Synopsis:

Signed: H.B. 292 was signed into law by Gov. John Carney on Aug. 29, 2018.

Signed: H.B. 292 was signed into law by Gov. John Carney on Aug. 29, 2018.

H.B. 292 changes the Delaware Autism Program’s (DAP) approach to supporting students with an educational classification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by creating a team of training specialists to teach best practices to educators statewide. H.B. 292 specifies the qualifications for the positions of DAP state director and training specialist and also provides for three review committees, two that existed previously and a new one comprised of parents. Revising the DAP system was one of the recommendations from the Autism Educational Task Force, a group created in 2014, which determined that the existing model, which grouped ASD education specialists in several schools, was not in keeping with the current emphasis on inclusive education and community integration. By creating a three-year pilot switching the DAP’s focus to training other educators, H.B. 292 seeks to ensure that every public school had personnel capable of supporting students with ASD. To better meet these extensive training needs, H.B. 292 creates one training specialist position for every 100 students with ASD. This provision derailed a very similar bill introduced in 2015, S.B. 92, which passed the Senate unanimously but stalled in the House Appropriations Committee. S.B. 92 created 15 training specialist positions at once, which would have required local school districts to appropriate more than $400,000 and the state to contribute twice as much. H.B. 292 avoided that obstacle by phasing in specialist hirings over the next seventeen years.

Supporters:

Reps. Earl Jaques (D), Paul Baumbach (D), John Mitchell (D), Edward Osienski (D), Michael Ramone (R), Kim Williams (D); Sens. Margaret Rose Henry (D), Robert Marshall (D); Autism Delaware; State Council for Persons with Disabilities (SCPD).

Opponents:

None reported.

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