Advocates warn special education shift to HHS could disrupt services

The Education Department’s plan to move special-education oversight to the Department of Health and Human Services has left disability advocates warning that families could lose the protections that matter most: complaint resolution, enforcement and federal accountability. On June 16, the department announced interagency agreements that would shift day-to-day management of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to HHS while sending civil-rights enforcement to the Justice Department.

The Education Department said students would not lose rights and that it would keep statutory responsibility. But the structure itself could fracture services for children with disabilities, whose school supports, legal complaints and civil-rights claims are now handled within one education system. The federal special-education apparatus serves roughly 7 million students and oversees about $15 billion in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act grants.

A private call with disability advocates on Thursday, July 3, left more questions than answers about what HHS would do, how quickly complaints would move, and which office would answer when districts failed to provide services. Special education is an education law, not a health program, and HHS lacks school-specific expertise. Families rely on a single chain of responsibility when they challenge delays, denied services or weak plans for students with disabilities.

The Arc of the United States warned, “Students with disabilities don’t experience school in agency silos.” A split system could make it harder to know where to file complaints, which office has authority to act and whether federal oversight will be strong enough to force states and school districts to comply.

The move is part of the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle and downsize the Education Department by shifting core functions elsewhere. In late 2025, advocates and some Republican lawmakers were already warning that special education could be exposed in that process. The department said the four new deals were among 10 made in the past year.

National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues said the announcements created chaos for families with special needs. The National Parents Union, The Arc, the National Center for Learning Disabilities and the National Education Association have all opposed the shift.