Department of Education Releases $3 Billion in American Rescue Plan Funds
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Department of Education released more than $3 billion in American Rescue Plan funds to states on Thursday to support infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities.
The funding will help aid around 7.9 million infants and students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and adds to the ARP Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief allocation of $122 billion in state funding for K-12 schools.
“With these crucial American Rescue Plan funds, our early intervention providers and schools will be better able to address the needs of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and ensure our education system reemerges even stronger than before the pandemic,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
The DOE also released a fact sheet describing how states can use the IDEA funds within ARP to support children with disabilities.
The $3 billion in funds will add to the IDEA’s three major formula grant programs. IDEA Part B Grants to States for children and youth with disabilities aged 3 through 21, IDEA Part B Preschool Grants for children with disabilities aged 3 through 5 and IDEA Part C Grants for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
“We know that COVID-19 and disruptions in access to in-person learning over the last year have taken a disproportionate toll on America’s children with disabilities, who, far too often amid the pandemic, experienced challenges in receiving the services and support that they were entitled to,” Cardona said.
The Department’s Office of Special Education Programs will administer and monitor the ARP funds to states and other designated agencies. The awards are subject to the same requirements under IDEA and the Uniform Guidance as all IDEA funds.
“It’s long past time that the federal government makes good on its commitment to students with disabilities and their families, and today’s announcement is one of many steps the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to support students with disabilities,” Cardona said.
