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C: SPECIAL EDUCATION AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES
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| Overview |
Rehabilitation Services and Disabiity Research
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Overview |
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The Administration is committed to working to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to learn and develop skills, engage in productive work, choose where to live, and participate in community life. The 2002 budget Request expands opportunities for persons with disabilities and improves education and employment outcomes by providing increased support through programs providing direct services for individuals with disabilities and programs that promote improved results for all children, including children with disabilities. The $8.4 billion for Special Education programs includes $7.3 billion for the Grants to States program, an increase of $1 billion or 15.8 percent over the 2001 level. This level of funding would provide an estimated $1,133 for each child with a disability, an amount equal to about 17 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure. This would be the highest level of Federal support ever provided for children with disabilities. For Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research, the budget provides $2.9 billion, an increase of $125 million or 4.4 percent over the 2001 level. This total includes $2.5 billion for Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants, an increase of $82 million to help over 1.2 million individuals with disabilities receive the services they need to become employed. To support the President's New Freedom Initiative, the Request also makes significant new investments in developing assistive technologies and making them available to individuals with disabilities. This includes a $9.6 million, or 9.6 percent, increase for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and a $20 million increase for the Assistive Technology program to expand financing to help individuals with disabilities purchase needed assistive technology devices and services. The budget also includes $20 million for a new Access to Telework Fund that would provide Federal matching funds to States for loans to individuals with disabilities to purchase computers and other equipment that would enable them to take advantage of telework opportunities. |
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Grants to States |
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The Grants to States program makes formula grants that help States pay the excess costs of providing special education and related services to children with disabilities aged 3 through 21 years. The Request would provide about $1,133 for each of the nearly 6.5 million children with disabilities expected to require special education for fiscal year 2002. The $1 billion increase would raise the Federal contribution to 17 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure per child with a disability-the highest Federal contribution in the history of the program and an increase of 2 percentage points over the level. The Request includes $15 million, a decrease of $1 million from the 2001 level, for studies to assess progress in implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. |
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Preschool Grants |
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| This program provides formula grants to help States make a free appropriate public education available to all children with disabilities ages 3 through 5. The Preschool Grants program supplements funds provided to States under the Grants to States program and help to ensure that young children with disabilities are ready to learn when they enter school. The Request would provide approximately $637 per child for approximately 613,000 children. | |||||||||||||
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Grants for Infants and Families |
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| This program makes formula grants to help States implement statewide systems of early intervention services for all eligible children with disabilities from birth through age 2 and their families. These systems help States and local agencies identify and serve children with disabilities early in life when interventions can be most effective in improving educational outcomes. In fiscal year 2002, this program will provide support to 57 State agencies and serve approximately 224,500 infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. | |||||||||||||
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Special Education National Activities
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| Special Education National Activities programs provide a streamlined and coherent structure of essential support to the States in their efforts to provide early intervention services and equal educational opportunity to children with disabilities. The total Request for National Activities is $312.3 million, a decrease of $14.4 million from the 2001 level. Most decreases reflect the elimination of funding for one-time projects in 2001. | |||||||||||||
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State Improvement |
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This program provides competitive grants to help State educational agencies reform and improve their systems for providing educational, early intervention, and transitional services to improve results for children with disabilities. This includes their systems for professional development, technical assistance, and dissemination. At least 75 percent of the funds provided to each State are reserved for professional development. The remaining funds are used to carry out State strategies for improving educational results, including efforts to hold school districts and schools accountable for the educational progress of children with disabilities, providing high-quality technical assistance to school districts and schools, and changing State policies and procedures to address systemic barriers to improving results for students with disabilities. The Request of $49.2 million would support approximately 49 awards made in prior years. |
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Research and Innovation |
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1 Includes $7.4 million in one-time appropriations for special projects.
Research and Innovation activities develop new knowledge through research, apply knowledge to create useful practices through demonstrations, and make knowledge available through outreach and other dissemination activities. The Request includes about $17 million for new projects and $52.1 million for continuation projects. |
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Technical Assistance and Dissemination |
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| This program provides technical assistance and disseminates materials based on knowledge gained through research and practice. The Request includes funding for continued support of an $8 million initiative to provide grants to help States address their technical assistance needs, including those related to correcting deficiencies in IDEA compliance found through State and Federal monitoring. About $13.4 million would be available for new projects and $40.0 million for continuation awards. | |||||||||||||
Personnel Preparation |
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| This program makes awards to prepare personnel to serve children with low- and high-incidence disabilities, to train leadership personnel, and to fund projects of national significance, such as developing models for teacher preparation. The overall goal of the program is to help ensure that there are adequate numbers of personnel with the skills and knowledge of the best practices to help children with disabilities succeed educationally. For this reason, the program focuses on both meeting the demand for personnel to serve children with disabilities and improving the quality of these personnel. A particular emphasis is placed on incorporating knowledge gained from research and practice into training programs. The request would provide $22.9 million for new awards and $58.4 million for continuation awards. | |||||||||||||
Parent Information Centers |
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| Parent Information centers provide parents with the training and information they need to work with professionals in meeting the early intervention and special education needs of their children with disabilities. The request would provide new and continuation support for over 100 centers as well funding for a new award for technical assistance to the centers. | |||||||||||||
Technology and Media Services |
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1 Includes $11 million in one-time appropriations for special projects.
This program supports research, development, and other activities to advance the application of new and emerging technologies in providing special education and early intervention services. Funds are also used for media-related activities such as captioning films and television for individuals with hearing impairments and video description and recording activities for individuals with visual impairments. The reduction proposed for 2002 reflects the elimination of funding for a one-time project and a one-time supplement in fiscal year 2001 and a reduction in Small Business Innovation Research program support, which is now included under the Rehabilitation Services and Disability account as part of the new Assistive Technology Development Fund. |
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REHABILITATION SERVICES AND DISABILITY RESEARCH
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Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) State Grants |
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The $2.5 billion Request, an increase of $81.6 million or 3.4 percent, would assist State VR agencies in increasing the participation of individuals with disabilities in the labor force. The request would satisfy the statutory requirement to increase funding by at least the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index. The total includes $26 million for grants to Indian tribes. Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants provide funds to State vocational rehabilitation agencies to help individuals with disabilities become gainfully employed. Funds are distributed on the basis of a formula that takes into account population and per capita income. A wide range of services is provided each year to about 1.2 million individuals with disabilities, including vocational evaluation, counseling and guidance, work adjustment, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental impairments, education and vocational training, job placement, and post-employment services. In the event that services cannot be provided to all eligible individuals with disabilities who apply, States must give priority to individuals with the most significant disabilities. Services are provided according to an individualized plan for employment. In 1999, the VR program helped over 230,000 individuals with disabilities achieve employment outcomes, with over 83 percent entering the competitive labor market or becoming self-employed. Approximately 85 percent of the individuals who achieved employment have significant disabilities. |
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Client Assistance State Grants |
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| This program makes formula grants to States for activities to inform and advise clients of benefits available to them under the Rehabilitation Act and to assist them in their relationships with service providers, including remedies to ensure the protection of their rights under the Act. The Request will provide services to approximately 74,600 individuals with disabilities. | |||||||||||||
Training |
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| This program makes grants to State and public or other nonprofit agencies and organizations, including institutions of higher education, to help ensure that adequate skilled personnel are available to provide rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities. Approximately $2.8 million would be available for new projects. | |||||||||||||
Demonstration and Training Programs |
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1Includes $4.6 million in one-time appropriations for special projects.
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| Demonstration and Training programs develop innovative methods and comprehensive service programs to help individuals with disabilities achieve vocational outcomes. The program awards competitive grants or contracts to State vocational rehabilitation agencies, community rehabilitation programs, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, or other public or nonprofit agencies or organizations, and for-profit organizations. The reduction from the 2001 level reflects the elimination of funding for one-time projects. At the Request level, approximately $1.2 million would be available for new awards. | |||||||||||||
Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers |
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| This program awards competitive grants to State vocational rehabilitation agencies and nonprofit organizations to provide rehabilitation services to migratory workers with disabilities. States that receive funding under this program are consistently more aggressive in serving this population than those that do not. The Request will support 4 new projects and 10 ongoing projects. | |||||||||||||
Recreational Programs |
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| This program supports projects that provide recreation and related activities for individuals with disabilities to aid in their employment, mobility, independence, socialization, and community integration. The Request will support 11 new projects and 15 ongoing projects. | |||||||||||||
Protection and Advocacy of Individual Rights |
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| This program supports systems in each State to protect and advocate for the legal and human rights of individuals with disabilities. These systems pursue legal and administrative remedies to ensure the protection of the rights of individuals with disabilities under Federal law and provide information on and referrals to programs and services for individuals with disabilities. The Request will provide services to approximately 80,300 individuals with disabilities. | |||||||||||||
Projects with Industry (PWI) |
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| This program funds projects that help individuals with disabilities obtain employment and advance their careers in the competitive labor market. PWI promotes the involvement of business through Business Advisory Councils that participate in project policymaking and provide advice on available jobs and training requirements. In fiscal year 2000, PWI placed over 13,000 individuals with disabilities in competitive employment. Most of the individuals served through this program are considered difficult to place due to significant disability or extended unemployment (at least 6 months at time of project entry). The request would support about 101 projects, including about 80 new awards and 21 continuation projects. | |||||||||||||
Supported Employment State Grants |
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| This program makes formula grants to assist States in providing supported employment services for individuals with the most significant disabilities who have a goal of supported employment under the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) State Grants program. Supported employment placements are achieved by augmenting short-term VR services with ongoing support provided by other public or non-profit organizations. This program supplements supported employment activities funded through VR State Grants. In 1999, for example, VR State Grant funds provided supported employment services to 49,228 individuals, while Supported Employment State Grant funds extended such services to an additional 39,046 individuals. | |||||||||||||
Independent Living (BA in millions) |
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| The request would continue services to individuals with disabilities to maximize their independence and productivity and to help integrate them into the mainstream of American society. The State Grants program awards formula grants to States to expand and improve independent living services and to support the operation of centers for independent living. The Centers for Independent Living program makes competitive grants to support a network of consumer-controlled, nonresidential, community-based centers that provide a broad range of independent living services. Services for Older Blind Individuals assists individuals aged 55 or older whose severe visual impairment makes competitive employment difficult to obtain, but for whom independent living goals are feasible. | |||||||||||||
Program Improvement |
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| Program improvement funds are used to support activities that increase program effectiveness, improve accountability, and enhance the Department's ability to address critical areas of national significance in achieving the purposes of the Rehabilitation Act. Most of the Request for 2002 would continue support for the National Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center. Funds also would be used for on-going performance measurement and dissemination activities. | |||||||||||||
Evaluation |
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| These funds are used to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of programs authorized by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. A reduction in funding for the Evaluation program is proposed to reflect completion of the multi-year comprehensive study of the Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants program. The Requested level of funding would enable the Department to continue support for one study to be initiated in 2001 and to begin two additional studies. | |||||||||||||
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Helen Keller National Center |
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| This program serves individuals who are deaf-blind, their families, and service providers through a national headquarters Center with a residential training and rehabilitation facility; a network of 10 regional field offices which provide referral, counseling, and technical assistance; and an incentive grant program for public and private agencies that serve individuals with deaf-blindness. At the Request level, the Center would provide direct services for approximately 90 clients at its residential training and rehabilitation program; serve 2,825 individuals, families, and agencies through its regional field offices; and provide incentive grants to 2 new programs. | |||||||||||||
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National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) |
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NIDRR supports a comprehensive and coordinated program of research, demonstration projects, and related activities dealing with the rehabilitation of persons of all ages with disabilities, including training of persons who provide rehabilitation services or who conduct rehabilitation research. NIDRR awards discretionary grants for support of rehabilitation research and training centers, rehabilitation engineering research centers, and disability and rehabilitation research projects that address diverse issues in rehabilitation, including the causes and consequences of disability and ways to improve educational, employment, and independent living opportunities for persons with disabilities. Grants or contracts are also awarded for utilization and dissemination of research results and for training. The Request includes a $10 million increase that would expand support for the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC) program, establish the Assistive Technology Development Fund, and strengthen the Interagency Committee on Disability Research. The increase for RERC would promote the design and development of innovative technologies to allow individuals with disabilities to achieve greater independence in all facets of life. Similarly, the Assistive Technology Development Fund would help stimulate technological innovation in the private sector and strengthen the role of small businesses in developing new assistive technologies and bringing them to market. Finally, funding for the Interagency Committee on Disability Research would promote greater cooperation across various government agencies in the development and execution of disability and rehabilitation research activities. |
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Assistive Technology (BA in millions) |
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The Assistive Technology Act (AT Act) supports grants to States to increase access to and funding for assistive technology devices and services by individuals with disabilities of all ages. Title I of the AT Act authorizes the Assistive Technology State Grant program, protection and advocacy services related to assistive technology, and technical assistance activities. The decrease for Title I reflects the statutory requirements that States are ineligible for funding under the AT State grant program after 13 years of participation and that States are reduced in their ninth and tenth years. Nine States are no longer eligible for funding in fiscal year 2002 and funding for 10 States would be reduced. The Request includes $40 million, an increase of $25 million over the 2001 level, for Title III of the Assistive Technology Act. Funds for the Alternative Financing Program are used to provide grants to States to establish, enhance, or maintain loan programs for individuals with disabilities to purchase needed assistive technology devices and services. An assistive technology device can dramatically improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities and their ability to engage in productive employment, but assistive technologies can be prohibitively expensive and most people with disabilities do not have the private financial resources to purchase the assistive technology they need. |
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Access to Telework Fund |
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| The goal of the Access to Telework Fund is to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities by providing greater access to computers and other equipment individuals need to work from home if they choose. To accomplish this goal, the Access to Telework Fund would provide Federal matching funds through discretionary grants to States. These grants would enable States to provide loans for individuals with disabilities to purchase computers and other equipment so that they can telework from home. | |||||||||||||
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Special Institutions for Individuals with Disabilities (BA in millions) |
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The American Printing House for the Blind provides special education materials for students who are visually impaired, offers advisory services for consumers, and conducts applied research. At the request level, APH would provide free educational materials to approximately 57,500 persons with visual impairments at an average per student allotment of $153,5, implement 8 initiatives to improve its technical assistance and outreach services, and conduct over 90 research projects. The National Technical Institute for the Deaf provides postsecondary technical education and training for students who are deaf and graduate education and interpreter training for persons who are deaf or hearing. NTID also conducts research and provides training related to the education and employment of individuals who are deaf. The request would maintain funding for opertions at thee 2001 level and prove $4..6 million for the final phase of a major project to renovate NTID dormitories. In 2002, NTID would provide education and training to approximately 1,1200 undergraduate and technical students, 60 graduate students, and 90 interpreters for persons who are deaf. Gallaudet University offers undergraduate and continuing education programs for persons who are deaf, and graduate programs for persons who are deaf or hearing. Gallaudet laso maintains and operates the Kendall Demonstration Elementary School and Model Secondary School for the Deaf. In 2002, the University will serve approximately 1,320 undergraduate and professional studies students, 700 graduate students, and 365 elementary and secondary education students. |
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 B: Bilingual and Immigrant Education |
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 D: Vocational and Adult Education |