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The Dept of Ed Just Gutted Special Education Resources. Here’s What That Means for Your Neurodivergent Child and How Mission 139 Can Help.

Speech therapist working with young student

If you’ve been following the news, you may have seen that the U.S. Department of Education is being dramatically downsized. Offices responsible for special education oversight and civil rights enforcement are being cut. Some federal roles may be transferred to other departments or vanish altogether.


As parents and caregivers, we’re left wondering:

❓Who’s protecting our kids now?❓ What happens to their services, rights, and funding?❓ How do I make sure my child doesn’t get left behind?

At Mission 139, we’re asking the same questions and more importantly, we’re preparing answers.


What’s Actually Happening

Our current administration is scaling back or fully eliminating key positions and offices that once monitored school compliance with federal special education law (IDEA). There’s talk of shifting oversight away from the Department of Education entirely, to other agencies with less specific focus on student needs.


This means:

  • Less federal accountability when schools fail to provide IEP services

  • More variability in how supports are delivered state to state

  • Greater burden on families to advocate and document everything


What This Means for You

If your child relies on Special Education and related services:

  • IEP services

  • 504 accommodations

  • Medicaid-funded therapies

  • Assistive technology

  • Specialized learning environments...


    You’ll likely need to become even more proactive to protect those supports. The systems meant to help you are under pressure and that pressure trickles down to families first.


What Mission 139 Is Doing

We’re not panicking - we’re preparing. Here’s how we’re responding to this shift:


Strengthening our Family Assistance Program

We continue to provide financial support for:

  • Advocacy services

  • Evaluations and related therapies

  • Assistive tech and adaptive tools

  • Scholarships to neurodivergent-friendly schools


Equipping Parents with the Truth

We’ve launched a free guide to help you understand how federal changes may impact your child’s support plan.


Standing in the Gap

As public systems destabilize, we’re stepping up to serve as a consistent, compassionate anchor for families. We’re not going anywhere.


Our Faith is in Action

At Mission 139, we believe every child is fearfully and wonderfully made and worthy of support, dignity, and access. Our work is rooted in justice, mercy, and the call to walk with families when the system does not.


If you need help, clarity, or just someone to stand with you, we’re here.

 
 
 

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