On June 16, the U.S. Department of Education announced it was handing day-to-day management of federal special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services — and moving disability-related civil rights enforcement to the Department of Justice. If you lead special education in a district, here's the paradox you're now living with: the agencies watching you just got reshuffled, but not one of your legal obligations changed.
That second half is the part worth building your fall around.
The mechanics, briefly. Under interagency agreements announced June 16, HHS takes over formula and discretionary grant components of IDEA Parts B, C, and D, will conduct enforcement, compliance, and monitoring activities with guidance from OSERS, and will manage the annual state IDEA performance determinations. The Education Department retains statutory responsibility and will still run the fiscal year 2026 grants; HHS handles future allocations. The department now has 14 interagency agreements with six other federal agencies as the administration works to wind it down.
The reaction has been loud and split. Disability groups like The Arc warn the move pushes students toward a medical model of disability — diagnosis to manage rather than learner to teach — while supporters argue HHS already runs most disability-related family services and consolidation could reduce the maze. A , and former federal special education officials have publicly opposed the agreement. This will stay unsettled for months.