Will evil triumph? Find out in this week's edition of the Disability Defender!
Plus: Arizona brinksmanship over parent providers continues; Social Security glitch spreads panic; and could disabled kids be better served without the Department of Education?
There are certainly those moments when we want to quit. When the obstacles feel too high and the systems too difficult to navigate. But nothing will keep Clarissa Kent (aka the Disability Defender) down for long. Quitting is not an option when it comes to our kids!
On the second Sunday of every month, we feature Where is the Manual for This?!, an editorial cartoon about the medical mom life from Lenore Eklund.
Medical Motherhood’s news round up
Snippets of news and opinion from outlets around the world. Click the links for the full story.
• From The Washington Times (Opinion): “Why no more Department of Education is good news for parents of special-needs children”
President Trump’s recent executive order laying out a plan for dismantling the Department of Education represents good news for families nationwide. As the mother of a child with special needs and a former member of the National Council on Disability, I can attest that the benefits will extend to children with disabilities as well.
Lest special-needs parents have concerns about the future of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding, the order itself does not reduce such funding by 1 cent. Mr. Trump, or any other president, cannot reduce IDEA funding even if he wants to. That responsibility lies with Congress. Indeed, the order instructs the secretary of education to ensure “rigorous compliance with federal law,” including IDEA funding and requirements existing in statute.
However, to the extent that the administration and Congress can work to devolve responsibility for education policy to states and local governments, all students will benefit from greater opportunities.
[…]The solution is to remove the layers of regulations, bureaucracy, and wasteful spending, such as a $10 million public relations office, that have characterized the Department of Education since its inception. Washington should give power and funds back to states and localities to run education policy as they choose, and those local governments should continue delivering more dollars to the best advocates for quality education: parents themselves.
[…Education Savings Accounts] began with the special-needs community, which quickly embraced the flexibility the accounts provide. Because families can (and many do) use their ESA dollars to fund multiple types of education expenses, many special-needs parents have found that they can more easily customize their child’s learning program well beyond the limits of any individualized education program in a traditional public school.[…]
• From 12 News: “Republicans want to cut the number of hours caregivers can be paid for when taking care of disabled Arizonans”
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday are set to fast-track a plan to cover a $122 million shortfall so nearly 60,000 Arizonans with disabilities can continue to have state services through the end of June.
But a spokesman for Gov. Katie Hobbs told 12News she will veto the proposal, calling it "unserious" and an attack on "disabled Arizonans."
[…]The GOP plan includes taking money from three other state entities and imposing significant reductions to the number of hours for parents as paid caregivers, capping their weekly allotment to 20 in October. It also gives the Legislature more control over the state's Medicaid program, typically run by the governor's office.
[…]Brandi Coon, co-founder of the 6,000-member Raising Voices Coalition, said she expects more than 100 people from the disabilities community to attend Tuesday's hearings and voice opposition.
Coon, a Republican from Queen Creek, said the GOP plan would result in a slow dismantling of the state's Medicaid program, and it's a "wild attempt at control" for Republicans.
[…]She added that many paid parental providers knew they would only be paid 40 hours a week starting in July. But, she said a cut to 20 hours a week in the fall is too much.
"It's essentially saying: 'We don't want to pay for the care, and you will do it for free anyway,'" she said.[…]
• From CBS News: “Social Security wrongly told disabled people and some seniors their benefits ended, causing alarm”
The Social Security Administration last week wrongly informed some recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the federal program that provides financial assistance to disabled Americans and low-income senior citizens, that they were no longer receiving benefits.
The agency's website informed some SSI recipients they are "currently not receiving payments," according to an April 7 letter from senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Kelly of Arizona to Social Security Administration Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek.
The payment history and all data about benefits for SSI recipients had also vanished, they wrote, adding that they received multiple reports from constituents about the error.
"In my 50 years of work on Social Security and SSI, I have never heard of this happening before," said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group for the program, of the SSI error.
[…]The Social Security Administration told CBS MoneyWatch that the issue was limited to SSI recipients, adding, it "did not impact Social Security or Medicare only beneficiaries." A spokesperson for the agency said, "This particular issue was resolved less than twenty-four hours later. All my Social Security user logins are again able to connect and view the proper benefit information."
[…]The maximum monthly SSI payment is $967 for an individual in 2025, with the program aimed at helping people with disabilities and seniors with no or little income. Most SSI recipients have income below the poverty line, according to the Roosevelt Institute.[…]
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