Project 2025: A Potential Reshaping of Disability Rights in America

Introduction

Project 2025, spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, seeks to implement significant reforms that could reshape disability rights, services, and protections in the United States. By advocating for reduced federal involvement and the deregulation of disability-focused services, the proposed policies threaten to unravel key supports and protections, potentially reversing years of progress.

Main Item

Based on current available information, Project 2025 does not appear to contain specific provisions that positively address accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities. In fact, many of its proposed policies would likely have negative impacts on accessibility and inclusion:

1. Dismantling of federal protections: Project 2025 calls for eliminating or significantly reducing federal oversight and enforcement of disability rights laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and parts of the Rehabilitation Act.

2. Education impacts: The plan proposes eliminating the Department of Education, which currently sets standards for serving disabled students and investigates disability discrimination complaints in schools. It also recommends cutting Title I funding, which supports low-income students, including those with disabilities.

3. Medicaid changes: Project 2025 suggests implementing work requirements, time limits, and stricter eligibility criteria for Medicaid. This could reduce access to healthcare and home and community-based services for many people with disabilities.

4. Housing policy changes: The plan proposes changes that could reduce access to affordable, accessible housing for people with disabilities, including ending certain housing programs and implementing work requirements for federally subsidized housing.

5. Reduced civil rights enforcement: Project 2025 recommends rolling back various civil rights protections, including those that address discrimination based on disability.

6. Funding cuts: The plan generally advocates for reducing federal spending across many agencies and programs, which could impact services and supports for people with disabilities.

Overall, rather than addressing accessibility and inclusion, Project 2025 appears to propose policies that would likely reduce protections, services, and supports for people with disabilities across multiple areas of life. This approach could potentially reverse progress made in disability rights and inclusion over recent decades.

Here's a breakdown of how this blueprint might impact individuals with disabilities across healthcare, education, housing, and civil rights.

Overhaul of Medicaid and Healthcare Access

A major component of Project 2025 is restructuring Medicaid by converting it from an entitlement program to a block grant or per capita cap system, which could result in substantial funding reductions. Medicaid is a vital support for millions of disabled individuals who depend on it for services like mobility aids, personal care, and medical equipment. The proposed transformation would impose more stringent eligibility criteria, work requirements, and lifetime caps, which could restrict access to essential healthcare.

Moreover, the potential rollback of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could reintroduce barriers for people with pre-existing conditions, making health insurance less affordable or inaccessible. This shift could disproportionately affect those with disabilities, who rely on these protections for fair access to coverage and care.

This restructuring could reduce federal funding by an estimated $4.5 trillion over ten years, introducing:

• Work requirements for benefits
• Elimination of mandatory benefits
• Increased premiums and cost-sharing
• Time limits and lifetime caps on coverage
• Stricter eligibility requirements and asset tests

These changes could jeopardize access to essential services like wheelchairs, ventilators, and personal care attendants. The plan also suggests redesigning Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS), implying many current recipients may not truly need these services.

Restriction of Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS)

The proposal also aims to restructure LTSS under Medicaid, suggesting that current eligibility criteria allow for undue dependence on these services. This could result in fewer resources for individuals requiring daily support, such as those needing home care or assistance with basic living tasks. Additional administrative hurdles, including more frequent eligibility reviews and complex asset assessments, could make it even harder for individuals to maintain their benefits.

Educational Access and Funding Concerns

The dismantling of the Department of Education, as outlined in Project 2025, could undermine educational services for students with disabilities. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which mandates public schools to serve disabled students, relies heavily on federal oversight to ensure compliance. Without this regulatory body, IDEA's protections could be weakened, limiting accommodations, specialized instruction, and resources necessary for inclusive education.

Project 2025 also proposes shifting funding to private charter schools and voucher programs, which are not bound by IDEA's mandates. This could force students with disabilities into educational environments lacking appropriate supports. Additionally, cuts to early intervention services, assistive technology funding, and special education resources could create new educational barriers, particularly for low-income students with disabilities.

The proposed dismantling of the Department of Education could significantly impact disabled students by eliminating the federal agency responsible for:

• Investigating discrimination complaints
• Administering special education funding
• Setting standards for serving disabled students
• Enforcing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

The plan promotes expanding unregulated voucher programs and charter schools, which typically have less oversight in serving students with disabilities. Converting federal special education funding to block grants could reduce resources and protections.

How Project 2025's proposals may impact low-income disabled students:

1. Elimination of Title I funding through conversion to unrestricted state grants, followed by complete defunding over 10 years

2. Reduction in federal funding for students with disabilities and removal of service guardrails

3. Dismantling of the Department of Education, eliminating federal oversight of disability standards and discrimination complaints

4. Conversion of special education funding to block grants, potentially reducing oversight and protections

5. Elimination of Head Start, which serves over 111,000 disabled children from low-income families (14.2% of enrollment)

6. Expansion of voucher programs, which could:

• Divert funds from public schools serving disabled students
• Require waiving IDEA rights and protections
• Present limited school options due to private schools' varying capabilities
• Create additional costs beyond voucher coverage
• Allow for potential discrimination in admissions
• Disproportionately benefit higher-income families
• Affect disability identification rates

7. Reversal of federal rules regarding racial discrimination in discipline and overidentification of children of color as disabled students

8. Reduced federal oversight and protections for low-income disabled students overall, potentially decreasing access to necessary services and educational opportunities

Housing Stability and Community Integration Challenges

Stable housing is essential for independence and well-being, yet Project 2025's proposed changes could increase housing instability for disabled individuals. By imposing work requirements for federally funded housing and cutting disability-focused housing programs, the plan could intensify homelessness and reduce access to accessible housing. Ending "Housing First" programs, which help disabled people facing homelessness, could further exacerbate this issue.

The removal of ADA-based discrimination protections in housing would erode accessible housing options, leaving individuals with disabilities more vulnerable to housing discrimination and a lack of accessible living spaces.

Project 2025's housing policies could create barriers through:

• Elimination of "Housing First" programs
• Repeal of disability discrimination regulations
• Work requirements for federally funded housing
• Weakened accessibility requirements in new construction

Reduction of Civil Rights Protections

The rollback of civil rights protections within Project 2025 is one of its most concerning elements. The proposal includes weakening the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other civil rights laws that protect against disability-based discrimination. Without these safeguards, disabled individuals may face increased discrimination in employment, healthcare, and public spaces, making it harder to secure workplace accommodations and fully participate in public life.

Eliminating ADA enforcement mechanisms could lead to less accessible public facilities, reducing disabled individuals' ability to engage with their communities. For example, the proposal could hinder access to accessible public transportation and medical equipment, impacting the independence and health of people with disabilities.

The initiative proposes significant rollbacks of civil rights protections by:

• Reducing healthcare discrimination protections
• Limiting legal recourse for discrimination complaints
• Eliminating "disparate impact" theory in discrimination cases
• Weakening Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enforcement

Impact on Family Caregivers

Family caregivers, many of whom depend on ADA protections indirectly, could face additional challenges under Project 2025. By removing protections against "associational discrimination," family caregivers might experience increased difficulty in securing workplace accommodations, exacerbating the stress and financial strain of balancing work with caregiving responsibilities.

Family caregivers could face increased challenges through:

• Increased burden due to community service cuts
• Greater difficulty balancing work and caregiving duties
• Reduced protection against associational discrimination
• Fewer workplace accommodations for caregiving responsibilities

Shift in Research Funding Priorities

The plan also suggests realigning federal research funding to align with conservative priorities, which may deprioritize studies focused on disability-related innovation and inclusion. Research on assistive technology, accessibility, and community-based services could be reduced, impacting the development of inclusive practices and technologies. Limiting research in these areas would likely deepen disparities in service quality and accessibility, further marginalizing the disability community.

The plan could reshape disability-related research and services by:

• Potentially increasing HCBS waiting lists
• Cutting disability-related research grants
• Reducing National Institutes of Health independence
• Realigning research funding with conservative principles
• Reducing pressure on states to provide alternatives to institutional care
• Weakening enforcement of the Olmstead decision's integration mandate

Conclusion: A Step Back for Accessibility and Inclusion

Project 2025 proposes extensive changes that could jeopardize the accessibility and inclusion of individuals with disabilities. From scaling back Medicaid and healthcare protections to dismantling educational supports and weakening civil rights enforcement, the plan could reverse decades of progress in disability rights. These changes would likely lead to increased barriers, reduced resources, and a return to outdated systems that isolate and marginalize disabled individuals.

Disability advocates warn that Project 2025's policies could propel society toward an era where disabled individuals face heightened challenges in achieving autonomy, securing essential services, and participating in society on an equal footing. This rollback of support threatens to dismantle the foundations of accessibility and inclusion, profoundly altering the future for the disability community.

Editorial Insights, Analysis, and Developments

Project 2025 initiative's approach to reducing federal involvement in social services and deregulation suggests a future with increased barriers and reduced resources for the disability community, potentially returning to an era of limited opportunities and reduced integration for individuals with disabilities. Rather than advancing accessibility and inclusion, these proposals could potentially reverse decades of progress in disability rights. Disabled World and disability advocates warn these changes could lead to increased isolation and institutionalization, fundamentally altering disabled individuals' ability to participate fully in society - Disabled World.

Page Information, Citing and Disclaimer

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Cite This Page (APA): Langtree, I. C. (2024, November 10 - Last revised: 2024, November 17). Project 2025: A Potential Reshaping of Disability Rights in America. Disabled World. Retrieved December 10, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/disability/project-2025.php

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