Not in my backyard!

 Developmentally Disabled People Don’t Belong in the Community

The U.S. Department of Justice has taken a new position advising that states have no legal obligation to serve people with disabilities in the community.  This position upends a 27-year old Olmstead Supreme Court decision on the rights of people with disabilities.  That decision found that “states are required to provide community-based treatment for persons with mental disabilities” provided that certain conditions are met.  Both Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act “require states to treat mentally disabled patients in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs”

The new position of the Department of Justice does not and cannot alter the law.  But it will certainly alter the way the federal government enforces those laws.  This decision alters the way the federal government has interpreted these laws for the last 50 years.  This change in policy is consistent with the transfer of the Office Civil Rights under the Department of Education to be moved to the Department of Justice.  Both have the effect of reducing the enforcement of the rights of people with disabilities.  The expectation is that the Justice Department and Health and Human Services will amend their regulations for enforcement of Section 504 and ADA to align with this new interpretation of the law.  States will feel free to return to the old institutionalization of people who are disabled.  

The American Association of People with Disabilities has warned, “the Office of Legal Counsel is incorrect in its interpretation and its assumptions about what Congress intended.  But the fact that their conclusion is unjustified and incorrect doesn’t change the fact that they will seek to use said interpretation to hurt disabled people, lock us away, end our autonomy over our lives, and in many cases, end our lives together”.

The feds can’t change the law. This opinion will change the enforcement of the law. How good are laws that are not enforced?  States would be advised to continue to obey the law.  Folks with disabilities have been put on notice that if the states don’t obey the law, they can’t look to their federal government for redress.

Is college still worth the cost?

 Is college still worth the cost?

In many instances taxpayers are helping to finance the cost of higher education.  The US Department of Education thinks that assistance should only go to students in programs where the degree will lead to a higher salary otherwise the degree is not worth the investment.  Under proposed regulations programs that do not meet earnings benchmarks could lose access to federal loan programs.

This proposal would mean that programs in theology, the arts, museum studies and possibly even teacher ed programs would be at risk.   For that matter, some of the liberal arts programs like psychology, criminal justice and mass communication don’t deliver much in the way of dollars upon graduation either.

In the dark ages the common belief was it made no sense to educate women because they were going to marry, have babies and drop out of the workforce.  The more enlightened folks argued that an educated mom would be a better mom for all those babies.  We know how that argument ended up.

In the early years of higher ed, only the wealthy went to college to study and learn, not to earn.   Those who needed to earn went to trade schools or in the field of education “normal” schools.  Some of that notion may be returning because with higher tuitions, many young people are skipping higher ed and going to trade schools.  They too are examining whether the cost of tuition and debt is worth the economic outcome.  Higher education enrollments are declining.

For decades colleges justified themselves by marketing their programs as the pathway to higher incomes.  

The question before us is that the main reason to support young people in higher education.  Is the value of higher ed measured only in dollar return on the investment.  Is economic value the best measure of educational value?  Do we need a well-educated populace to sustain our democracy?   Like those babies of well-educated moms, are we all better off with more well educated folk even if the dollar return on investment is not that great?

Will anyone notice before it's too late?

 Is anybody there? Does anybody care?

The Trump administration his moving full force to dismantle the US Office of Education.  Now Secretary McMahon is telling folks the new plan will be better.  Advocates for people with disabilities aren’t buying the story.

First of all the Office for Civil Rights within the Education Department is being shut down and shifted to the Department of Justice.  The Department has laid off the attorneys in the Office of Civil Rights.  This year over 9000 complaints have been filed.   Well over 7000 of these were resolved by simply dismissing them.  The Department has also closed 7 of the 12 regional offices.  Families can still complain to their state offices but it is usually the state departments of education against whom the complaints are made.

The law that established the Department of Education says that the Department is responsible for overseeing and funding the education of children with disabilities.  The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) also gives that responsibility to the Department of Education. 

Additionally, McMahon, has moved the program and funding issues regarding children with disabilities to Health and Human Services.  It has taken years for advocates to move the education of kids with disabilities to a psychological and instructional model, not a medical one.  Now moving programs to a department focusing on health is a step backward.  

 No one in the Trump administration has consulted Congress on the changes. Even though many see the moves as a violation of the two major laws.  Even Democrats in Congress are barely noticing.  The thing is very few folks, other than institutional advocates will even pay much attention to these changes which explains why McMahon can get away with it. And, of course, as a good sycophant she has Trumps full support.

Is anybody there?  Does anybody care?   Doesn’t seem so and then it will be too late.

How much is it worth for the cure?

 How much is it worth to cure your child of autism?

How about $436 a minute or $30,500 a day?  Chances are your insurance isn’t going to cover it. Families with children on the autism spectrum are looking for help.  Many times, the places or services that can help have long waiting lists.

There are some national organizations that can provide service right away. You might want to take a second or third look before you buy.  The service is costly and the providers will come right into your home.  Usually, the providers offer immediate service and promise that the service will be at no cost to you because your insurance will cover the cost.  These services are almost always out of network so there is no cap or oversight of the costs. 

One such organization is Perfect Child.  It provides in-home service with a promise that your insurance will cover the service.  The therapy is usually offered by people called behavior technicians.  In many states, these people have little more than a high school diploma.  Their wages are low, roughly around $20 an hour.  And, of course, they need to be supervised by someone with an actual license and whose fees are much higher.  The family pays the hourly rate for both.  One example of the service, a behavioral technician spent 70 minutes with a child working on a puzzle and playing with educational toys.  The insurance company was billed $15,200 for the technician and another $15,300 for the supervision.  A total of $436 a minute.  The insurance company denied the claim.  Ultimately the family was billed $911,400 for services denied by their medical insurance provider.   Perfect Child, the company doing the billing, kept encouraging the family to appeal to their insurance company.  

Insurers ask for proof of service.  Providers say they have sent the proof but nothing arrives.  In some instances, families have been sued by the fraudulent providers for bills for the fraudulent services.

Promising families the sky who are looking to provide the very best for their children are ripe for picking. These fraudulent services make promises that are very appealing. The "cure rate" of these organizations is very low and when the insurance isn't paid, no plan of care is offered. How much is it worth to cure your child of autism?

And now for the latest in classroom management

 There are better ways to quiet a class

A federal lawsuit was just filed.  The suit alleges that a teacher of children with significant cognitive disabilities gave her class over-the-counter melatonin.  A whistleblower at Maiden Choice Elementary school in Baltimore County alerted a parent that the teacher and her aides were giving the kids melatonin, an OTC hormone that is designed to promote sleep. Significantly disabled students were noticed with heads down on their desks sleeping!!  At this point no criminal charges have been filed.  Initially, the parent was told that the accused teacher was placed on leave and that “no further actions were taken”.   Since that time, the County has said the teacher no longer works for Baltimore County schools.  It is unclear whether the teacher was terminated by the County or resigned herself.

The suit was first filed in State court but because the basis of the suit is the 14^th amendment to the US Constitution, the case was transferred to federal court.  The lawsuit is against the teacher, the school principal, and Baltimore County Public Schools.  The lawsuit does say that Baltimore County investigated the situation but does not say what the result of that investigation was.  Staff at Maiden Choice are mandated by law to report any suspected child abuse to Child Protective Services.  It is not clear if any staff made such a report.

Baltimore County is arguing that the family has no claim against the principal or the County schools because they never engaged in the behavior for which the teacher is accused.  The other question is whether the teacher’s actions were a crime.  Baltimore County State’s Attorney has indicated he is not sure what charges may apply for any criminal behavior on the part of the teacher based on what he knew about the case.  The police department is also saying it was not aware of the alleged incidents.  Since the alleged behavior on the part of the teacher happened in 2024, the statue of limitation would have expired.  

With all of the concerns, and with no one taking responsibility, the overriding question is “didn’t anyone notice a class of sleeping children in the middle of the day”.  There are better ways to quiet a class.  Is it too much to expect someone noticing?

Just Isn't Fair

 Just isn’t fair!

My kid took the SAT’s and did the best she could, after all she is in AP classes.  Then my daughter told me that there were all these kids who had all this extra time.  Just isn’t fair.

So what is going on?  Children with a wide variety of disabilities are being allowed the accommodation of extra time on the ACT and SAT tests that measure the chances of students getting into top colleges and/or getting scholarship money.  The accommodations vary and can be time and a half or even double time.  Some accommodations allow the student to take the test in a separate room so he/she has anxiety issues.  The percentage of students having special accommodations has risen to about 7% of test takers.  Doesn’t giving kids with disabilities extra time or other accommodations actually level the playing field so that these students have the same opportunities as students without disabilities?  Well that depends.

Some families are saying that “disabilities” can be purchased from private psychologists who, for a handsome fee, will find that disability which will yield the accommodation.  Some of the tactics include getting a gastroenterologist to support unlimited bathroom breaks.  Another tactic is getting teachers to write letters attesting to the student’s anxiety or other needs for special treatment. Getting the medical tests can cost families from $2,000-$10,000, so they are only available to families with some serious discretionary funds since the tests are not generally covered by insurance.  Colleges don’t know which students got extra time or other accommodations to take those tests.

The accommodations are still meant to level the playing field for students with real life disabilities.  However, now that families with money and access are able to tilt that playing field is that abuse?

Psychologists are saying they get significant push back from families if, after testing, they report they find no evidence of the need for any accommodation on the tests.  It is a strange universe where a student functions really well on psychological testing and the parents are angry at the tester?  Not finishing the SAT or ACT in the allowed time is not a disability.

It just isn’t fair!

History does matter

 History does matter

This past weekend, May 17, 1954, was the 72^nd anniversary of the Supreme Court Decision, Brown v. the Board of Education.   That decision overturned the 1896 decision of Plessy v. Ferugson, which argued that separate could be equal.   Linda Brown was an African American child whose separate school was decidedly not equal to her neighborhood white school.  On that day, the Supreme Court handed down an unanimous decision that separate is decidedly not equal.  The case for Linda Brown was argued by Thurgood Marshal who later became a Supreme Court justice himself and for whom the Baltimore airport is named. A year later, the Court issued another decree saying separate schools should end with all “deliberate speed”.  We know how that goes.

But what does all of that have to do with serving kids with special needs.  Turns out quite a bit.  The Brown decision relied on the 14^th amendment to the US Constitution. One the many things covered by that amendment is the principle that if a state chooses to provide a service to one group of its citizens it must also provide that same service to all citizens in that group.  In the early ‘60’s, the public schools of the various states provided universal education to the plain students in their jurisdictions.  However, those same services were not being provided to children with disabilities.  In fact, these students were actually excluded from school.  Using the principles of both the Brown Decision and the 14^thAmendment, advocates argued that since states were choosing to provide an education for some of its children, those same states must, therefore, provide an education for all of its children.  Out of that advocacy, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) was born in 1965, 72 years after the Brown decision.  EHA later became the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).

While many families may still argue that their children are not receiving the most appropriate education for their children, we are no longer arguing whether or not those children may come to school at all. History does matter.  Learn your history and you make a better today and tomorrow.