AUCD’s Community Inclusion Team supports the University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) Network in partnership with the Administration for Community Living.
AUCD’s Maternal and Child Health Engagement supports the Autism CARES Programs, including LEND and DBP Programs.
AUCD’s Public Health Team works to create health promotion and public health efforts that include people with disabilities.
AUCD Emerging Leaders are a part of a community that includes trainees, early career professionals, self-advocates, and family members from AUCD member Centers and Programs.
AUCD's Disability Policy News (DPN) is a weekly newsletter highlighting federal policy issues affecting people with disabilities and their families. DPN features updates in plain language and action steps that people can take to educate policymakers. DPN is published every Friday.
As we have written about in previous issues of Disability Policy News, the President’s budget proposes getting rid of University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs). The Administration wants to combine the UCEDDs’ work with other disability programs and assign those responsibilities to the Independent Living Program. It is now up to Congress to decide how much money is given to important programs like UCEDDs.
Action Item: Use AUCD’s new "Speak Up for UCEDDs" toolkit to contact Members of Congress and state elected officials to tell them why UCEDDs are so important for people with disabilities and their families all across the country.
This toolkit includes:
Information and resources that explain why the budget proposal is harmful for people with disabilities
Graphics and captions for social media
Email scripts and talking points for speaking with elected officials and their staff
On Thursday, July 10, Senate appropriators began marking up spending bills for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26). House appropriators are scheduled to start marking up FY26 spending bills on Monday. The House Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) subcommittee has jurisdiction over funding for AUCD Network programs. The LHHS markup is currently scheduled for July 21, but as of this issue of DPN, it is likely in flux and being rescheduled. The LHHS legislation text has not yet been made public.
The Administration wants to get rid of UCEDDs. The Administration wants to combine the work of the UCEDDs with the work of a few other disability programs to make the Independent Living Program do that work. It is now up to Congress to decide how much money is given to important programs like UCEDDs.
Action Item: Use the resources in AUCD’s new “Speak Up for UCEDDs” toolkit to contact Members of Congress and their staff to educate them about the important work UCEDDs do. This toolkit has tools to help you speak up for people with disabilities.
Before Congress can vote on a government spending bill, committees in the House and Senate need to first review the bill. This is a process called a markup. During markup, lawmakers can look over a bill and share suggested changes. The committee then votes on these suggested changes. If the committee agrees on the suggested changes in a vote, the bill with the changes is sent to either the House or Senate for more discussion and voting.
In the Senate, Senate leaders began the markup process for next year’s government spending bills on Thursday, July 10. In the House, lawmakers want to finish their markup process for all spending bills by July 30. The bill that includes funding for AUCD Network programs has its markup planned for Monday, July 21, but it will probably be rescheduled. The bill has not been released to the public yet.
View past issues of Disability Policy News to learn more about AUCD's policy priorities and how you can engage in policy actions.
