Blogs :: One Big Change to the SPED Texas Education Code (2025)
In the 89th Texas Legislative Session (2025), the Handley family, working with The Arc of Texas and House and Senate legislators, saw the idea they had go from thought to bill to law.
House Bill 1188, known as The Caytlin Handley Act, requires Texas schools to provide information to parents and guardians of Special Education students about Local Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authorities (LIDDAs) and public benefits, including Medicaid Waiver Programs. This information must be given at the first Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) meeting after a student is diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability and qualifies for Special Education services.
Previously, schools provided this information at the Adult Transition Planning meeting when a student was 14 years old. HB 1188 allows families to receive information and support from the LIDDAs much sooner as well as give them the ability to add their child’s name to the Medicaid Waiver Interest Lists much sooner.
HB 1188 is named after Caytlin Handley, a young adult who spent 17 years on the Interest Lists before finally receiving services in 2025. Her parents, Boyd and Carey Handley, approached The Arc of Texas in 2022 with the idea that this information should be given to families much sooner. Their idea became House Bill 1188 in 2025. The bill was first introduced in 2022 with a higher bill number and while it passed the Texas House, it stalled in the Texas Senate as the session ended before the bill could be heard in the Senate.
Due to intense advocacy efforts in 2025 by The Handley family along with Primary Bill Author Rep. Christian Manuel, and The Arc of Texas with the support of bipartisan legislators in the House and Senate, and the legislative expertise of Senate sponsor Dean Senator Judith Zaffirini, HB 1188 was signed into law by the governor in May 2025.
Here are resource links from TEA:
Texas SPED Support Website: https://spedsupport.tea.texas.gov/
TEA's Special Education Back to School Update: https://tea.texas.gov/academics/special-student-populations/special-education/back-to-school-updates-2025.pdf
Connecting to Community Supports: https://spedsupport.tea.texas.gov/resource-library/connecting-community-supports
Full text of HB 1188, The Caytlin Handley Act: https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/HB01188F.htm
Parents and guardians who have questions about the new law and access to the Local Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authority in their county plus Medicaid Waiver programs should contact their district’s Special Education department.