Ohio.com

A voucher program makes sense for students with autism. Now the state must ensure that the program works

Medical surveys in recent years show sharp increases in the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. In Ohio, the number has soared from 1,046 children in 1998 to nearly 13,500 in 2009. The demand has risen accordingly for services to address the range of developmental problems and needs for those affected.

Few families and schools have the expertise to provide the specialized services that are appropriate for each student. It should not surprise that parents often are frustrated by the limited capacity of their public schools to tend to the individual needs of students diagnosed with autistic disorders.

The basis for Ohio’s Autism Scholarship Program, authorized in 2003, was to maintain focus on appropriate educational services for this group of students. The autism voucher program is a necessary option. It lends much needed flexibility to Ohio’s school system for children whose disabilities as yet are not well understood. For parents struggling to cope with autism, the program offers the essential funding to search out the private services best for their children.

Unfortunately, recognizing the critical value of the program is not to say it is reaching maximum effectiveness, or even close. As reported Sunday by John Higgins, a Beacon Journal staff writer, there are problems that state officials must resolve quickly to raise the performance of the 7-year-old program.

The program pays up to $20,000 a year for a student identified as autistic by the home school district. The district develops an Individualized Education Plan, IEP, which lists educational goals and services for the year and is agreed to by the parents. By law, the home school district is required to report on the student’s progress and to develop and refine an annual plan based on progress, regardless where the student receives educational services.

In Akron and some districts, officials note that private providers often fail to submit required quarterly reports, making it difficult for the district to meet its accountability role to monitor student progress and develop follow-up plans. Another key source of concern involves the wide variations in expertise and quality among state-approved providers. A 2008 review by Policy Matters Ohio cited the minimal state oversight of providers. As disturbing, local officials contend that complaints to state officials about implementation problems go unresolved.

The voucher program is a crucial option for a group of students with few options for gaining an effective education. State officials owe it to them and to taxpayers to address the many problems and ensure the program lives up to its potential for making a difference in the lives of many students.

Full Article (PDF version)

In All Aboard: Clean Energy Transportation Opportunities Favor Ohio Economy, Policy Matters Ohio and the Apollo Alliance outlined economic benefits that domestic demand for mass transit vehicles could bring to Ohio. Funding to underpin that demand could come from a reconfigured federal Surface Transportation Act, creating more jobs than current programming. In Ohio, 226 firms currently serving the freight rail industry could garner new orders from expanded passenger rail. Ohio is one of the top five states in the nation in number of manufacturing companies already serving the passenger rail. Today the Apollo Alliance releases its blueprint for transportation based job creation. In their new report: Make it in America: The Apollo Clean Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan (TMAP), they call for leveraging transportation investments to create a globally competitive transit and clean vehicle manufacturing sector and create hundreds of thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Press Release

Policy Matters Ohio and Demos briefed the Ohio Association of Community Colleges on Best Practices to increase degree attainment on October 15, 2010. The briefing supported Demo’s recently released report on the subject, which will be a featured presentation at the April 2011 conference of the Ohio Workforce Coalition.

Future Middle Class - Join us Thursday October 14 at 8:30 a.m. for a legislative briefing on the economic challenges facing young Ohio. We’ll talk about how federal and state policy can restore opportunities for the next generation. Click here for upcoming events.

In Cleveland that day? - If so, instead come hear Research Director Zach Schiller describe the $8 billion hole in Ohio’s state budget and how to restore a little balance in the Buckeye State – at Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, 1468 West 25th Street at noon.

Broke USA -  The riveting Gary Rivlin comes to Cleveland to discuss his bestselling new book Broke USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty Inc, How the Working Poor became Big Business – at the City Club at noon, October 29. Registration recommended.

Who stole my wages? - Think workers should be paid for all the hours they work? If so, ask your organization to join our alliance against wage theft. E-mail to learn how: hhalbert@policymattersohio.org.

Out of Poverty - A new report recommends investing in the clean economy, aligning those investments with training programs, and including previously excluded workers as we do so. Sound like a yellow brick road out of poverty? Read how Ohio is already starting to make it a reality (and what more needs to be done).

Energy and Recovery - The Recovery Act made available more than $100 billion for clean energy and the environment. Schools, local governments, businesses and others in Ohio have worked hard to secure almost a billion of this. It’s been used to weatherize 19,000 homes, clean up Pike County’s nuclear reservation, expand solar in Wilmington, replace boilers at the Wood County jail, and help firms in Perrysburg, Dayton, Findlay, Akron and more. See some examples and read what it could mean for recovery in Ohio.

That’s all!
The Policy Matters Team 

Policy Matters Ohio and Demos briefed legislators and legislative aides on the economic challenges facing young adults on Thursday, Oct. 14th, 2010 in Columbus. We talked about how federal and state policies can restore opportunities for the next generation. For more information about the briefing, click here.

Professor Elizabeth Warren kicked off her listening tour in Ohio on Oct. 14th, 2010 and Policy Matters Researcher, David Rothstein, was on hand to participate as a panelist, providing expertise in consumer protection and asset building. The panel addressed the media, and then held a roundtable discussion with advocates to help inform Federal strategy. Click here to view the event flyer.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 made available more than $100 billion dollars for awards in the area of clean energy and the environment. Initially it was thought Ohio would see about $1.031 billion of that sum, but about half-way through the stimulus, almost a billion has already been awarded across the state to many entities, including local governments, schools, universities, companies and individuals as well as to the state, through competitive grants, tax credits, contracts and other awards. A few examples give a sense of the scope of the improvements to Ohio:

• Statewide, almost 19,000 homes have been weatherized, creating thousands of jobs and lowering heating bills.

• In Pike County, up to 1,000 jobs are expected to be created at the Piketon nuclear reservation.

• A $352,600 grant to install a solar electric system at the Wilmington wastewater treatment facility will create construction jobs, cut costs and lower water bills.

• A grant of $173,097 will replace boilers at the Wood County jail, cutting electric bills and hiring local people to install the equipment.

• A few examples of direct benefits to businesses include tax credits to First Solar, AcuTemp and Dow Chemical to invest in Perrysburg, Dayton and Findlay, entering clean energy markets and creating jobs. Smart Paper Holding and JP Leasing will generate electricity on-site, cutting their costs of operations over the long term. First Energy Service Company in Akron will modernize its grid, increasing reliability and efficiency for its customers, employing electricians who will install new smart meters in homes and pushing demand out through American firms that make the smart meters.

Because of these resources, people who would not otherwise be employed have jobs. The work they do benefits the community. The demand for the projects they build or the products they install will pulse through the economy, helping manufacturers recover and grow. As demand spirals back up, firms will find new customers and new markets, tax revenue will expand, people will be re-hired and the Ohio economy should begin to recover.

Press Release

Executive Summary

Full Report

Appendices