Home » News

Legislative

Advancing FASD Research, Prevention and Services Act

Submitted by jennifer on July 27, 2008 - 3:10pm.

From the Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis:There are two bills; one in the Senate and one in the House.  The current numbers for tracking purposes are H.R. 6215 in the House, and S.2141 in the Senate.  Both were introduced in the 108th Congress by former Senator Thomas A. Daschle(D-SD) as the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Prevention and Services Act.  Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Tim Johnson (D-SD) reintroduced the bill in the 109th Congress as S.1722, the Advancing FASD Research, Prevention and Services Act.  Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) introduced the House version of the bill, H.R. 4212.The legislation would have increased the focus on efforts to identify individuals with FASDthrough advances in brain-imaging techniques, development of pharmaceutical treatments, and isolation of genetic markers for the disorder.  the legislation would have required the disseminationfo information about best practices to facilities that treat children and adults with FASD, including community health centers, juvenile justice centers, and special education programs. To read more about the bills, visit www.opla.od.nih.gov/legislation/109/pendinglegislation/advancFASD.asp.To read the full text, visit www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-1722.Currently, while the bills did not pass in the 108th or 109th Congress,  the House version of the bill has been introduced.  Both the Senate and the House bills have attracted bipartisan sponsorship, and hopefully will lay the groundwork for the issue of FASD to move forward actively in January when the next Congress begins.       

»

Revised Special Education Regulations Effective July 2009

Submitted by jennifer on June 6, 2009 - 11:22am.

Revised Virginia Special Education Regulations Effective in July 2009

 

On May 28, 2009, the Virginia Board of Education affirmed the draft regulations that had been published on September 25, 2008, without change.  The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) anticipates that the final regulations will be published in the Virginia Register on June 22, and it is anticipated that they will take effect on July 7, 2009. 

 

The following is a summary of the long process to final regulations. 

            December 2004: US Congress reauthorizes the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004). The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) issues implementing guidance. 
            October 2006: the US Department of Education issues federal IDEA regulations. The VDOE issues implementing guidance. 
            January 2007: VDOE issues notice of intent to change the special education regulations. 
            September 2007 the Virginia Board of Education (VBOE) approves the proposed regulations and sends to the Executive Branch for review 
            March 2008: Proposed regulations issued for public comment 
            September 2008: Substantial changes made to proposed regulations and final regulations released for public comment 
            March 2009: Regulations go through administrative review and are approved by the Governor. 
            April 2009: Final regulations undergo additional round of citizen comment. 
            May 2009, VBOE reaffirms their approval of the September 2008 final regulations. 
            June 2009: Final regulations will be published in the Virginia Register 
            July 7, 2009 (anticipated) Final regulations, as issued in September 2008, become final. 

 

During the last public comment period VDOE received 1,801 comments from 127 individuals and organizations.  VDOE is now preparing the regulatory packet to submit to the Office of the Virginia Registrar for final posting.  The posting period is 15 days, during which time 25 or more citizens may request of VDOE another public comment period based on substantial changes made to the last document.  Since there were no changes made from the September 25, 2008 document to the adopted regulations, PEATC does not anticipate another public comment period. 

 

The VDOE will now be revising a number of related documents, including VDOE's Model Procedural Safeguards Document and the Parent's Guide to Special Education.  As these documents are revised and distributed.  Watch for future notices of their availability. 

 

The Virginia Department of Education has posted the draft final regulations on their website at www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/dueproc/final_regulations_2009.pdf.  All other information that has been posted since when the regulations process began can be accessed at www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/dueproc/regulationsCWD.html. 

 

For more information about trainings on the new regulations for parents to be offered by PEATC this fall, visit www.PEATC.org, or contact: 

 

            Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center
            Main Office: 
                        100 N. Washington Street, Suite 234, Falls Church, VA  22046
                        703-923-0010 (Voice)
                        1-800-869-6782 (Toll-free, Voice)
                        1-800-693-3514 (Toll-free, Fax)
            Richmond Regional Office: 
                        3600 West Broad Street, Suite 397, Richmond, VA  23230-4916
                        804-819-1999 (Voice) 
            E-mail:  partners@peatc.org

Legislative Updates From NOFAS December 2010

Submitted by jennifer on December 7, 2010 - 12:42pm.

 

  1.  Periodically, NOFAS will report on legislative and policy news related to FASD.

  2. Wednesday, December 1, 2010

  1. Among the leading FASD advocates in the U.S. Senate, Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski appears to have won reelection as a write-in candidate. Certification of the result has been held up pending a review of approximately 8,000 ballots. Unofficially, Murkowski has a lead of over 11,000 votes.

  1. In the U.S. House of Representatives Alaska Republican Don Young and New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone (D-NJ) will serve as co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in the new Congress.

  1. No action is expected to be taken before the close of the current congressional session on the Advancing FASD Research, Prevention, and Services Act (S.3154) introduced by Murkowski and Tim Johnson (D-SD). The bill reauthorizes FASD-related programs within the Department of Health and Human Services and establishes FASD programs in the Departments of Education and Justice. If the bill is not passed this month, FASD legislation must be reintroduced in the new Congress.

  • The Indian Health Care Improvement Reauthorization and Extension Act (S.1790) was enacted into law as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R.3590), the major health care reform bill signed by President Obama in March. The Indian health care bill includes a comprehensive FASD section authorizing the Indian Health Service, Tribes and Tribal organizations to establish programs that, in part, provide:

    • community and in-school training, education, and prevention programs relating to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders;

    • behavioral health treatment to high-risk Indian women and high-risk women pregnant with an Indian’s child;

    • appropriate psychological services, educational and vocational support, counseling, advocacy, and information to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders-affected Indians and their families or caretakers;

    • counseling and support programs in schools for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders-affected Indian children;

    • prevention and intervention models which incorporate practitioners of traditional health care practices, cultural values, and community involvement;

    • culturally sensitive assessment and diagnostic tools including dysmorphology clinics and multidisciplinary fetal alcohol spectrum disorders clinics for use in Indian communities and urban Centers;

    • training on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders to professionals providing services to Indians, including medical and allied health practitioners, social service providers, educators, and law enforcement, court officials and corrections personnel in the juvenile and criminal justice systems;

    • early childhood intervention projects from birth on to mitigate the effects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders among Indians;

    • Community-based support services for Indians and women pregnant with Indian children; and

    • Community-based housing for adult Indians with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

  • The Birth Defects Prevention, Risk Reduction, and Awareness Act of 2010  (S.3479 and H.R. 5462), introduced by Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC), Bob Casey (D-PA) and Mary Landrieu D-LA, and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), has passed the House and awaits action in the Senate. The bill would establish and implement a birth defects prevention and public awareness program, which includes:

    • a nationwide media campaign to increase awareness among health care providers and at-risk populations about pregnancy and breastfeeding information services;

    • campaigns to increase awareness about, pregnancy and breastfeeding information services; and

    • surveillance of or research on maternal exposures that may influence the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and maternal exposures that may influence health risks to a breastfed infant

  • This year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued regulations for the implementation of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.

    • The law preserves the provisions in the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 stating that a group health plan may not impose annual or lifetime dollar limits on mental health benefits that are less favorable than any such limits imposed on medical surgical benefits, and extends the parity requirements to substance use disorder benefits. Standards for medical necessity determinations and reasons for any denial of benefits relating to mental health/substance use disorders (MH/SUD) must now be disclosed upon request.

    Limitations of the new regulations:

    • the requirements only apply to large group health ALREADY included mental health and substance use disorder benefits in their benefit packages as of October 2009;

    • large group health plans and their health insurance issuers are NOT required to include MH/SUD benefits in their benefits package;

    • small employers who have between 2 and 50 employees are EXEMPT from the requirements;

    • large group health plan sponsors able to demonstrate that compliance with the new regulations increases their claims by at least two percent in the first year (one percent in subsequent years) may request EXEMPTION;

    • A nonfederal governmental employer that provides self-funded group health plan coverage to its employees (coverage that is not provided through an insurer) may elect to EXEMPT its plan (opt-out) from the requirements.

 

 

-   Privacy Policy  -   Disclaimer  -   Partners  -   Donors  -   Contact Us  -  

Copyright 2001-2004 National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome