Philadelphia-based Disability Rights Pennsylvania, a federally-funded advocacy group, could be hard hit by the Trump Administration’s sweeping proposed budget cuts.
The agency recently released a scathing 73-page report about abuse allegations in an autism classroom at Central Bucks School District’s Jamison Elementary. The DRP report found credible evidence a teacher and educational assistant abused autistic students in their care.
A leaked draft of a Department of Health and Human Services Restructuring proposal shows that it is preparing to gut disability-related services provided by protection and advocacy groups like Disability Rights Pennsylvania, which has sister organizations in 49 other states, as well as in every U.S. territory and Washington, D.C.
“We are primarily federally-funded and our ability to continue to do these types of investigations [and] issue comprehensive reports would be impacted and limited by any funding cuts,” said Jennifer Garman, CEO of Disability Rights Pennsylvania.
Proposed funding cuts in the draft budget “would impact our ability to do similar investigations and ensure student safety in the future,” Garman explained.
“What we saw a few weeks ago was a leaked draft of a proposal to make really deep cuts at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including cuts to our programs and broader cuts to disability programs,” Garman said.
Originally passed into law in 1975, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) required school districts to provide free and appropriate public education to all students, regardless of their abilities or disabilities.
“The Developmental Disabilities Act passed 50 years ago [also]created…the research arm where they do training and research to improve outcomes,” Garman explained.
The legislation was updated in 2004 by President George W. Bush as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, or IDEA 2004. The 2004 act also ensured students with disabilities would receive special education and related services, as well as early intervention services to infants, toddlers and their families.
Protection advocacy services followed to investigate abuse and neglect and insure disabled persons’ health and welfare, she said.
“We are a non-profit law firm that helps advise people of their rights under a variety of laws,” Garman said.
READ: Trump Administration’s Proposed Funding Cuts to Head Start Would Harm Vulnerable Bucks County Kids
From complaints to administrative processes, Garman said her organization can represent individuals “and ensure their rights are protected.”
“If our funding is cut it would limit our ability to advise people on their rights. The oversight and monitoring of places where people receive services, including locations like Jamison Elementary;” nursing and long-term care facilities would also be impacted.
Central Bucks School District Superintendent Steven Yanni was placed on paid administrative leave prior to a school board meeting April 23, shortly after the report about Jamison was released. Yanni was barely through the first year of a five-year employment contract.
So far, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn has declined to file criminal charges or request an investigative grand jury into the matter, which has been called for by Joe Khan, her Democratic opponent in this year’s election.
A whistleblower first reported allegations of child abuse at Jamison Elementary in November 2024, NBC.com Philadelphia reported.
The DRP investigation found a classroom teacher and educational aid are accused of withholding water during the school day, using illegal physical restraint tactics, allowing a student to remain naked in the classroom for an extended period of time and preventing students with speech assistance devices the ability to use them.
DRP, an independent state-wide disability group, is federally authorized as a protection and advocacy group to act on behalf of those with disabilities throughout the commonwealth.
“We are an independent organization created due to the horrific abuse and neglect found in state-run institutions” during the 1970s, Garman said.
She said one proposal had federal block grant funding funneled to agencies and organizations through individual states and territories – an approach Garman called a “conflict of interest by design.”
“We started to provide oversight and protection for those with disabilities. To the extent that states still are failing to do that … if they don’t like the work we are doing, they could stop it. It could completely eliminate our independence as an organization,” Garman added.
