OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sHB-6883
AN ACT CONCERNING STUDENTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL
DISABILITIES.
Primary Analyst: DD 4/12/23
Contributing Analyst(s): RDP, ME, CG, BP
Reviewer: SB
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Department of Developmental
Services
GF - Cost Up to $26.5
million
Up to $26.8
million
Education, Dept. GF - Cost See Below See Below
Aging and Disability Services,
Dept.
GF - Cost Up to $7.7
million
Up to $7.7
million
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Cost Up to $4.3
million
Up to $4.5
million
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Local and Regional School
Districts
STATE
MANDATE
2
- Cost
Potential Potential
Explanation
The bill results in costs annually beginning in FY 24 to the State
Department of Education (SDE), Department of Developmental Services
(DDS), Department of Aging and Disability Services (ADS) and local
1
The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts
administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost
associated with most personnel changes is 42.82% of payroll in FY 24.
2
State mandate is defined in Sec. 2-32b(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes, "state
mandate" means any state initiated constitutional, statutory or executive action that
requires a local government to establish, expand or modify its activities in such a way
as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues. 2023HB-06883-R000592-FN.docx Page 2 of 5
and regional school districts. It makes several changes regarding the
provision of services to special education students that are aging out of
the public school system. The impacts associated with these changes are
described below.
Sections 1 and 2 result in an annual costs of approximately $307,000
beginning in FY 24 for SDE to hire at least two staff members for the new
Office of Transition Services (OTS), as required by the bill. It is
anticipated that SDE will need to hire an Associate Education
Consultant and an Education Manager for total annual costs of $215,000
in salaries and $92,000 in fringe benefits.
Section 3 requires SDE to develop, and regional educational service
centers (RESCs) to provide, a training program for transition
coordinators and staff employed by local and regional school districts.
It is anticipated that the staff hired for OTS, as required by the bill,
would develop the training.
Depending on the extent of the training that SDE prescribes, the
RESCs may incur costs to provide it to local and regional school districts
at no cost to the districts. Any cost is anticipated to be minimal,
associated with the purchase of any materials.
Section 4 requires each local and regional board of education to
appoint a transition coordinator and requires the coordinator to provide
transition resources to parents of students receiving special education
services. This has no fiscal impact, as the bill allows for such person to
be an existing employee.
Sections 5 through 9 extend the obligation of local and regional
school districts to provide special education services to students that are
age 22. This conforms statute to existing judicial directive.
Section 10 makes a technical change and has no fiscal impact.
Section 11 requires SDE to establish a competitive grant program to
assist local and regional school districts and RESCs in developing and
providing transition services. The bill does not specify any provisions of 2023HB-06883-R000592-FN.docx Page 3 of 5
the grant award or provide funding.
Section 12 requires the State Education Resource Center to study
each transition program provided by a local and regional school district
and RESC and produce a report by January 1, 2024. SERC could incur
costs of up to $300,000 to hire a consultant to conduct the study.
Section 13 and 14 result in costs annually beginning in FY 24 to local
and regional school districts to (1) provide a translator for a planning
and placement team meeting if needed, and (2) provide translated
materials, if needed. Translation services typically cost between $125-
$175 per hour, with a two-hour minimum. As an illustration, the
Hartford school district typically has over 1,000 planning and placement
team meetings per year. If 25%
3
of those meetings required a translator,
at the required two-hour minimum, the cost to the district would vary
from $62,500 to $87,500 annually.
Section 15 requires the Department of Developmental Services (DDS)
to assist any student whose planning and placement team finds them
potentially eligible for DDS services to find and maintain summer
employment resulting in a potential cost of up to $19.3 million in FY 24
and $19.4 million in FY 25. There are approximately 1,820 students
currently eligible for DDS services who are age 16 to 21. It is not known
how many eligible and potentially eligible students will participate in
the new DDS summer employment services required by the bill. If all
eligible students participate, DDS will need to hire nine transition
advisor positions ($83,000 average salary in FY 24) at a cost of $747,000
in FY 24 and $765,000 in FY 25, plus State Comptroller fringe benefit
costs of $319,865 in FY 24 and $327,573 in FY 25 to staff the program.
Additionally, there could be a per student cost of approximately $10,200
for program supports and transportation. To the extent that DDS
provides these services to the 1,820 eligible students participate, there
would be additional costs of $18.6 million in FY 24 and FY 25.
3
This is the percentage of Hartford's October 1, 2022 ECS student count classified as
English Learners. 2023HB-06883-R000592-FN.docx Page 4 of 5
Section 16 requires DDS and the Bureau of Rehabilitative Services
(BRS) in the Department of Aging and Disability Services to employ
sufficient staff to give students that may be eligible for agency services
case management and benefit counseling.
DDS has identified 3,540 individuals under the age of 22 who are
eligible for DDS services. Currently, about 250 of those have an assigned
case manager resulting in an additional 3,290 individuals requiring DDS
case management under the bill. DDS will need to hire up to 72 Case
Managers and 7 Case Management Supervisors at a cost of $7.2 million
in FY 24 and $7.4 million in FY 25, plus State Comptroller fringe benefit
costs of $3.1 million in FY 24 and $3.2 million in FY 25 to provide the
additional case management.
BRS currently has capacity to support 2,750 students with benefit
counseling. Based on the projected number of students (5,500 to 6,000)
which BRS anticipates engaging with as a result of the bill, the Bureau
could need to double its current capacity. BRS will need to hire up to 22
Vocational Rehabilitation counselors and 3 Vocational Rehabilitation
Supervisors at a cost of $1.6 million in FY 24 and $ 1.7 million in FY 25,
plus fringe benefit costs of $726,000 in FY 24 and $744,000 in FY 25.
Additionally, there could be a per student cost of approximately $2,535
for program supports. To the extent that BRS provides these supports to
2,750 additional students, there would be additional costs of
approximately $7 million in FY 24 and FY 25.
Section 17 requires the Auditors of Public Accounts to study the level
of cooperation between state agencies that provide transition services
resulting in no fiscal impact because the agency has the expertise to meet
the requirements of the bill.
Sections 18 and 19 result in annual costs of approximately $307,000
annually beginning in FY 24 for SDE to hire at least two staff members
for the Office of Mediation Services. It is anticipated that SDE will need
to hire an Associate Education Consultant and an Education Manager
for a total annual cost of $215,000 in salaries and $92,000 in fringe
benefits. 2023HB-06883-R000592-FN.docx Page 5 of 5
Section 20 makes procedural changes to the hearing and mediation
processes and requires SDE to publish information about mediation on
its Web site. This results in no fiscal impact as it is anticipated SDE has
the resources to fulfill this requirement.
Section 21 requires SDE to annually conduct audits beginning in FY
24 of special education programs in randomly selected school districts.
This has no fiscal impact, as it is anticipated that SDE has the resources
to complete the requirement.
Section 22 expands training that must be offered by local and
regional school districts to its educator staff to include laws regarding
PPTs and Section 504 plans. This has no fiscal impact as it is anticipated
that districts can complete this requirement with existing resources.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.