Public Benefits

A final achievement in a short but remarkable life was a contribution to improving housing conditions for those with special needs.

When a person with special needs cannot make important financial decisions, the government sends his benefits directly to a third party, known as a representative payee. ...

A proposal to establish a new national long-term care insurance program for those with disabilities is under attack by the insurance industry.

After a successful effort by the 14-year-old brother of a girl with intellectual disabilities to remove the word "retarded" from Maryland law, US Senator Barbara Mikulski has proposed a bill that would do the same thing in all federal programs.

Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mike Johanns (R-NE) recently introduced legislation that would greatly expand affordable housing options under the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 811 program for people with disabilities.

Workers who must pay for the care of a dependent relative, including a child with special needs, so that they can continue to work can get a significant tax benefit under a little-known provision of the Internal Revenue Code, the...

An amendment to health care reform legislation would offer people with special needs greater access to in-home attendant services.

After the Government Accountability Office found numerous instances of abuse and neglect when schools employed restraints and seclusion to "control" children with special needs, legislation was introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate aimed at reducing the use of...

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on February 27, 2007, in a case that will determine whether parents of special needs children must hire a lawyer to sue a school district over their children's special education needs.