Special needs children - such as those with Down’s syndrome or autism - would benefit from bills filed by midtown Oklahoma City Reps. Jason Nelson and Anastasia Pittman, and by Sen. Patrick Anderson, Enid.
House Bill 3393, from Anderson and Nelson, would expand Oklahoma’s self-directed care program and allow scholarships for students with special needs.
Separate legislation, Pittman’s House Bill 3327, focuses solely on the scholarship side of the issue.
The self-directed care program began in 2005. HB 3393 would create a “Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program.”
As Nelson and Anderson explained at a state Capitol press conference last week, “students with disabilities who have an individualized education program (IEP) would qualify for a scholarship to attend any school which meet the accreditation requirements of the state Board of Education.”
The bill would not increase state spending, but redirect existing funds already being spent on students.
Anderson said, “Instead of having the child’s educational options limited to what the local school can provide, the scholarships would allow parents to select schools based on the child’s needs.”
Nelson, a Republican, represents much of Oklahoma City’s near westside, Oklahoma City district, including a portion of MidTown. Democrat Pittman represents a the city’s east side district.
Joining the authors at a media briefing were Wanda Felty, Doris Erhart and Andrea Kersey, mothers of special needs children, and James Nicholson, Department of Human Services division director, Developmental Disabilities Services.
Kersey, mother of an autistic 18-year-old son, has opened a Tulsa school, Heartland Academy, to meet student needs similar to her child’s.
Felty described the frustration related to the state’s long-term waiting list to access services for special needs children and adults.
There are now 5,329 people on those waiting lists, Felty told CapitolBeatOK.
The proposed legislation potentially could reduce the waiting list’s potential beneficiaries age 7-18 among the 2,058 individuals.
For targeted students, the new program builds on the Self-Directed Services (SDS) Pilot program that created a system to benefit disabled persons “based on the principles of consumer choice and control.”
DHS’ Nicholson explained the SDS program has already created efficiencies, and satisfaction families have expressed such after three years of implementation.
He said DHS officials would work to sustain and improve the program if legislators make it permanent and add the scholarship mechanism. He said legislators are looking at ways “to use the dollars we have better.”
Residential programs would continue, at costs of around $55,000 yearly per person.
However, the self-directed programs can be delivered more economically, reform advocates say. Development Disabilities Services programs reach about 9,000 Oklahomans.
Rep. Nelson said, “This is not a partisan issue. It’s about helping these children.”
Near the end of the Capitol press conference, Rep. Pittman said, “I want to commend Rep. Nelson for bringing this issue to public attention. It’s in our hearts to help these kids who have special needs in education and other ways.
“Anyone who has a problem about private schools or providers being able to participate in this program can talk to me. This idea is overdue.”
Pittman also said the new effort would allow Oklahoma “to do something spectacular for these children.”
She said it is probably impossible to estimate the state’s possible savings from more effective disabled person programs, noting that any program that helps families “weather the storm” means less spending for counseling, food stamps and other costs.
NOTE: McGuigan is senior editor at The City Sentinel, and founder of CapitolBeatOK, an online news service that began operations this month.
