Washington Update

As part of EIFA’s collaboration with the IDEA Infant Toddler’s Coordinators Association (ITCA), the EIFA Board participates in what we call a bimonthly Washington Update with Maureen Greer and Sharon Walsh.  Below we would like to share a summary of our most recent call.  We will also have separate blog postings that talk at more length about each topic.

OSEP Plans for Results Accountability System

As OSEP staff moves from a compliance-driven system to one that also includes a closer look at results  they are seeking comments from stakeholders regarding how best to accomplish this task. On September 4, 2012, OSEP posted a third question on this issue. You can visit the blog, review past questions and comments and post your own comments.

EIFA wants to encourage our members to bring these questions to their ICCs. It is important that families and other ICC members participate in this process and share their thoughts, concerns and questions about how the system can insure positive outcomes for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. EIFA will make every effort to share the questions as they are posted, through our Facebook page and to discuss the questions on our blog. Additionally, please see our related post on this question.

Sequestration

If you attended the IDEA Leadership Conference this year or last, you will have heard Sharon  Walsh discuss the issue of sequestration and its potential impact on Part C of IDEA.   In 2011, the United States was rapidly approaching our debt ceiling.  Congress created a bipartisan Super Committee to tackle the nation’s debt, which was unable to come up with solutions to the nation’s debt problems.   Unless Congress acts on its own, on January 1, 2013, sequestration or automatic spending cuts for both the Domestic and Defense spheres will go into effect. 

While no official action is being taken by Congress on addressing the nation’s debt, there are many discussions—some are trying to gauge how cuts will impact programs, while others are trying stave off any and all cuts to their preferred programs. It is important to remember that the reason that both Domestic and Defense Discretionary programs were included in the automatic cuts was to insure a bipartisan concern with the impact of spending cuts and to bring both sides to the table to develop alternative approaches.  Earlier this summer Senator Harkin issued this report on how sequestration might affect Domestic programs. A December 2011study found that investing $1 billion in health care or education creates significantly more jobs within the U.S. economy than spending $1 billion on the military. According to the Harkin report almost 27,000 fewer children will be served by early intervention across the country if the sequestration cuts go into effect.

Ratification of the United Nations Treaty on the Rights of People with Disabilities

The Senate held a hearing earlier this month to begin the process of ratifying the treaty on the Rights of People with Disabilities.  Initially this seemed to be an easy treaty to ratify, however, surprisingly a group of people, representing for the most part homeschoolers, has opposed the treaty citing concerns with their ability to homeschool and issues related to policies on abortion and sex education.  Unfortunately, this group has been able to slow down the ratification of this important treaty.  The U.S. International Council on Disabilities encourages family members of people with disabilities to contact their US Senators to ask for them to publicly express their support and willingness to vote yes.  See the website for the list of Senators who are on record supporting the convention.