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Statement by
Judith E. Heumann
Assistant Secretary for
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
on
Fiscal Year 1998 Request for
Special Education and
Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to present the President's fiscal year 1998 budget request for the Special Education and Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research accounts, which are administered by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). I am proud to report that in the past four years, OSERS has made significant progress towards the goals the President has identified for all disability programs and policies --- inclusion, not exclusion; independence, not dependence; and empowerment, not paternalism. Today we are closer to realizing these goals, in large part due to strong bipartisan support for our efforts to promote the integration, independence, and empowerment of individuals with disabilities through the programs we administer.
We recognize that the Federal Government alone cannot ensure that disabled individuals have the assistance they need to achieve their educational, vocational, and independent living goals. We must continue to build partnerships with State and local educators, parents of children with disabilities, vocational rehabilitation providers, businesses and communities, and researchers in order to form a seamless network of experience, expertise, and program capacity to meet the needs of disabled individuals in America. We plan to continue to work closely with these partners, in addition to Congress, to reauthorize both the Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
The President's fiscal year 1998 budget request for OSERS was designed to assure that America continues down the path toward building a truly inclusive society. The request would provide a total increase of $248 million over the fiscal year 1997 level, including a $174 million, or 4.3 percent, increase for Special Education and a $74 million, or 2.9 percent, increase for Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research. These increases would enable OSERS to continue its work to make sure that millions of children and adults with disabilities have access to the educational, employment, and independent living services they need to become fully participating members of society.
The President's fiscal year 1998 budget proposal for Special Education reflects the new directions envisioned in the Administration's proposal for the reauthorization of IDEA, which is designed to strengthen its focus on improving educational results for children with disabilities, and to eliminate unnecessary administrative burdens and disincentives to best practices.
Grants to States
We are requesting $3.2 billion for Grants to States to assist them in covering the excess costs associated with providing special education and related services to children with disabilities. This represents a 4.5 percent increase over the fiscal year 1997 appropriation level. This increase would maintain the Federal contribution toward meeting the excess cost at the fiscal year 1997 level of 8 percent, while providing assistance for an additional 101,000 children expected to require services. The request would provide significant support to State and local education agencies that could be used to address critical issues in expanding opportunities and improving results for children with disabilities. Such issues include providing children with disabilities with the accommodations necessary to enable their participation in State and district-wide assessments, and developing alternate tests for those who cannot participate in the general assessments.
Preschool Grants
Our request for the Preschool Grants program is $375 million, $14 million more than the appropriation for fiscal year 1997, which was the same as the 1996 appropriation level. This increase would help States to serve approximately 23,000 additional children with disabilities ages 3 through 5, while maintaining the per child share at the 1997 level of $625. These funds are in addition to funds provided under the Grants to States program.
Grants for Infants and Families
The $324 million requested for the Grants for Infants and Families program would support formula grants to States to assist them in implementing statewide systems of coordinated, comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, interagency programs to provide early intervention services to all children with disabilities from birth through age 2 and their families. Funding continues to be needed to help States to improve the quality of their statewide systems, provide critical services that otherwise would not be available, and encourage States to expand services to more children. The increase of $8 million is requested to help offset increased program costs.
Program Support and Improvement
The new Program Support and Improvement programs would replace discretionary programs currently funded under the Special Purpose Funds activity. The currently funded programs evolved separately over the last 30 years to address special needs in particular areas, and include a wide range of research, demonstration, outreach, technical assistance, dissemination, training, and other activities. The new Program Support and Improvement programs would consolidate these 14 discretionary programs into 5 coordinated programs that would provide a streamlined and coherent structure to carry out these activities, and focus on systematically helping States improve educational results for children with disabilities. The total request for these new programs is $262 million, $10 million more than the amount appropriated in 1997 for Special Purpose Funds programs.
Through our proposed Research to Practice program, we will retain a major focus on children whose needs have historically been addressed through now expired categorical programs. These include children with serious emotional disturbance and children with severe disabilities, including deaf-blindness, as well as preschool, secondary, and postsecondary aged children. However, activities would be structured, and additional funds are requested, to address the needs of children with other disabilities as well as children in the elementary school age range. Improving reading skills will also continue to be a focus of activities, particularly for young children. By providing States with flexible resources, our request for State Improvement grants is intended to enhance the ability of State agencies to carry out their own plans for program improvement and to address critical compliance issues, such as shortages of adequately trained teachers. Funding for Professional Development would enable us to support activities in which States are unlikely to invest, such as preparing personnel to work with children with low-incidence disabilities such as blindness. The Parent Training and Information program would help ensure that parents have the information they need to help their children with disabilities reach challenging standards. Finally, Technology Development and Educational Media funding would support the application of new technologies for children with disabilities and other activities carried out under the two existing technology and media programs such as captioning of television programs and films.
The Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research account supports comprehensive and coordinated programs of vocational rehabilitation and independent living for individuals with disabilities through formula grants to States for vocational rehabilitation services, and a variety of research, demonstration, training, and service programs. The Administration is currently working on a legislative proposal to reauthorize the expiring Rehabilitation Act and the Helen Keller National Center Act. The $2.6 billion request for this account targets increases to programs that provide direct services to assist individuals with disabilities in obtaining employment and pursuing independent living goals. The resources in this request are distributed under current law for illustrative purposes. The distribution of resources is subject to change pending the enactment of new authorizing legislation.
Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants
For the Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants program, the Administration requests a $70.8 million, or 3.3 percent, increase over the 1997 appropriation level. The request is $5.6 million more than is needed to satisfy the statutory requirement to provide an increase in funding at least equal to the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers. The $2.2 billion request would assist State VR agencies in meeting the current demand for VR services and offset the increased costs of providing VR services to a more severely disabled population.
In 1996, there were more than 1.2 million eligible individuals in the system of State VR agencies, 76 percent of whom have severe disabilities. As a result of the 1992 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act, the eligibility rate (applicants determined eligible for the VR program as a percent of all eligibility determinations) has risen from 56.5 percent in 1992 to 72.4 percent in 1996, thus increasing the demand for services. In addition, the presumption of benefit provision has resulted in an increase in the percentage of eligible persons with severe disabilities in the VR system.
Despite these challenges, State VR agencies have been successful in increasing the numbers of individuals achieving an employment outcome. In 1996, 213,334 individuals achieved an employment outcome, an increase of 11 percent from 1992. In the same period of time, the percentage of individuals with severe disabilities as a proportion of all individuals achieving an employment outcome has risen from 70 percent to 78 percent.
The economic benefits of this program can be demonstrated by the following fiscal year 1995 data on individuals who achieved an employment outcome: 88 percent of the individuals were employed in the competitive labor market or were self-employed; 80.3 percent of these individuals earned at or above the minimum wage; and 82.2 percent of these individuals reported that their own income was their primary source of support, as opposed to their family or public and private assistance and public entitlement programs.
The Administration is committed to monitoring program outcomes to improve program performance and is in the process of developing evaluation standards and performance indicators for the VR program. In addition, we are conducting a major longitudinal study to examine the success of the VR program in assisting individuals with disabilities to achieve sustainable improvement in employment, earnings, and independence. Where available, we are utilizing preliminary data and study findings in our examination of reauthorization issues.
Program Improvement Activities
$3.9 million, an increase of $1.5 million over the 1997 level, is requested for Program Improvement activities. The requested increase would support model cooperative projects designed to increase the capacity of employment and employment training programs to serve individuals with disabilities who are not currently being served by the VR State Grants program.
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)
The request includes $71 million for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) which provides an important link between research and practice in the delivery of services to individuals with disabilities. The requested level would allow NIDRR to implement recommendations from its long-range planning process, such as increasing the number of Field-Initiated Research projects and increasing the funding level of its research Centers to ensure that they have the resources to become Centers of Excellence.
Other Rehabilitation and Independent Living Service Programs
Increases are proposed for the Client Assistance, Protection and Advocacy of Individual Rights, Migratory Workers, Centers for Independent Living and the Helen Keller National Center to expand services or to meet rising costs associated with the provision of services to individuals with disabilities. The Department is proposing a reduction of $2 million for the Special Demonstration Programs in order to redirect funds to higher priority direct-service programs such as the Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants program and to provide support for the model demonstrations to be funded under the Program Improvement activity. The Department proposes to fund the remaining programs in this account at the 1997 appropriation level, a level sufficient to support activities in these programs.
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, we believe that the President's 1998 budget request for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services is a positive step in forging strong bipartisan support for programs that create opportunities to enable individuals with disabilities to contribute to our society to the best of their abilities.
My colleagues and I will be happy to respond to questions.
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