Differential diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is challenging, and uncertainty regarding a child's diagnosis may result in under-identification or prolonged diagnostic pathways. The current study examined diagnostic certainty, or how sure clinicians were that their diagnosis was accurate, among 478 toddler and preschool-aged children…

The "Annual Disability Statistics Compendium" and its complement, the "Annual Disability Statistics Supplement" (ED595183), are summaries of statistics about people with disabilities and about the government programs which serve them. The "Compendium" presents key overall statistics on topics including the prevalence…

This document discusses a range of policy and practice options that states can undertake to increase college student access to public benefits. The Center for Law and Social Policy, Inc. (CLASP) has leveraged its hands-on policy and cross-issue technical assistance expertise to identify these options. Many states have already implemented one or…

Building Bridges is charged with creating a statewide program for comprehensive dropout prevention, intervention, and retrieval (DPIR) programming, and to make annual recommendations to the legislature and the governor on DPIR best practices and system needs. Washington's graduation rate has steadily been increasing since 2021 with 83% of the…

The Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) settings rule (CMS 2249-F/2296-F) strictly enforces meaningful community-based settings for those receiving Medicaid HCBS funding. Stakeholders have the opportunity to impact states' setting rule plans and hold states accountable to ensure rules are truly community based. Yet, the complex rule can be…

Depression is a common problem for adults on the autism spectrum, but little is known about depression-related service receipt in this group. To understand depression diagnostic and treatment status better, we collected information on current depressive symptoms, depression diagnosis, and treatment status of 315 young adults with a childhood…

P-12 and higher education finance policies and resources impact human resources administration. By examining education finance policy analyses covering 50 states written from 2013 to 2019, we illuminate human resource trends and challenges that emerged during this time. The purpose of this document analysis was to synthesize and share emerging…

Occupational segregation and structural labor market discrimination contribute to significant socioeconomic disparities afflicting Latinas; these inequalities were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, approximately one in five Latinas were unemployed, registering the highest unemployment rate among all workers. Overall, the Latino…

States have increasingly transitioned Medicaid enrollees with disabilities from fee-for-service (FFS) to Medicaid Managed Care (MMC), intending to reduce state Medicaid spending and to provide better access to health services. Yet, previous studies on the impact of MMC are limited and findings are inconsistent. We analyzed the impact of MMC on…

Vision plays a key role in a child's development. Early detection and treatment of vision abnormalities decreases future complications. Follow-up vision care is a common problem. Barriers to vision care include financial cost, lack of insurance knowledge to cover costs, and disbelief of vision results. The purpose of this evidence-based pilot…

Background: Health insurance access and health literacy are critical components of "enabling resources" to encourage uptake of services. We sought to test whether health literacy boosts health services utilization in the context of expanded access to health insurance stemming from the Affordable Care Act. Method: We used individual-level…

Objective: To examine the health literacy of college students. Participants: A convenience sample of 245 graduate and undergraduate college students. Methods: During February-April of 2018 participants completed the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy which assessed literacy on two passages describing a thyroid scan, and basic healthcare…

Data reveal that insufficient progress has been made in increasing the number of students with severe disabilities who are educated in general education classes. Agran et al. asked why this is happening and discussed determinants that may be affecting placement decisions that serve to segregate students from their peers. This article is a review…

At first glance, the recent teacher-retirement reforms in Ohio seem to bring good fiscal news to school systems in the Buckeye State. With Senate Bills 341 and 342--and a series of cutbacks on retiree healthcare--the Cleveland Metropolitan School District is projected to spend less on retirement costs in 2020 than it does today. But these reforms…

For more than 30 years, Medicaid has played a key role in paying for school health services. As the source of health insurance for 40 percent of children across the country, Medicaid helps ensure low-income children receive healthcare they need to be healthy and ready to learn. Today, new opportunities exist to enhance the role that Medicaid plays…