01 Jul CP State Condemns Federal Actions Threatening Disability Rights, Special Education, and the Direct Care Workforce
What is happening federally right now is completely unacceptable for the disability field: the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recent memo attacking the legal foundation for community inclusion, the Department of Education (DOE) transference of special education oversight to the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) and civil rights to DOJ, and the decision by SCOTUS clearing the way to deport hundreds of thousands of people holding Temporary Protected Status (TPS). We are alarmed beyond anger and completely unwilling to accept this. The disability movement has made great strides over the 80 years of CP State’s existence and we’re at a crossroads with an administration targeting the fundamental principles of inclusion and integration. And this administration has proven that they literally will tear down buildings without authority, daring those who follow the rule of law to do anything about the carnage done to our republic’s democratic principles — and this is why the signaling they have done tells us they are going after HSBC and other disability programs because “they cost too much.”
The attack on fraud and abuse, without any real widespread proof of either, in conjunction with their recent DOJ memo on Olmstead and their removal of special education from the education department, collectively tip their hand on what is coming next. And that is not going to be good for people with disabilities.
The DOJ’s Olmstead memo, which has no legal standing, claims the integration mandate doesn’t exist. Regardless of whether this survives any legal challenge, this messaging does significant damage. It signals to states that the federal enforcement is gone, just as Medicaid cuts loom in the background, threatening the funding that makes integrative supports and services possible. On top of that, moving the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) reframes disability as a medical condition to manage rather than a human experience to support, and it puts special education in the hands of an agency wildly ill-equipped to advise on these matters. Similarly, moving the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to the DOJ, which just sent the memo attacking inclusion, signals that that the Administration questions the right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE) which are the basis for special education statutes and rules. While NYS has protections in place to ensure students with disabilities receive FAPE as they continue to be entitled to under IDEA, it’s disconcerting that this approach has been taken. And then there’s the ruling by SCOTUS on TPS, which isn’t just an immigration issue, it’s a direct threat to an already struggling direct care workforce.
These actions do not exist independently. The Olmstead memo attempts to permit the abandonment of community integration. The OSERS transfer medicalizes disability from childhood. The OCR transfer threatens the basis of FAPE and LRE. The TPS ruling further dismantles the field’s workforce. And Medicaid cuts defund the system holding it all together. Taken together, this paints a very clear picture of a nation where people with disabilities are more isolated and targeted than they have been in decades, simply for being who they are.
CP State will continue to work with New York State and our federal partners to fight for our Affiliates, staff, individuals with IDD and their families. Our efforts to achieve support and action at both the federal and state level are being undertaken in conjunction with NYDA — a link to our materials for advocacy can be found here (Talking Points / Advocacy Leave-Behind), and we encourage all concerned with the future of disability services in NYS to step up and take action.
CP State will continue to advocate for adequate funding for home and community-based services, for protections for the direct care workforce, and for the principle that has guided the field for nearly 30 years: that every person with a disability deserves to live a full life in their community.