Let's not let decades of disability progress be erased

Let's not let decades of disability progress be erased

Opinion by Amy Hewitt

Originally published July 16, 2025, in the Duluth News Tribune (https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/columns/statewide-view-lets-not-let-decades-of-disability-progress-be-erased )

My brother-in-law Nathan lives on his own, has held many jobs, and is a valued member of his community. But that almost wasn't the case. Nathan lives with autism, an intellectual disability, and mental health challenges. When he was young, he was shuffled through segregated classrooms before eventually being expelled.

Only through the intervention of state support organizations — which staffed, recruited, and trained professionals who worked with him directly — was Nathan able to go from being thrown out of school to earning a GED and living an independent, happy, and productive life.

Nathan’s story reflects the progress made possible by a federal commitment to inclusion. In 1967, nearly 195,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities lived in large, state-run institutions; today, that number is closer to 15,000. This dramatic shift didn’t happen by accident; it was the result of coordinated efforts by a national network established under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (the DD Act), which supports state developmental disabilities councils, protection and advocacy systems, and university centers for excellence in developmental disabilities like the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota.

Now, that network is under threat.

The recently signed federal budget eliminates direct funding for university centers like the Institute on Community Integration, a national leader in disability research, training, and information-sharing. This decision could effectively dismantle a critical infrastructure that supports research, training, innovation, and workforce development in disability services. This isn’t fiscal belt-tightening; it’s pulling the foundation out from under a structure that has taken decades of bipartisan effort to build.

Unlike direct service providers, university centers don’t offer day-to-day care. We build the systems that make quality support and community inclusion possible. Our work informs policy, improves education and employment outcomes, tracks key data trends, and prepares the workforce that individuals with disabilities rely on to live full, self-directed lives.

The Institute on Community Integration has led or helped launch some of the most widely used and effective tools in the field, including the College of Direct Support, used by millions of frontline workers, and the Residential Information Systems Project, which has provided 40 years of national data on where and how people with intellectual and developmental disabilities live.

These programs don’t make headlines, but they quietly and powerfully shape lives, not just in Minnesota but nationwide. They’re also a smart investment. For every $1 in core federal funding, our center returns $33 in grants, contracts, and partnerships that reduce reliance on institutional care and improve long-term outcomes.

Eliminating this funding risks unraveling that progress. Block-granting the funds to states, as the budget proposes, is not a substitute. History shows this approach leads to fragmentation, less oversight, and fewer resources reaching those who need them most.

All of this is happening just as demand is rising. People with disabilities are living longer, often with complex support needs. At the same time, the direct-support workforce is in crisis, with chronic shortages and high turnover threatening the stability of home- and community-based services. Slashing the very infrastructure that trains workers, develops evidence-based practices, and informs public policy is shortsighted and dangerous.

Programs like ours have long enjoyed strong bipartisan support because they work. They are cost-effective, rooted in community, and results-driven. They prepare professionals, empower families, support self-advocates, and help shape the policies that keep people with disabilities out of institutions and living with dignity in their communities.

We must act before this progress is undone. Without continued federal support, the systems that empower people with disabilities to live, learn, and thrive in their communities are at serious risk.

Call, visit, or write your members of Congress . Tell them to restore funding for University Centers on Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs), such as the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota. This isn’t just about funding; it’s about our values. It’s about continuing to build a country where every person has the opportunity to live a full life.

Minnesota has been a leader in disability rights and services for generations. Let’s remind Congress this network is worth saving. When we invest in inclusion, Nathan and many others become part of their communities — and we all move forward together.

Amy Hewitt, Ph.D. is director of the Institute on Community Integration (ici.umn.edu) at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. She wrote this exclusively for the News Tribune.