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Lauren Kage earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is now pursuing a Master’s of Social Work at the University of Maine.
Maine is the second state where I’ve been to college. I am so incredibly lucky, having repeated opportunities to pursue a postsecondary education as well as a choice of where to do so. I reflect on this good fortune as I set out to urge readers to throw your support behind LD 46, “An Act to Establish a Grant Program to Increase Postsecondary Educational Opportunities for Students with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities or Autism Spectrum Disorder.”
Enacting this bill, introduced by Rep. Kelly Murphy, D-Scarborough, in January and currently under discussion, with a public hearing held on March 3, would form the Inclusive Higher Education Grant Program. Just as the name implies, they would award grants to higher education institutions, and just as the name of the act implies, these would fund the creation and implementation of more postsecondary programming for the benefit of youth with autism or intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD).
In short, if this bill is enacted, Maine students with specific educational needs could, by choice, graduate from K-12 supports like IEPs (Individual Education Plans) and 504 Plans to still-supportive but adulthood-oriented classes, even without seeking a four-year degree.
Besides increasing the in-state colleges to choose from, these grants would earmark 25 percent for student scholarships, making college choice more affordable as well as attainable. One of the best outcomes of these programs would be on-campus students in Inclusive Postsecondary Education (IPSE) programs learning social skills, meeting friends and making memories. Campus life provides priceless experiences to students that too frequently live only with family or in sequestered group homes without a great deal of independence.
However, both Maine and the youth attending these programs could expect to see economic gain as well. Youth with IDD who’ve completed IPSE programs are twice as likely to find employment as peers who don’t. According to ThinkCollege.net, a hub of research and resources on inclusive postsecondary education, IPSE completion adds on average $406 more per month to disabled folks’ incomes, also saving their states $77 per month in Supplemental Security Income. With such clear benefits to the individual and the state, it’s remarkable that IPSE programs aren’t already widespread in Maine.
There are hundreds of IPSE programs across the U.S., but Maine has only two, though our percentage of students with disabilities is about the same as Pennsylvania’s (20 IPSE programs) and New York’s (32 IPSE programs).
Our Legislature had an opportunity to create a similar grant program last year with LD 2166, an act of the very same title as LD 46, but the Senate failed to vote on it, which essentially gently smothered hope for Maine’s IDD youth and their families. Now the chance to revive this program comes with a countdown, as a related piece will go into effect before the end of the year: the Lifespan Waiver.
Creating the Inclusive Higher Education Grant Program now would positively impact the design of the forthcoming Lifespan Waivers’ services. The Lifespan’s current concept will allow recipients to access varying services throughout their lives without having to reapply to different waivers or providers, and allows support for higher education and postsecondary vocational rehabilitation. Not only would funding competitive grants foster creative IPSE programming proposals at colleges around the state — a diversity of choices alongside the Lifespan’s steady support in applying to them — but because LD 46 complements the Lifespan Waivers, it has “emergency” status in the Legislature. In other words, there will be no delay in its taking effect once it is enacted. Lawmakers must not pass on this program again.
