NCCDD's Highlights & Hot Topics - July 2026

The July 2026 issue of Highlights and Hot Topics includes a message from NCCDD’s executive director, celebrates Wake County's proclamation recognizing the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and catches up on the latest public policy updates. You'll also find NCCDD projects featured in the news and information for upcoming August webinars

Highlights & Hot Topics is the monthly newsletter for the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities. All newsletters are available on the NCCDD website.

This project was supported, in part by grant number 2001NCSCDD-02, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.

Highlights & Hot Topics is the monthly newsletter for the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities. All newsletters are available on the NCCDD website.

This project was supported, in part by grant number 2001NCSCDD-02, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.

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July twenty twenty six Highlights and Hot Topics Letter from the Executive Director Your advocacy made a difference. Thank you. The General Assembly funded over $21 million to increase direct support professional rates and over $70 million for personal care services, which means increased rates for CAP DA and CAP C. When the federal match is added, the increase in funding is over $200 million. Please make sure to thank legislators. Also, thank your fellow advocates. There's no question that our advocacy with the IDD Legislative Caucus and Health Appropriations Chair year after year help make this happen. There is no question that each time you shared your story, you made this happen. There is an important question though. Will one hundred nine one five I DSP rates go up with the increase in the innovations waiver rates? When the state started one hundred nine one five I, it told the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that it would keep one hundred nine one five I DSP rates and innovations waiver rates the same. I am hoping that we will be able to maintain those rates, but right now we are asking that question even though it's our expectation. There are other important questions. How much do we need to raise DSP rates to in order to have a sufficient workforce for our aging and disabled population? How much do we need to budget for future DSP wages to maintain that workforce as our population grows? These are critical questions the state is trying to answer with a new direct care workforce rate study. Please make sure to participate in this rate study when asked to help with it. I am reminded of the number of times I wasn't successful when I planted grass seed. Spring after spring in Atlanta, North Carolina, I would plant grass seed. I would water it and fertilize it, and I was not successful. Then, one autumn I finally decided to try and grow grass. We now have a flourishing grass lawn in our shaded front yard. It took the right timing and a lot of work. This summer we saw some fruit from all the labor we put into our ITD advocacy. It is just the beginning. We have so much more work to do, but we have made progress. We have significant challenges, including a grave threat to Olmstead and substantial budgetary challenges to Medicaid. But we have each other and our advocacy. We will continue to make a difference. NCCDD receives eighty A thirty sixth anniversary proclamation from Wake County. On Monday, july sixth, NCCDD Systems Change Manager Philip Woodward attended the Wake County Board of Commissioners reading to receive eighty A thirty sixth anniversary proclamation from Commissioner Tara Waters. He also gave remarks to the board to thank them. NCCDD Councilmember Tony Hall and Community Partner Laura Steed also attended the meeting to receive the proclamation. In his remarks, Woodward said, I've been involved in many opportunities to issue an Americans with Disabilities Act proclamation from the state of North Carolina and the city of Raleigh. It delights me to be here to receive an ADA proclamation from Wake County and its Board of Commissioners. I myself have lived with a disability for forty three years. I was diagnosed with a severe to profound bilateral hearing loss at age four. The ADA has made life immensely better for me, and I started seeing the benefits not long after it was passed in nineteen ninety. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately thirty two percent of North Carolina residents have a disability of some type, physical, mental, sensory, intellectual, developmental, or some other type. That is about one third of the population. Disability is a natural part of human life, and recognizing and celebrating the ADA will help people of all abilities prosper and participate fully in living, working in, playing in, and visiting Wake County. Public policy update as of seven hundred twenty three twenty six Federal Budget. The federal budget process stalled after the House passed only three appropriations bills out of the twelve that came out of committee. And on the Senate side, there was no progress on budget due to no agreement on the total budget number. However, there's been other activity around funding. Stopgap measure. The week of july twentieth, twenty twenty six, the House passed a stopgap measure that would fund federal agencies as existing levels through december fourth, twenty twenty six in an effort to avert a potential government shutdown before the end of the fiscal year on september thirtieth, twenty twenty six. The measure now heads to the Senate, where it faces long odds amid the chamber's sixty vote threshold and potential democratic opposition. Emergency supplemental request. President Trump's administration has requested an eighty seven point six billion emergency supplemental funding package to fund U.S. military operations against Iran, assist farmers, and respond to the Ebola outbreak. About sixty seven point one billion of the funding would be provided to the Department of Defense to refill military stockpiles. The remaining twenty point five billion would provide additional support for the U.S. Coast Guard, temporary economic assistance to farmers, international affairs and humanitarian assistance, the design and construction of a modernized Penn Station, and continued restoration projects on the National Mall. The Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing to review the package july twenty first, twenty twenty six. Reconciliation three point zero The reconciliation process is what was used to pass HR one, OBBB, which included significant Medicaid cuts. Reconciliation is a special legislative tool that can be used by the Senate for mandatory spending and only requires fifty one votes instead of sixty. House Republicans on Wednesday approved a ninety five billion dollar framework for a third budget reconciliation package that would boost funding for the Pentagon, provide agriculture aid, and provide money to encourage states to adopt voting restrictions. House Republicans managed to overcome internal disagreements and approve the budget framework for another reconciliation package, ninety five billion on july twenty second, twenty twenty six. This third budget reconciliation package would boost funding for the Pentagon, provide agriculture aid, and provide money to encourage states to adopt voting restrictions. This is only the first vote in a long, multi-step budget reconciliation process which requires that both the House and Senate adopt the same budget framework. So now the process moves to the Senate, where it is uncertain whether there is enough support for a reconciliation budget. Federal Administration Medicaid work requirements. Last month we covered the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services interim final rule around the process for determining and proving someone is quote medically frail for exemption for new work requirements. It creates a more restrictive definition of medically frail. This new rule creates additional administrative burdens for the person and the Medicaid program, and more people will lose access to health care. A coalition of officials from twenty five states in Washington, D.C., including North Carolina, filed a lawsuit challenging recently released rules for Medicaid work requirements. In the lawsuit filed against CMS and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the states allege that the Trump administration's interim final rule is more restrictive than Congress intended. The complaint also names CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. All House Democrats sent a unified letter to CMS demanding that the administration reverse course on this rigid new rule. While the rules apply to the Medicaid expansion population, the IDD community should be concerned and provide feedback. Some people with IDD may be in the expansion population and directly impacted. Additional administrative and paperwork burdens to the Medicaid system can affect everyone on Medicaid. It is an opportunity to point out that these rules go against the administration's promise to protect all vulnerable populations. It is not being followed. Department of Justice and Olmsted In nineteen ninety nine, the Supreme Court in Olmsted vs. LC recognized that people with disabilities have a right to live in the world, and states have an obligation to provide services in the community that promote integration. This ruling is the foundation of disability rights and so integral to the inclusion of people with IDD in their communities. In the June Highlights and Hot Topics newsletter, we covered an opinion that was issued in June by the Department of Justice saying that federal law does not explicitly require states to provide community-based care for people with disabilities. The memo asserts that neither Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act nor Section five hundred four of the Rehabilitation Act contains a strict integration mandate that forces states to serve people in community-based settings instead of institutions. This interpretation goes against current federal integration policy and signals a shift in enforcement regarding the Olmsted mandate. Following this, on july twentieth, twenty twenty six, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a notice clarifying that its longstanding guidance on enforcement of the ADA's integration mandate and Olmsted v. LC is not enforceable. In other words, the Department of Justice will not rely on the guidance from Olmsted to enforce Title II of the ADA. This creates further uncertainty and anxiety among advocates and people with disabilities. While neither the opinion issued in June nor the notice issued in July carry the full force of the law, neither takes away the Olmsted ruling or ADA or Section five hundred four, there is a real fear that the rights of people with disabilities to live in their own homes and communities is being threatened. The guidance from Olmsted has been one of the strongest protections for people to remain in their communities and to not be forced into institutional care. It is alarming that the federal government may not enforce these laws. Department of Education Last month we covered some of the changes occurring within the Department of Education. Oversight of special education programs, transition services, and vacational rehabilitation are moving to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Responsibility for investigating disability related education civil rights complaints will move to the U.S. Department of Justice. Considering the Department of Justice's recent interpretation of Olmsted, the protection of students with disabilities to receive free and appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is also a growing concern. Dividing the support and oversight of these educational services among other federal departments will create an environment where it is harder to know how to get help when a student's needs are not being met. State budget. We finally have a budget in North Carolina. The legislature passed the thirty four point four billion dollar state budget on july second, twenty twenty six, and it was signed by the governor on july seventh, twenty twenty six. Key investments included in the budget are raises for teachers, state workers, and law enforcement officers, as well as $700 million for ongoing Hurricane Helene rebuilding and relief efforts. Investments that impact people with IDD include fully fund the Medicaid Rebase, Restart the Healthy Opportunities Pilot, an innovative Medicaid initiative that addresses food insecurity, housing, transportation, and other non medical factors that influence health. Fund the state share of SNAP administration, helping maintain North Carolina's SNAP program, but shifts new administrative costs to counties. Increase pay for direct support professionals twenty one point three million. Increase rates for personal care services seventy point eight million. Recipients of Innovations Waiver and Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver Services will have no copays. Provide additional funds for IDD work training programs at community colleges. While the budget does not include funding for additional innovations waiver slots, IDD advocates were surprised and pleased to see the increase in pay for DSPs. The advocacy and education about the needs for DSPs has been effective. IOLTA funds. The Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts ProgramT has historically provided grants to more than forty organizations across the state, including Disability Rights NC and Legal Aid of North Carolina in their work to secure and protect basic needs around housing, health care, and employment. The budget includes a provision that redirects IOLTA funds away from civil legal aid and moves funds towards criminal defense services. The funds for civil legal aid will drop dramatically from twelve million to less than two million per fiscal year. North Carolina is the only state in the country to make this shift. This is another area where supports to protect the rights of people with IDD seem to be ending. Lawmakers are scheduled to return to Raleigh on july twenty seventh, twenty twenty six. NCCDD project featured in the news twenty three EG. The North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities Autism and IDD Safety Training for First Responders Initiative was recently featured by Spectrum News. The story highlights how the training is helping law enforcement better understand and safely interact with people with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. The project is expanding across North Carolina to improve communication, build trust, and create safer outcomes for everyone. Read the Spectrum article at spectrumlocalnews.com. Upcoming webinars in August Policy Education Meeting, Thursday, august thirteenth, twenty twenty six, from ten thirty AM to noon. Learn about important updates about state and federal policies, budget developments, and other issues that affect people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. There will also be time for questions and open discussion. Please note that NCCDD only provides public policy education. The Council does not lobby on specific legislation. Self Advocate Discussion Series Topic Assistive Technology Wednesday, august nineteenth, twenty twenty six from one to two PM. The North Carolina Assistive Technology Program has experienced important changes during the last year. Join us to learn more. The NCATP is a state and federally funded program that provides assistive technology services to people of all ages and abilities in North Carolina. NCATP leads North Carolina's efforts to carry out Federal Assistive Technology Act of two thousand four by providing device demonstrations, short term loans, and reutilization of assistive technology. NCATP promotes independence for people with disabilities through access to technology. Please register at least one week before the session. Learn more about this webinar series at nccd.org. The Council presents Topic Olmsted 101, Thursday, August 27, 2026 from 1 to 2 PM. This session will be a panel discussion including the history of the Olmsted decision, national Olmstead policy achievements, an overview and implementation update of the North Carolina Olmsted Plan, and an opportunity for self-advocates and panelists to talk about how the Olmstead decision has impacted the lives of people in North Carolina and across the country. You will hear from state experts, including Brian Dooley, self-advocate, Deb Goda, former Director of NCDHHS Olmsted Section, Kelly Crosby, Assistant Secretary of the DMH, DD SUS, Corey Dunn, Director of Policy of Disability Rights North Carolina, and C. Tally Wells, Executive Director for NCCDD and former Georgia Olmstead Case Lawyer. Learn more about this webinar series at NCCDD.org.