Federal Mandates Research Articles

When Being an Expert May Not Be Enough: Understanding the Experiences of Special Education Professionals Parenting Children with Disabilities

How do special education-related professionals parenting children with disabilities experience the special education system? This qualitative exploratory study delves into the experiences of 25 mother-educators who are special education-related professionals navigating the special education system for their children with disabilities. Through thematic analysis, our findings elucidate how the special education system perpetuates inequitable practices. The study describes four central themes: (1) the nuanced role of mother-educators’ expertise, (2) the capacity and willingness of school staff to serve children with disabilities, (3) the inherent inequalities within the special education system, and (4) the role of advocacy. Most of these mother-educators could occasionally leverage social, cultural, and economic capital to advocate and secure services for their children. However, despite their ability to leverage such resources and extensive knowledge about their children and the special education system, these mother-educators encountered numerous challenges in advocating for and securing services for their children. We discuss the implications of our findings for federal mandates on family engagement and caution against the deficit-based nature of special education. Furthermore, we propose recommendations for fostering more equitable approaches within the system. This study underscores the need for systemic changes to ensure that all children with disabilities receive the support and services they deserve.

Bear baiting risks and mitigations: An assessment using expert opinion analyses.

Bear baiting is authorized in 12 states, 2 territories, and 8 provinces across North America. In Alaska, more than 70% of lands managed by the National Park Service (NPS) are open to some form of hunting including National Preserves where non-conflicting state wildlife hunting regulations apply. Alaska state regulations authorize bear baiting with few restrictions on the type or amount of bait that can be used to attract bears; although, restrictions related to bait station distance from roads and trails (¼ mile) and cabins/dwellings (1 mile) apply. However, National Preserves host diverse recreational activities in addition to hunting (e.g., hiking, camping, fishing). Because road and trail access to and within Alaska National Park and Preserve lands is limited, hunting and non-hunting-related activities often occur in the same areas-increasing potential for conflict between potentially non-compatible activities. We developed questionnaires about potential impacts on NPS lands, which were distributed to 14 NPS and 27 non-NPS bear research and management experts. We collated respondents' opinions regarding consistency of bear baiting practices with state and federal mandates for wildlife management. While minor differences in expert opinions were noted, findings from this study are unequivocal. Bear baiting is functionally equivalent to feeding bears, bears may defend a bait station similar to how they would defend a carcass, and bear baiting can lead to human food-conditioning in bears. Bear baiting also increases the likelihood bears will be killed in defense of life and property, and alters natural bear behaviors and ecological processes. Further, current mitigation strategies to minimize public safety risks and potential property damage are inadequate. For example, because bears are known to defend food resources, avoiding food conditioning of bears is central to the educational messaging of all entities that manage bears. In short, bear baiting is a harvest practice that challenges harmony between State mandates, which emphasize hunter opportunity, and NPS mandates that include public safety and natural processes.

Lawton et al. v. Success Academy Charter Schools, Inc. (2018): Charter School Disciplinary Approaches and Students With Disabilities

By being public entities, Charter schools must meet federal legislative mandates (e.g., Section 504) in providing a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities—just as their traditional district public school counterparts must do. This legal update reviews a prominent case, Lawton et al. v. Success Academy Charter Schools, Inc. (2018). The case, which eventually settled for $1.1 million plus legal fees (nearly $1.3 million), serves as an illustration of challenges involving students with disabilities in charter schools using no-excuses disciplinary practices. After the review of the case is presented, ramifications for charter schools failing to accommodate students with disabilities in disciplinary matters are considered. Implications for practice are also discussed.

Race-blind admissions, school segregation, and student outcomes

In 2007, the Supreme Court declared race-conscious school admissions unconstitutional. This paper provides the first evaluation of a related federal mandate where the Columbus City School District was forced to adopt a race-blind lottery system for its magnet schools. I explore the impact of the dramatic increase in racial segregation resulting from the mandate. More segregated schools spend less per-pupil, enroll lower achieving students, employ lower value-added teachers, and perpetuate “White flight” out of the district. Ultimately, segregation arising from mandated race-blind admissions causes student achievement and college attendance rates to decline.

The Lau decision and the San Diego National Origin Desegregation Assistance Center

ABSTRACT This article documents the San Diego National Origin Desegregation Assistance Center (NODAC), one of the nine national centers established by the U.S. Office of Education to provide technical assistance to school districts cited under Section 601 of Title VI, from the Office for Civil Rights, to meet the Lau compliance requirement based on the Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court decision (Title VI. 42 U. S. C). Additionally, it provides insights into the ideological and political challenges and triumphs of implementing federal mandates for educational equity. The focus of this article is on the San Diego NODAC which provided technical assistance to the Southern California area consisting of 10 counties with the highest concentration of national origin students in the nation. This evaluation case study documents the work, process, and impact, of the San Diego NODAC and reflects on the enforcement of the Lau Task Force Remedies under the Region IX U.S. Office of Civil Rights, the process used by the NODAC, and the organizational receptivity and perceptions of school districts personnel responsible for coordinating compliance at or beyond minimal compliance. This article concludes with an evaluation process using lessons learned by the NODAC based on more than a decade of work and advocacy for students’ equal access to opportunity, quality bilingual education, and democratic schooling.

Peer review protection: Pish-Posh or pivotal policy?

The Healthcare Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA) of 1986 is a pivotal federal mandate designed to enhance medical care quality through effective professional peer review. Importantly, it offers legal immunity to reviewers under specified conditions and mandates the reporting of adverse actions to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). This article explores the implementation of peer review processes in hospitals and the potentially severe ramifications of failure to report, using the scenario of a diagnostic radiologist performing high-end vascular interventional procedures, whose performance came under scrutiny, highlighting the intersection of federal and state laws, accreditation standards, hospital policies, and physician professionalism standards and reporting duties.

Barriers in Accessing Orthodontic Care for Patients with Orofacial Clefts: Insights from a Florida-Based Survey and National Database Analysis.

To assess the barriers to obtaining care for patients with orofacial clefts through a survey of Florida-based orthodontists and families and an analysis of the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database. A cross-sectional study utilizing multiple-choice questionnaires completed by Florida orthodontists and caregivers of patients who attended a Florida-based cleft and craniofacial clinic. Additionally, data from the PHIS database were analyzed to investigate national factors affecting the age of alveolar bone grafting (ABG). Craniofacial team in Florida. The survey included 39 orthodontists (7.1% response rate) and 48 caregivers (41% response rate) The PHIS study included 1182 patients. Barrier to orthodontic care and age of ABG. Orthodontic Survey: Among the surveyed orthodontists, 71% treated cleft/craniofacial patients, 37% accepted Medicaid, and 55% provided pro-bono care. Poor reimbursement was identified as the most common barrier (58%). Caregiver Survey: Most patients were insured by Medicaid (67%), with 55% incurring out-of-pocket expenses. PHIS Database: The average age of ABG was 10.3 years (SD = 3.2). Government funding was associated with a 6.0-month delay in ABG (p = 0.047) and residing in non-Medicaid expanded states was linked to a 6.0-month delay (p = 0.023). Post-Medicaid expansion status was also associated with a delay (p = 0.004). Access to oral care is difficult for patients with OFC. Despite both federal and state mandates, many financial and non-financial barriers still exist in accessing orthodontic care and a majority of patients experience significant out-of-pocket expenses despite statutorily mandated insurance coverage.

Complementary Worldviews Aligning: A Relational Approach to STEM Education

Abstract: Educators in Canada face federal and provincial mandates arising from the TRC Calls to Action (2012) to incorporate First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) perspectives across the curriculum. Yet it is not uncommon to hear K–12 educators as well as some university faculty asking, "How do I incorporate Indigenous culture into science? Is it even possible?" This paper not only describes how it is possible but also explains why it is necessary, providing a theoretical framework and practical examples of how Western approaches to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) knowledge can be braided with Indigenous treatments of these knowledge categories and disciplines. Historically, Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) and other Indigenous worldviews have been systematically and systemically dismissed by the sciences and primarily confined to the humanities. Therefore, to move beyond merely learning about Indigenous cultures and lean into learning from them (i.e., learn through the lens of Indigenous cultures), we must (1) teach Niitsitapi and other Indigenous stories beyond the humanities classroom; (2) better engage the etiological, ontological, epistemological, axiological, and practical traditions of Niitsitapi and other Indigenous Peoples; and (3) operationalize pedagogical and methodological models that acknowledge, respect, and embody Indigenous ways of knowing and being in STEM education.

College Students as Participants in Our Democracy

Low rates of voter engagement characteristic of the college-age demographic are determined by a host of factors. These factors vary according to geography, demographic variables, and individual inclinations. Those who strive to strengthen our democracy through increasing access to our political system confront many challenges, and there exists no “one-size-fits-all” approach. College campuses, where young voters obviously congregate in large numbers, provide a primary access point for democratic engagement efforts. Institutions of higher education are compelled to respond to the federal mandate put forth by the Higher Education Act to provide information on voter registration. Anecdotal information suggests a greatly varied response to this call. A sample of campus programs attempting to engage college and university voters are presented here, demonstrated by peer-based actions in 1) an institute for civic and community engagement in St. Louis, Missouri, 2) a public policy center in Indianola, Iowa, 3) an intensive interdisciplinary curricular experience in Oswego, New York, and 4) a broad-based voter education initiative in Springfield, Missouri. They differ greatly in terms of funding sources, campus positions of their administrating personnel, curricular versus co-curricular actions, and the degree of administrative support to mobilize and engage members of the campus community. In addition, participating students learn to recognize the agency they wield in molding the political world they want to experience and are more likely to continue their civic engagement post-graduation.

Development of a generalized pseudo-probabilistic approach for characterizing ecological conditions in estuaries using secondary data

Under the best circumstances, achieving or sustaining optimum ecological conditions in estuaries is challenging. Persistent information gaps in estuarine data make it difficult to differentiate natural variability from potential regime shifts. Long-term monitoring is critical for tracking ecological change over time. In the United States (US), many resource management programs are working at maximum capacity to address existing state and federal water quality mandates (e.g., pollutant load limits, climate impact mitigation, and fisheries management) and have little room to expand routine sampling efforts to conduct periodic ecological baseline assessments, especially at state and local scales. Alternative design, monitoring, and assessment approaches are needed to help offset the burden of addressing additional data needs to increase understanding about estuarine system resilience when existing monitoring data are sparse or spatially limited. Research presented here offers a pseudo-probabilistic approach that allows for the use of found or secondary data, such as data on hand and other acquired data, to generate statistically robust characterizations of ecological conditions in estuaries. Our approach uses a generalized pseudo-probabilistic framework to synthesize data from different contributors to inform probabilistic-like baseline assessments. The methodology relies on simple geospatial techniques and existing tools (R package functions) developed for the US Environmental Protection Agency to support ecological monitoring and assessment programs like the National Coastal Condition Assessment. Using secondary estuarine water quality data collected in the Northwest Florida (US) estuaries, demonstrations suggest that the pseudo-probabilistic approach produces estuarine condition assessment results with reasonable statistical confidence, improved spatial representativeness, and value-added information. While the pseudo-probabilistic framework is not a substitute for fully evolved monitoring, it offers a scalable alternative to bridge the gap between limitations in resource management capability and optimal monitoring strategies to track ecological baselines in estuaries over time.

Understanding the expansion of social control and helping professionals as unwilling agents of the state: The passing of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act in the United States

Abstract It is widely known that those in the helping professions are mandated to report suspected incidences of child maltreatment. However, few are aware of the historical resistance to mandated reporting that helping professionals demonstrated before the passing of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 1974 and the associated federal mandates that compelled helping professionals to engage in mandated reporting, oftentimes against their will. By analysing historical policy documents through a grounded theory approach, the authors identified three themes that describe the rationale for the passage of CAPTA: (1) identifying national evidence of child abuse; (2) resistance to intrusion of the helping professional-client relationship; and (3) the necessity of immunity waivers for those who reported instances of child abuse and misdemeanor punishment for those who failed to report such instances. In light of conversations around abolishing or reforming child protective services, it is important to understand how the first federal child protective services policy in the United States originated and how these regulations embedded social control into the foundation of the helping professional-client relationship, thus turning helping professionals into unwilling agents of the state. Implications of mandated reporting, including introducing a penal aspect to the helping professional-client relationship, are also explored.

How Health Care Organizations Are Implementing Disability Accommodations for Effective Communication: A Qualitative Study

Prior studies have documented that, despite federal mandates, clinicians infrequently provide accommodations that enable equitable health care engagement for patients with communication disabilities. To date, there has been a paucity of empirical research describing the organizational approach to implementing these accommodations. The authors asked US health care organizations how they were delivering these accommodations in the context of clinical care, what communication accommodations they provided, and what disability populations they addressed. In this study, 19 qualitative interviews were conducted with disability coordinators representing 15 US health care organizations actively implementing communication accommodations. A conventional qualitative content analysis approach was used to code the data and derive themes. The authors identified three major themes related to how US health care organizations are implementing the provision of this service: (1) Operationalizing the delivery of communication accommodations in health care required executive leadership support and preparatory work at clinic and organization levels; (2) The primary focus of communication accommodations was sign language interpreter services for Deaf patients and, secondarily, other hearing- and visual-related accommodations; and (3) Providing communication accommodations for patients with speech and language and cognitive disabilities was less frequent, but when done involved more than providing a single aid or service. These findings suggest that, in addition to individual clinician efforts, there are organization-level factors that affect consistent provision of communication accommodations across the full range of communication disabilities. Future research should investigate these factors and test targeted implementation strategies to promote equitable access to health care for all patients with communication disabilities.

The Driving Federal Interest in Environmental Hazards: Weather Disaster as Global Security Threat

The U.S. federal government manages many domestic and global operations, including environmental disasters. With the need to both mitigate and adapt to climate change, legislative and executive branches have spurred research efforts as the impacts of the Anthropocene accelerate around the country. The Army Corps of Engineers’ overlapping interest in security and providing technological answers to mitigate weather disasters has led to recent research and development, including facilitating the federal mandate to convert military fleets to electric vehicles by 2027 while also building a hydrogen fuel cell emergency operations vehicle. The emergency vehicle, H2Rescue, has recently been tested in the field, and further refinements in the technology are leading towards a transition out of development and into production. However, the engineered solution must also attend to the social dimensions of disaster relief. This paper examines past environmental disasters in one location, the Navajo Nation, to describe how the vehicle could provide a combination of technological and societal future research possibilities for environmental anthropology.

Correlates of radical localism across American counties

ABSTRACT Radical localism is a sociological phenomenon in the United States that prioritizes county interests over federal mandates. It often involves non-government actors, such as militias or armed movements, and government actors, such as elected officials. We seek to unearth the relationships between radical localism and the sociological conditions that may aggravate such extremist ideas. In this study, we examine the local conditions that may foster radical localism and extremist views. We hypothesize that radical localism is influenced by three factors: (1) the proportion of federally owned lands in a county; (2) the change in the percentage of white people in a county’s population; and (3) the degree of underrepresentation of a county’s population in state and federal legislatures. We test our hypotheses using data from U.S. counties that have experienced radical localism. Our findings support our hypotheses and reveal the growing sociological divisions within radical localism.

Longitudinal Policy Surveillance of Private Insurance Hearing Aid Mandates in the United States: 1997-2022.

Objectives. To produce a database of private insurance hearing aid mandates in the United States and quantify the share of privately insured individuals covered by a mandate. Methods. We used health-related policy surveillance methods to create a database of private insurance hearing aid mandates through January 2023. We coded salient features of mandates and combined policy data with American Community Survey and Medicare Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance Component data to estimate the share of privately insured US residents covered by a mandate from 2008 to 2022. Results. A total of 26 states and 1 territory had private insurance hearing aid mandates. We found variability for mandate exceptions, maximum age eligibility, allowable frequency of benefit use, and coverage amounts. Between 2008 and 2022 the proportion of privately insured youths (aged ≤ 18 years) living where there was a private insurance hearing aid mandate increased from 3.4% to 18.7% and the proportion of privately insured adults (19-64 years) increased from 0.3% to 4.6%. Conclusions. Hearing aid mandates cover a small share of US residents. Mandate exceptions in several states limit coverage, particularly for adults. Public Health Implications. A federal mandate would improve hearing aid access. States can also improve access by adopting exception-free mandates with limited utilization management and no age restrictions. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(4):407-414. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307551).

Research Data Management Sustainability: Services, Infrastructure, Accountability, and Planning

abstract: Libraries at academic institutions have been involved in research data management services (RDMS) for more than ten years. Institutions have adapted their service models in response to funder, journal, and federal mandates that have consequently increased RDMS demand. However, institutions that hope to start or grow their services may have difficulty extrapolating from the published literature, as few studies recount RDMS development strategies.

Effects of State-Level Individual Mandate on Veterans’ Access to Health Care in the United States

Following the repeal of the federal individual health insurance mandate, five states and D.C. adopted their own state-level individual mandates to counteract the potential negative consequences of the repeal. This study examines the actual changes in veterans’ enrollments in private and Veterans Affairs (VA) insurance following the 2019 repeal. By analyzing data from 65,297 non-elderly veterans aged 18 to 64 in the U.S. between 2019 and 2021, we found that state-level individual mandates have positive effects on veterans’ enrollments in private and VA insurance, but the effects vary depending on individual income levels. The state-level individual mandate successfully serves as a substitute for the federal mandate. The results imply that veterans in states without individual mandate policies are more likely to worry about health insurance premiums and medical bills, limiting access to health care and potentially worsening health outcomes. Thus, the Veterans Health Administration should endeavor to encourage more state governments to adopt individual mandate policies.

Barriers and strategies to implementing safe routes to school programs within disadvantaged communities: Interviews with state-level representatives

ObjectiveSafe Routes to School (SRTS) programs promote walking, bicycling, and other alternative transportation modes to school for children. These programs have shown increases in active transportation in children and implement programs through non-infrastructure (e.g., education) and infrastructure (e.g., sidewalks) projects. Although SRTS have been shown to be successful in increasing active transportation and promoting healthy lifestyles, many state SRTS representatives have noted many barriers to reaching disadvantaged populations (e.g., low-income, communities of color, individuals with disabilities, non-English speakers, etc.), which may be contributing to the various participation/injury/fatality disparities seen within these populations. Purpose/methodsThis study attempted to qualitatively understand the current barriers, successful strategies, and future resources/tools needed to provide equitable SRTS programming by interviewing state SRTS representatives/coordinators (or similar) (n = 13). Thematic analysis was conducted on interview transcripts, and eight common themes arose. ResultsThemes noted barriers to funding, community involvement, lack of personnel, and lack of proper education/experience/expertise within stakeholders., Common desired resources/tools were increased funding, the hiring of consultants, and a federal SRTS mandate. Strategies to address disparities focused on strategic partnerships, both within the government and with community organizations, providing consulting to communities, and access to funding. ConclusionVarious barriers were seen among state SRTS coordinators when attempting to reach disadvantaged populations. State SRTS coordinators should attempt to implement strategies to increase their capacity to reaching disadvantaged populations, including early contact with disadvantaged communities, hiring consultants for communities, and partnering with other government organizations who attempt to address the needs of disadvantaged students.

Scanners, schedules, and statutes: A tale of trauma, policy, and profit

EMTALA (Emergency Medicine Treatment and Labor Act) is an important federal mandate intended to improve access to emergency medical services for patients regardless of financial means. The act imposes strict guidelines on emergency departments, associated referral specialists, and ancillary services. Radiology departments must comply with all ETMALA requirements to avoid potentially incapacitating penalties to their institutions.

Expand and extend postpartum Medicaid to support maternal and child health.

Most early maternal deaths are preventable, with many occurring within the first year postpartum (we use the terms "maternal" and "mother" broadly to include all individuals who experience pregnancy or postpartum and frame our recognition of need and policy recommendations in gender-neutral terms. To acknowledge limitations inherent in existing policy and the composition of samples in prior research, we use the term "women" when applicable). Black, Hispanic, and Native American individuals are at the most significant risk of pregnancy-related death. They are more commonly covered by Medicaid, highlighting likely contributions of structural racism and consequent social inequities. State-level length and eligibility requirements for postpartum Medicaid vary considerably. Federal policy requires 60 days of Medicaid continuation postpartum, risking healthcare coverage loss during a critical period of heightened morbidity and mortality risk. This policy position paper aims to outline urgent risks to maternal health, detail existing federal and state-level efforts, summarize proposed legislation addressing the issue, and offer policy recommendations for legislative consideration and future study. A team of maternal health researchers and clinicians reviewed and summarized recent research and current policy pertaining to postpartum Medicaid continuation coverage, proposing policy solutions to address this critical issue. Multiple legislative avenues currently exist to support and advance relevant policy to improve and sustain maternal health for those receiving Medicaid during pregnancy, including legislation aligned with the Biden-Harris Maternal Health Blueprint, state-focused options via the American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Public Law 117-2), and recently proposed acts (HR3407, S1542) which were last reintroduced in 2021. Recommendations include (i) reintroducing previously considered legislation requiring states to provide 12 months of continuous postpartum coverage, regardless of pregnancy outcome, and (ii) enacting a revised, permanent federal mandate equalizing Medicaid eligibility across states to ensure consistent access to postpartum healthcare offerings nationwide.