FOREWORD

The Federal Government has in some measure been engaged in providing special education and rehabilitation services to the disabled of this country for over a century. During the past two decades the Federal service programs of special education and rehabilitation have taken on a new and expansive dimension. Appropriations for direct and indirect services to these fields appear in 29 departments, agencies, and bureaus of the Federal Government. The appropriations for 1959 for all these fields are substantial, approximately $271,756,902. Each Congress witnesses the introduction of an increasing number of bills seeking in one way or another to provide additional services for the child or adult-handicapped or in some other way exceptional— who deviates from the normal or average individual. The size and complexity of this problem, the lack of complete knowledge of what the Federal Government is now doing in all these areas, and the necessity of determining some priority of meeting future needs made it imperative that this committee, which has jurisdiction over a substantial number of these matters, secure as complete a compilation of the laws, regulations, and service programs covering these areas as possible. The Subcommittee on Special Education under the chairmanship of Carl Elliott of Alabama undertook the task of conducting this study. This volume (part I of the study) should prove of lasting value to Members of Congress, professionals, and the general public who wish to know just what the Federal Government provides for exceptional and handicapped children and adults.

GRAHAM A. BARDEN,

Chairman, Committee on Education and Labor.

VII

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The Subcommittee on Special Education of the Committee on Education and Labor, among its numerous responsibilities, has jurisdiction over legislation dealing with all matters pertaining to special education and rehabilitation. Various definitions of "special education" have been used in professional literature. For the purpose of this study, however, "special education" is defined as education for those who, in order to reach full development, may be in need of special services, equipment, facilities, curriculum, and specially trained personnel. The field studied includes all physically and mentally handicapped, emotionally and socially disturbed, and the gifted.

"Rehabilitation" is defined for this study as the restoration of disabled persons to the fullest physical, mental, personal, social, vocational, and economic usefulness of which they are capable.

For the most part special education programs have been administered for those of school age, and termination has ranged from 16 to 21 years among recipients. Rehabilitation, like special education, deals with individuals who are handicapped in some way. However, the major emphasis of rehabilitation programs has been the restoration of employable individuals to their fullest physical, mental, social, and vocational potential.

In each Congress numerous proposals to expand Federal services in these areas are referred to the subcommittee by the full Committee on Education and Labor. Five years ago, in 1954, Public Law 565 of the 83d Congress was passed. It greatly expanded the federally supported vocational rehabilitation program. The Subcommittee on Special Education has not until this time had the opportunity to make a systematic review of operations under this far-reaching legislation, as is its responsibility under Rule XI of the U.S. House of Representatives and the rules of the Committee on Education and Labor. At the close of the 85th Congress, in 1958, two bills, one to provide a loan service of captioned films for the deaf, and the other to encourage expansion of teaching and education of mentally retarded children, were passed. Many proposals for Federal services to other types of exceptional people are now pending before the subcommittee.

In the light of these considerations, the subcommittee concluded that it could not fulfill its duties intelligently in the complex fields of its jurisdiction without a detailed examination of what is now law, how the programs are functioning, and what other needs should be met in the future.

Thus, on May 19, 1959, the Subcommittee on Special Education resolved to conduct a special study of Federal services to special education and rehabilitation. Dr. Merle E. Frampton, professor of education of Hunter College and principal of the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind, was named director of the study.

Purpose of the Study

The objectives of the study, given to the staff by the subcommittee as its guidelines, were as follows:

A. To discover the unmet needs in special education and rehabilitation; to screen the findings with the purpose of suggesting practical ways and means of solving the most pressing of these needs.

B. To review and analyze the adequacy of services now available; to ascertain whether there is duplication of services and agencies, including waste of Federal funds, if any.

C. To suggest legislation, if necessary, to achieve the foregoing.

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In short, the subcommittee wanted to know what is being done, how well it is being done, how it can be improved, and what else needs to be done.

Within its limited budget, the study staff was not expected to do any experimental or independent research into the special and more definitive problems of the exceptional, handicapped, or gifted, or to conduct a census of the incidence of these conditions. Instead, the staff is gathering and organizing data from the government agencies involved, both Federal and State, from voluntary groups, and from professional people with an interest in the field of special education and rehabilitation. Liberal use was made of official representatives of the many organizations in these fields and of professional consultants with particular capacity to advise the regular staff on specific fields within the purview of the study.

Organization

The report of the staff follows the three phases of the study: Part I, an inventory of present Federal services and their statutory authority; part II, an analysis of these services; and part III, recommendations regarding these services.

Federal Services to Special Education and Rehabilitation

PART I.-INVENTORY OF FEDERAL SERVICES TO SPECIAL EDUCATION AND
REHABILITATION

All Federal services to the exceptional are inventoried in this volume. Many of them are rendered by agencies not within the review jurisdiction of the Committee on Education and Labor. They are merely identified and explained. The analysis to be made in parts II and III of this study will be concentrated on those services and programs within the purview of the Subcommittee on Special Education.

The Federal services included in this part are those services rendered to individuals because of their handicap or giftedness. Obviously, handicapped people benefit from general government services in like measure as nonhandicapped people. Thus all employees covered by social security can receive old-age benefits when they reach retirement age whether they are handicapped or not. This government service is, therefore, not included in this study. Likewise, the general protection of the public from fraudulent advertising through the operation of the Federal Trade Commission benefits all people who purchase goods, and thus is not included, even though this agency has acted against firms who falsely advertise shoes as having orthopedic benefits or medicines as "curing" arthritis.

SECTION 1-DESCRIPTION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL

This section contains a concise description of functions of the Federal Government that benefit the handicapped and other exceptional people.

The Federal Government serves the handicapped and gifted both directly and indirectly. For example, disabled veterans of the armed services are cared for, compensated, and rehabilitated directly by the Veterans' Administration. On the other hand, the Federal Government often aids individuals indirectly; for example, by giving grants-in-aid to States to assist and encourage them to carry on certain programs. An example of such indirect assistance is the general rehabilitation program partly financed by grants-in-aid from the Federal Government to States, which match the Federal funds in part and administer the actual services to the handicapped. Indirect Federal aid may also take the form of grants to individuals and associations, or contracts for certain specified services. Other programs are still another step removed from the source of support to the actual benefit for the individual. An example is a research program in which the Federal Government grants money to a university for a professor to investigate a certain program. His findings may later be demonstrated to workers in the field, who in turn will put them to use in helping the exceptional.

For ease of reference in this study, Federal services to the exceptional have been classified as to the way in which the exceptional or gifted themselves are served, rather than how direct is the aid of the Federal Government. In each case, however, the method the Federal Government uses is shown. Classifications are as follows: