On March 21, 2025, President Trump stood in the Oval Office and confirmed what many special education advocates feared: special education programs are leaving the Department of Education. They're moving to the Department of Health and Human Services, where they'll be overseen by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This isn't the "what if" scenario anymore. Trump signed the executive order on March 20. The announcement came the next day. HHS is the destination, not the Department of Labor, which was the other option on the table. And RFK Jr., who has repeatedly promoted debunked theories linking vaccines to autism, is the person who will oversee federal special education policy. Parents who followed the earlier debate know what's at stake. The question now isn't whether this will happen. It's what you need to do. What's Changing. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) currently sits inside the Department of Education, where it has operated for nearly 50 years. OSEP distributes about $15 billion in annual grants to states and schools, monitors state compliance with IDEA, funds parent training centers, and enforces federal special education law. Under the announced plan, those responsibilities move to HHS. The announcement didn't include details about which specific programs transfer, what the timeline looks like, or how enforcement will work under a health-focused agency instead of an education-focused one. What we know: the executive order calls for closing the Department of Education. Moving IDEA programs to HHS was outlined in Project 2025, the conservative policy document that...

Trump confirmed special education oversight is shifting to HHS under RFK Jr. IDEA protections remain law, but enforcement is changing.

Special Education Programs Are Moving to HHS. What Does It Mean for Your Child's IEP?

On March 21, 2025, President Trump stood in the Oval Office and confirmed what many special education advocates feared: special education programs are leaving the Department of Education. They're moving to the Department of Health and Human Services, where they'll be overseen by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This isn't the "what if" scenario anymore. Trump signed the executive order on March 20. The announcement came the next day. HHS is the destination, not the Department of Labor, which was the other option on the table. And RFK Jr., who has repeatedly promoted debunked theories linking vaccines to autism, is the person who will oversee federal special education policy. Parents who followed the earlier debate know what's at stake. The question now isn't whether this will happen. It's what you need to do. What's Changing. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) currently sits inside the Department of Education, where it has operated for nearly 50 years. OSEP distributes about $15 billion in annual grants to states and schools, monitors state compliance with IDEA, funds parent training centers, and enforces federal special education law. Under the announced plan, those responsibilities move to HHS. The announcement didn't include details about which specific programs transfer, what the timeline looks like, or how enforcement will work under a health-focused agency instead of an education-focused one. What we know: the executive order calls for closing the Department of Education. Moving IDEA programs to HHS was outlined in Project 2025, the conservative policy document that...

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, the federal body that directs roughly $2 billion in annual autism research funding, was supposed to hold its first public meeting since January on March 19. It didn't happen. HHS cancelled the meeting without explanation, and when asked for comment, went silent. That might not sound like news. Bureaucratic committees postpone meetings all the time. But this one matters. The IACC isn't advisory in the way most federal panels are. It's congressionally mandated, established in 2006 to coordinate federal autism research across agencies and set priorities for what gets studied and funded. When the IACC says something is a priority, that shapes where grant money flows: which therapies get validation studies, which intervention strategies get longitudinal research, which questions even get asked. On January 28, HHS announced a complete reconstitution of the committee. All 21 members were new. The scientific and advocacy leadership that historically guided the IACC weren't reappointed. Researchers from major universities, representatives from the Autism Society of America and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, clinicians with decades of experience were replaced entirely. More than a third of the new members have publicly promoted the long-debunked link between vaccines and autism. That reconstitution raised questions about whether the current committee even complies with federal statute, which requires IACC membership to include "leading research, advocacy, and service organizations for individuals with autism spectrum disorder." When the panel that sets research priorities is stacked with people whose public positions contradict the scientific consensus, that's not...

The federal IACC cancelled its March meeting after being reconstituted with vaccine-skeptic members. Scientists formed an alternative.

The Autism Research Panel That Controls $2 Billion Just Lost Its Scientists

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, the federal body that directs roughly $2 billion in annual autism research funding, was supposed to hold its first public meeting since January on March 19. It didn't happen. HHS cancelled the meeting without explanation, and when asked for comment, went silent. That might not sound like news. Bureaucratic committees postpone meetings all the time. But this one matters. The IACC isn't advisory in the way most federal panels are. It's congressionally mandated, established in 2006 to coordinate federal autism research across agencies and set priorities for what gets studied and funded. When the IACC says something is a priority, that shapes where grant money flows: which therapies get validation studies, which intervention strategies get longitudinal research, which questions even get asked. On January 28, HHS announced a complete reconstitution of the committee. All 21 members were new. The scientific and advocacy leadership that historically guided the IACC weren't reappointed. Researchers from major universities, representatives from the Autism Society of America and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, clinicians with decades of experience were replaced entirely. More than a third of the new members have publicly promoted the long-debunked link between vaccines and autism. That reconstitution raised questions about whether the current committee even complies with federal statute, which requires IACC membership to include "leading research, advocacy, and service organizations for individuals with autism spectrum disorder." When the panel that sets research priorities is stacked with people whose public positions contradict the scientific consensus, that's not...

The federal IACC cancelled its March meeting after being reconstituted with vaccine-skeptic members. Scientists formed an alternative.

The Autism Research Panel That Controls $2 Billion Just Lost Its Scientists

Autism can seem like a mysterious disease that can affect any family. It causes one to question, "How do you get autism?" as well as make parents wonder if they did something wrong to cause their child to be autistic. However, just as there is not one type of autism, there is also not one specific cause of autism. There are a number of different factors that could be the cause for autism. Most of these causes fall under one of two categories: genes and environmental factors. Usually, autism is not caused by just one factor but by a combination of different factors. Some of these factors include the parents' age during conception, difficulties during pregnancy or delivering, illness or medication from the mother during pregnancy, or the baby not receiving enough oxygen to the brain while the womb. Vaccinations, Toxins, and Chemicals an Answer to "How Do You Get Autism?" There has been much argument over vaccines and their role in autism. Many doctors and professionals claim that there is no link between the vaccines, while others believe that a certain vaccine could have activated pre-existing autism genes. While there is no set answer for whether vaccinations are to blame for autism, all parents are encouraged to research and make this decision for themselves. An option for new parents is to delay vaccines or spread them out over a longer period of time. As far as environmental factors are concerned, many believe that the toxins and...

Autism has no single cause; it's linked to genetic and environmental factors. No concrete proof vaccines or toxins are causes.

How Do You Get Autism?

Autism can seem like a mysterious disease that can affect any family. It causes one to question, "How do you get autism?" as well as make parents wonder if they did something wrong to cause their child to be autistic. However, just as there is not one type of autism, there is also not one specific cause of autism.  There are a number of different factors that could be the cause for autism. Most of these causes fall under one of two categories: genes and environmental factors. Usually, autism is not caused by just one factor but by a combination of different factors. Some of these factors include the parents' age during conception, difficulties during pregnancy or delivering, illness or medication from the mother during pregnancy, or the baby not receiving enough oxygen to the brain while the womb.  Vaccinations, Toxins, and Chemicals an Answer to "How Do You Get Autism?"  There has been much argument over vaccines and their role in autism. Many doctors and professionals claim that there is no link between the vaccines, while others believe that a certain vaccine could have activated pre-existing autism genes. While there is no set answer for whether vaccinations are to blame for autism, all parents are encouraged to research and make this decision for themselves. An option for new parents is to delay vaccines or spread them out over a longer period of time. As far as environmental factors are concerned, many believe that the toxins and...

Autism has no single cause; it's linked to genetic and environmental factors. No concrete proof vaccines or toxins are causes.

How Do You Get Autism?

Vermont has seen an outbreak of pertussis, commonly called whooping cough, and for a very obvious reason — it is one of the states with the highest rates of exemption for childhood vaccinations. Parents are typically either extremely supportive or very much against the requirement for vaccinations in order to enroll their children in school. While Alaska is the state with the highest exemption rate, at 9 percent, Vermont is not far behind with a rate of 6 percent. The "philosophical exemption" basically allows parents to choose whether or not their children are vaccinated. While the Senate sways in favor of eliminating philosophical exemption, the House is in favor of keeping it. If no agreement can be made, Vermont will remain one of 20 states that allow the refusal of childhood immunizations. Supporters of vaccinations say they don't want to wait until there is a measles outbreak — prevention is necessary now. Between January and the first week of April of 2012, Vermont saw 102 cases of pertussis. Washington state wins the highest number of cases; 640 cases were reported between January and March 2012, up from just 94 during the same months in the previous year. Individuals who support philosophical exemption say they don't want to deny their children public school education simply because they do not want to vaccinate them. These individuals also say we're not in a public health crisis. However, the increasing rate of...

Vermont sees whooping cough outbreak as it maintains high vaccine exemption rates, risking further preventable diseases.

Vermont Lets Parents Say No to Vaccines

 Vermont has seen an outbreak of pertussis, commonly called whooping cough, and for a very obvious reason — it is one of the states with the highest rates of exemption for childhood vaccinations.   Parents are typically either extremely supportive or very much against the requirement for vaccinations in order to enroll their children in school. While Alaska is the state with the highest exemption rate, at 9 percent, Vermont is not far behind with a rate of 6 percent. The "philosophical exemption" basically allows parents to choose whether or not their children are vaccinated.   While the Senate sways in favor of eliminating philosophical exemption, the House is in favor of keeping it. If no agreement can be made, Vermont will remain one of 20 states that allow the refusal of childhood immunizations.   Supporters of vaccinations say they don't want to wait until there is a measles outbreak — prevention is necessary now. Between January and the first week of April of 2012, Vermont saw 102 cases of pertussis. Washington state wins the highest number of cases; 640 cases were reported between January and March 2012, up from just 94 during the same months in the previous year.   Individuals who support philosophical exemption say they don't want to deny their children public school education simply because they do not want to vaccinate them. These individuals also say we're not in a public health crisis.    However, the increasing rate of...

Vermont sees whooping cough outbreak as it maintains high vaccine exemption rates, risking further preventable diseases.

Vermont Lets Parents Say No to Vaccines

Autoimmune reactions have long been a concern connected with Gardisil, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. It has become common for the vaccine to be recommended to adolescents and young adults to protect against sexually transmitted infections, which can also lead to cervical cancer in females. Now, according to a recent Kaiser Permanente observational safety study that followed 189,629 girls ages 9 – 26 after receiving the HPV vaccine, researchers did not find any increase in 16 pre-specified autoimmune conditions, compared to a matched group of unvaccinated females. The list of conditions included lupus, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, Hashimoto's disease, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, immune thrombocytopenia, Graves' disease, multiple sclerosis, Gillian-Barre syndrome, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, neuromyelitis optica, uveitis, optic neuritis, neuromyelitis optica and other demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system. The associations between Gardasil and autoimmune reactions were the result of case reports that had never before been confirmed by a large, controlled study. Previous safety data on the HPV vaccine had been collected from clinical trials, which usually include a highly selected population with very small sample sizes and too short a time for follow-up. Data had also been gathered from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, but it is difficult to determine from such reports, which lack a proper comparison group, whether the onset of the autoimmune condition may have preceded the vaccination. The Kaiser Permanente study's findings can now offer some assurance to patients and their families that "among a large and generalizable female...

Study finds HPV vaccine Gardasil doesn't increase the risk of autoimmune diseases in females aged 9-26.

HPV Vaccine Does Not Trigger Autoimmune Issue

Autoimmune reactions have long been a concern connected with Gardisil, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. It has become common for the vaccine to be recommended to adolescents and young adults to protect against sexually transmitted infections, which can also lead to cervical cancer in females. Now, according to a recent Kaiser Permanente observational safety study that followed 189,629 girls ages 9 – 26 after receiving the HPV vaccine, researchers did not find any increase in 16 pre-specified autoimmune conditions, compared to a matched group of unvaccinated females. The list of conditions included lupus, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, Hashimoto's disease, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, immune thrombocytopenia, Graves' disease, multiple sclerosis, Gillian-Barre syndrome, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, neuromyelitis optica, uveitis, optic neuritis, neuromyelitis optica and other demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system.  The associations between Gardasil and autoimmune reactions were the result of case reports that had never before been confirmed by a large, controlled study. Previous safety data on the HPV vaccine had been collected from clinical trials, which usually include a highly selected population with very small sample sizes and too short a time for follow-up. Data had also been gathered from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, but it is difficult to determine from such reports, which lack a proper comparison group, whether the onset of the autoimmune condition may have preceded the vaccination.  The Kaiser Permanente study's findings can now offer some assurance to patients and their families that "among a large and generalizable female...

Study finds HPV vaccine Gardasil doesn't increase the risk of autoimmune diseases in females aged 9-26.

HPV Vaccine Does Not Trigger Autoimmune Issue

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Special Needs
Articles

Special Education Programs Are Moving to HHS. What Does It Mean for Your Child's IEP?

The Autism Research Panel That Controls $2 Billion Just Lost Its Scientists

How Do You Get Autism?

Vermont Lets Parents Say No to Vaccines

HPV Vaccine Does Not Trigger Autoimmune Issue

Find Providers Near You

Special Needs Articles

Special Education Programs Are Moving to HHS. What Does It Mean for Your Child's IEP?

The Autism Research Panel That Controls $2 Billion Just Lost Its Scientists

How Do You Get Autism?

Vermont Lets Parents Say No to Vaccines

HPV Vaccine Does Not Trigger Autoimmune Issue

Find Providers Near You

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