The gist
House Bill 1188, known as the Handley Act, was approved during the 89th Texas Legislative Session and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on May 29. Under the bill, public schools must now refer students with IDD to their Local IDD Health Authority at the very first admission, review and dismissal, or ARD, meeting where their individualized education plan is reviewed. The bill went into effect immediately.
Upon connecting with health authorities, such as Texana Center for Fort Bend County residents or The Harris Center for Harris County residents, families can learn about long-term support services, including Medicaid waiver programs that support health care as well as housing and job training, representatives confirmed.
Advocates said the shift is aimed at reducing the 10-15-year waitlists and closing critical gaps in care that often emerge after students age out of the school system and Medicaid at 21 or their parent's insurance at 26.
What’s changing
Prior to the law, families were not required to receive a health authority referral until they were 14 as they prepared for their adult tradition out of high school, according to legislative documents.
However, unless parents solicited information about Medicaid waitlists, a Fort Bend ISD special education department official said in an email said the process was informal and depended on parents soliciting information at the district’s annual traditional fair.
Similarly, Gwen Coffey, assistant superintendent for special education at Katy ISD, said in an email that while transitional information was offered at the students’ ARD meeting, explicit referrals were made at the discretion of the administrator.
With the law’s emphasis on required referrals, Coffey said KISD administrators are awaiting Texas Education Agency materials to train staff and communicate to parents and prepare to publish the material online for easy access prior to the beginning of the 2025-26 school year.
FBISD officials said the district is implementing a “formal referral process” during the 2025-26 school year for current or future IDD diagnosis at initial and annual ARD meetings.
Meanwhile, Tiffany Mathis, executive director for special education at Lamar CISD, said in an email the district already provided emailed information about the health authorities to all secondary families with IDD diagnoses at the beginning of the school year and followed up with pamphlets at the in-person ARD meeting.
She said this information will be extended to all students with an IDD diagnosis this coming 2025-26 school year.
What they’re saying
The Texana Center, which already receives 300 annual referrals—mostly for school-aged children—is preparing for an increase in referrals and plans to manage it as best it can without additional state resources, a spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson at The Harris Center said in an email they're still evaluating the law to see how it will affect its current relationship with school districts.
Looking ahead
While there were previously six different waiting lists, the Texana Center announced it will no longer provide home and community-based services, or HCS; or Texas home living, or TxHmL, due to inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates that don’t cover the cost of care as of Sept. 19, according to a June 11 news release.
HCS supports various living arrangements, including host and group homes, while TxHmL serves individuals in their own or family homes, per the release.
The center is helping clients and families find alternative providers in the six-county area and will host a provider and employment fair to support the transition in the future, per the release.
