources
  • Alliance Health
  • Partners Health Management
  • Vaya Health

There is an aggressive timeline outlined in the directive and the goal is to have the four LME/MCOs established and ready to launch the Tailored Plan by July 2024.

Federal

Budget

There is still not agreement on the budget for the federal fiscal year which began on October 1. A continuing resolution (CR) which kept the government running was scheduled to expire on November 17.

On November 16, the President signed a second continuing resolution (CR) for fiscal year 2024 that is "laddered," or consists of two separate expiration dates for two separate sets of appropriations bills. The Senate passed the measure on November 15, after the House passed the bill on November 14. The first expiration date in the CR, January 19, would apply to the programs covered by the Agriculture, Energy-Water, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD bills. The second expiration date, February 2, would apply to the programs covered by the Commerce-Justice-Science, Defense, Financial Services-General Government, Homeland Security, Interior-Environment, Labor-HHS-Education, Legislative Branch, and State-Foreign Operations bills.

Unintended Consequences of Proposed Rule

I/DD providers are concerned about a federal proposal to extend overtime pay to millions of additional workers. The U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed rule in September that would require employers to pay most salaried workers earning less than about $55,000 per year overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a week. The American Network of Community Options and Resources, or ANCOR, which represents 2,100 disability service providers across the nation, is worried that this change could have deep consequences for people with developmental disabilities seeking services to help them live in the community. The rule could lead to more than $1 billion in additional expenses for disability service providers in the first year alone, the group estimated in a report released this month. As we know, disability providers are dependent on funding from Medicaid, and the rates are not high enough to fund these additional expenses. This could result in cuts in programs and services for people with I/DD.

Advocates have raised these concerns to the Department of Labor (DOL), and DOL is reviewing feedback and comments.

Ed Department Finds Students with Disabilities Disproportionately Disciplined

According to the review of the latest civil rights data by the Department of Education, children with disabilities are far more likely than other students to be restrained, secluded, suspended, expelled, or referred to law enforcement. The Department of Education typically collects civil rights data every other year. But such activities were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the current release is the first since 2020 when officials put out data collected about the 2017-2018 school year.

Across the country, 17% of public school students have disabilities, with 14% served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and 3% covered only by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the report shows. By comparison, students with disabilities accounted for 15.9% of enrollment in 2017-2018.

The latest findings indicate that those with disabilities continue to be disciplined at disproportionate rates, representing 29% of K-12 students who received out-of-school suspensions and 21% of expulsions. They were also more likely to experience school-related arrests or be referred to law enforcement.

Of the 42,500 allegations of harassment or bullying reported by public school students during the 2020-2021 school year, 9% were on the basis of disability.

Children served under IDEA were far more likely than others to experience restraint and seclusion, accounting for 32% of those mechanically restrained, 81% of students who were physically restrained, and 75% of kids who were secluded. They also were less frequently enrolled in mathematics and science courses.

The Arc Names New Director

The Arc of the United States, the oldest and largest nonprofit serving people with I/DD, recently named Katherine (Katy) Neas as its new CEO. Katy brings more than 35 years of experience in disability policy and public and nonprofit leadership to the role. Her tenure with The Arc of the US will begin in January 2024. She has recent experience with the U.S. Department of Education, American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and Easterseals. Her early work includes federal legislative work as a Legislative Assistant where she worked on legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Katy holds a B.A. from Georgetown University. Katy is a visionary leader who has devoted her career to disability rights.