The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday announced it was outsourcing certain federal special education activities to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, eliciting a mixed bag of reactions.
Critics say the changes will put more of a focus on the treatment or cure of students with disabilities, rather than an educational approach that integrates individual services with inclusion into general education instruction.
Tasking management of programs related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to HHS "pushes students with disabilities toward a medical model, where disability is treated as a diagnosis to manage instead of a natural part of human life," said Robyn Linscott, Director of Education and Family Policy at The Arc of the United States, in a statement. The Arc of the United States is a disability rights advocacy organization.
"When that mindset drives education decisions, students are more likely to be segregated, underestimated, or treated as separate from the school community," Linscott said.
Supporters, on the other hand, say the partnership helps streamline access between educational and medical services, encourages more informed policymaking, and supports children's lifetime outcomes.
Jeanne Allen, founder and CEO of the Center for Education Reform, which advocated for transferring special education programs to HHS, said in a statement that HHS is the "primary federal agency responsible for disability-related health, developmental, therapeutic, and family support services.
"In reality, families of children with autism, Down syndrome, and other disabilities have long been forced to navigate a fragmented maze of programs split between education and health agencies," Allen said. "Bringing these functions closer together can help streamline access, reduce bureaucratic barriers, and improve outcomes for students."
The Education Department, on Tuesday, announced the partnership with HHS, along with plans to transfer some civil rights activities housed under the Office for Civil Rights to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Education Department now has 14 interagency agreements with six other federal agencies as the Trump administration works to eliminate the Education Department, which it says has done little to improve student outcomes despite increased federal funding.
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon addressed the medical vs. educational concerns about the HHS partnership in a June 16 letter to parents by saying the interagency agreement does not alter the legal responsibilities of the Education Department's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which oversees states' implementation of IDEA, or the agency's responsibilities under OCR.
"IDEA, as an education law, ensures that a child’s disability isn’t viewed as a medical condition that needs to be treated," McMahon wrote to parents. "IDEA ensures a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment and federal civil rights laws prevent discrimination on the basis of disability for students in K-12 settings."
McMahon added that the goal of the partnership with HHS is to "break down the bureaucratic barriers and strengthen the coordination of resources to improve programs that serve infants, toddlers, children and adults."
'Undermines years of progress'
Although the Education Department under the second Trump administration has consistently voiced that it was exploring moving special education programs elsewhere, the news of the HHS interagency agreement stunned some in the special education field.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s comments during his first press conference last year when he called autism an "individual tragedy" and a "preventable disease" that "destroys families" brought swift condemnation at the time from some disability rights advocacy groups.
Some reacting to the HHS-Education Department partnership said separating special education programming from federal management of elementary and secondary services will cause a disconnect between general and special education.
Some general education functions have also already been outsourced from the Education Department, as a previous interagency agreement moved certain elementary and secondary education programs funded under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act — including student academic supports and migrant services — to the U.S. Department of Labor. Another interagency agreement places management of career and technical education at the Labor Department.
The recent decision to also outsource certain special education programming "actively undermines years of progress toward a more integrated and inclusive education system for children with disabilities by siloing general education and special education programs under separate federal agencies, hampering coordination and collaboration," said the National Association of School Psychologists in a statement.
The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates called for a reversal of the programming transfers for special education and civil rights. "These illegal and harmful moves are a slap in the face to the progress made in the last 50 years to move away from a medical deficit model and to combat discrimination on the basis of disability," said Denise Marshall, COPAA's CEO, in a statement.
The Education Department said the HHS partnership is about program alignment and will not affect students' individual special education services. "No agreement can alter the rights that students with disabilities are afforded under federal law,” said a senior Education Department official on a press call June 16.
HHS's history with special education
The Education Department has often mentioned that IDEA, signed into law in 1975, predates the federal agency created by Congress in 1979. Before the Education Department, federal K-12 management, including for special education, was overseen by what was then the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
There were 3.7 million students ages 3-21 served under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1976-77. EHA became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1990.
By 2024, 8.2 million students ages 3-21 qualified for IDEA Part B services. IDEA's Part C program served nearly 460,000 infants and toddlers with disabilities and developmental delays in 2024.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., in a statement, said the interagency agreements demonstrate that the Trump administration is "following through on its promise to fix the nation’s broken system by right sizing the Department of Education to improve student outcomes."
Walberg, who is chair of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, added that the most recent interagency agreements "will preserve access to critical programs for families while cutting bureaucracy and putting resources where they belong — students’ education.”
Sen. Patty Murrary, D-Wash., vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, however, said in a statement that "It makes zero sense to scatter federal education programs all over the government — with different agencies managing different educational programs and each of them lacking the expertise to do it."
What districts and states need to know
Under the Education Department-HHS partnership, the Education Department will retain statutory responsibility for the functions being outsourced. According to a fact sheet provided by the Education Department, the federal special education activities being transferred to HHS include:
- Formula and discretionary grant programs components for IDEA Part B, Part C and Part D.
- Formula and discretionary grant program components authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
- Program components authorized under the Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act of 2004.
- Program components relating to the American Printing House for the Blind.
Additionally, HHS — with guidance from OSERS — will conduct enforcement, compliance and monitoring activities. HHS will also manage the annual state IDEA performance determinations.
OSERS will continue to coordinate the clearance of policy and grant documents and provide technical assistance and stakeholder outreach. The Education Department will also continue to manage the fiscal year 2026 grants for IDEA. HHS will handle future allocations.
In the press call, senior Education Department officials said more details on the interagency agreements will be released as the partnerships become more established.
Congress allocated $15.5 billion in FY26 for early intervention and K-12 special education services, which is overseen by OSERS.
According to the special education interagency agreement fact sheet, states and grantees shouldn’t see any programmatic disruptions from the new arrangement.
But several education organizations are skeptical.
"Moving IDEA to the Department of Health and Human Services would create unnecessary disruption and confusion for schools and families, weaken coordination with broader education systems, and risk shifting the focus away from educational outcomes for students with disabilities," said Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs, executive director and CEO of the National School Boards Association, in a statement.
The Council for Exceptional Children, a nonprofit organization of special education professionals, had similar concerns. "IDEA is an education law — not a health law — and moving it to the Health department is more than a bureaucratic change; it segregates special education from K-12 programs and signals a move toward a medical model that views students as patients rather than as learners with strengths, potential, and belonging," said Chad Rummel, CEO of CEC, in a statement.
Julia Martin, director of policy and government affairs at The Bruman Group, a Washington, D.C.-based education-focused legal and consulting group, said that it's unclear what the division of responsibilities for IDEA enforcement is among the Education Department, HHS and DOJ based on information about the interagency agreements released so far.
Martin said some lingering questions states and districts may be asking are: Where is guidance coming from? Which departments will be sending out grant award notifications? When are these transfers taking effect? Which agency will handle special education inquiries?
The National Association of State Directors of Special Education said in a statement that it has its own list of questions, such as which office within HHS will OSERS move to and how will funding and monitoring systems be impacted.
Although NASDSE said its state members remain committed to implementing IDEA regardless of which federal office takes the lead, the "lack of detail in these plans has left States confused and concerned about how the move will impact their ability to effectively and competently implement and oversee the IDEA and ensure children with disabilities continue to access the FAPE to which they are entitled.”
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