Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73
§15024 State plan
Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 144— - DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES ASSISTANCE AND BILL OF RIGHTS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - PROGRAMS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES › Part Part B— - Federal Assistance to State Councils on Developmental Disabilities › § 15024
Summary
States that want federal help must send a 5-year strategic plan to the Secretary and get it approved. The plan must set up and describe a State Council on developmental disabilities (the Council) and name the State agency that will support the Council (the designated State agency). The plan must be kept up to date as needed. It must include a full review of what services and supports exist now, where needs are not being met, and how other federal and State programs (like health care, job programs, social services, and others) serve people with developmental disabilities. That review must cover how agencies work together, how easy it is for people to use community services, barriers and waiting lists, access to assistive technology, whether resources are enough, and the quality of care in facilities and home- and community-based waiver programs. If the State has independent reviews of Intermediate Care Facilities (Mental Retardation), the State must give those reviews to the Council within 30 days after they are available. The plan must set five-year goals for advocacy, building capacity, and making systemic changes based on the unmet needs found in the review. Each grant year the plan must list yearly goals, strategies, and how progress will be measured. Every year must include goals to fund a self-advocacy group run by people with developmental disabilities, to train leaders with disabilities to train others, and to expand diverse, cross-disability leadership. The plan must include many assurances about how money will be used: at least 70% of funds must go to the stated goals; funds must supplement, not replace, other funding; funds must reach different parts of the State and be shared with public or private groups; at the State’s request some funds may pay up to one-half (or all, if the Council is the designated agency) of necessary costs for the designated agency but not more than 5 percent of funds or $50,000; and no more than 20 percent may go to the designated agency for Council-approved service demonstrations. The plan must promise reasonable State financial participation, avoid conflicts of interest, help programs in poor urban and rural areas, meet accessibility and other federal standards, provide individualized services, protect human rights, reflect geographic and racial diversity, protect employees affected by service changes, keep Council staff focused only on Council duties, and let the Council help shape and monitor State quality systems. The plan must be made available for public review with accessible notice, be revised for significant comments, be checked with the designated State agency for legal consistency, and will be approved by the Secretary if it meets these rules. The Secretary may disapprove a plan after giving notice and a chance for a hearing.
Full Legal Text
Title 42, §15024
The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Any State desiring to receive assistance under this part shall submit to the Secretary, and obtain approval of, a 5-year strategic State plan under this section.
(b)The plan described in subsection (a) shall be updated as appropriate during the 5-year period.
(c)In order to be approved by the Secretary under this section, a State plan shall meet each of the following requirements:
(1)The plan shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a Council in accordance with section 15025 of this title and describe the membership of such Council.
(2)The plan shall identify the agency or office within the State designated to support the Council in accordance with this section and section 15025(d) of this title (referred to in this part as a “designated State agency”).
(3)The plan shall describe the results of a comprehensive review and analysis of the extent to which services, supports, and other assistance are available to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, and the extent of unmet needs for services, supports, and other assistance for those individuals and their families, in the State. The results of the comprehensive review and analysis shall include—
(A)a description of the services, supports, and other assistance being provided to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families under other federally assisted State programs, plans, and policies under which the State operates and in which individuals with developmental disabilities are or may be eligible to participate, including particularly programs relating to the areas of emphasis, including—
(i)medical assistance, maternal and child health care, services for children with special health care needs, children’s mental health services, comprehensive health and mental health services, and institutional care options;
(ii)job training, job placement, worksite accommodation, and vocational rehabilitation, and other work assistance programs; and
(iii)social, child welfare, aging, independent living, and rehabilitation and assistive technology services, and such other services as the Secretary may specify;
(B)a description of the extent to which agencies operating such other federally assisted State programs, including activities authorized under section 3003 or 3004 of title 29, pursue interagency initiatives to improve and enhance community services, individualized supports, and other forms of assistance for individuals with developmental disabilities;
(C)an analysis of the extent to which community services and opportunities related to the areas of emphasis directly benefit individuals with developmental disabilities, especially with regard to their ability to access and use services provided in their communities, to participate in opportunities, activities, and events offered in their communities, and to contribute to community life, identifying particularly—
(i)the degree of support for individuals with developmental disabilities that are attributable to either physical impairment, mental impairment, or a combination of physical and mental impairments;
(ii)criteria for eligibility for services, including specialized services and special adaptation of generic services provided by agencies within the State, that may exclude individuals with developmental disabilities from receiving services described in this clause;
(iii)the barriers that impede full participation of members of unserved and underserved groups of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families;
(iv)the availability of assistive technology, assistive technology services, or rehabilitation technology, or information about assistive technology, assistive technology services, or rehabilitation technology to individuals with developmental disabilities;
(v)the numbers of individuals with developmental disabilities on waiting lists for services described in this subparagraph;
(vi)a description of the adequacy of current resources and projected availability of future resources to fund services described in this subparagraph;
(vii)a description of the adequacy of health care and other services, supports, and assistance that individuals with developmental disabilities who are in facilities receive (based in part on each independent review (pursuant to section 1396a(a)(30)(C) of this title) of an Intermediate Care Facility (Mental Retardation) within the State, which the State shall provide to the Council not later than 30 days after the availability of the review); and
(viii)to the extent that information is available, a description of the adequacy of health care and other services, supports, and assistance that individuals with developmental disabilities who are served through home and community-based waivers (authorized under section 1396n(c) of this title) receive;
(D)a description of how entities funded under parts C and D, through interagency agreements or other mechanisms, collaborated with the entity funded under this part in the State, each other, and other entities to contribute to the achievement of the purpose of this part; and
(E)the rationale for the goals related to advocacy, capacity building, and systemic change to be undertaken by the Council to contribute to the achievement of the purpose of this part.
(4)The plan shall focus on Council efforts to bring about the purpose of this part, by—
(A)specifying 5-year goals, as developed through data driven strategic planning, for advocacy, capacity building, and systemic change related to the areas of emphasis, to be undertaken by the Council, that—
(i)are derived from the unmet needs of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families identified under paragraph (3); and
(ii)include a goal, for each year of the grant, to—
(I)establish or strengthen a program for the direct funding of a State self-advocacy organization led by individuals with developmental disabilities;
(II)support opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities who are considered leaders to provide leadership training to individuals with developmental disabilities who may become leaders; and
(III)support and expand participation of individuals with developmental disabilities in cross-disability and culturally diverse leadership coalitions; and
(B)for each year of the grant, describing—
(i)the goals to be achieved through the grant, which, beginning in fiscal year 2002, shall be consistent with applicable indicators of progress described in section 15004(a)(3) of this title;
(ii)the strategies to be used in achieving each goal; and
(iii)the method to be used to determine if each goal has been achieved.
(5)(A)The plan shall contain or be supported by assurances and information described in subparagraphs (B) through (N) that are satisfactory to the Secretary.
(B)With respect to the funds paid to the State under section 15022 of this title, the plan shall provide assurances that—
(i)not less than 70 percent of such funds will be expended for activities related to the goals described in paragraph (4);
(ii)such funds will contribute to the achievement of the purpose of this part in various political subdivisions of the State;
(iii)such funds will be used to supplement, and not supplant, the non-Federal funds that would otherwise be made available for the purposes for which the funds paid under section 15022 of this title are provided;
(iv)such funds will be used to complement and augment rather than duplicate or replace services for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families who are eligible for Federal assistance under other State programs;
(v)part of such funds will be made available by the State to public or private entities;
(vi)at the request of any State, a portion of such funds provided to such State under this part for any fiscal year shall be available to pay up to ½ (or the entire amount if the Council is the designated State agency) of the expenditures found to be necessary by the Secretary for the proper and efficient exercise of the functions of the designated State agency, except that not more than 5 percent of such funds provided to such State for any fiscal year, or $50,000, whichever is less, shall be made available for total expenditures for such purpose by the designated State agency; and
(vii)not more than 20 percent of such funds will be allocated to the designated State agency for service demonstrations by such agency that—
(I)contribute to the achievement of the purpose of this part; and
(II)are explicitly authorized by the Council.
(C)The plan shall provide assurances that there will be reasonable State financial participation in the cost of carrying out the plan.
(D)The plan shall provide an assurance that no member of such Council will cast a vote on any matter that would provide direct financial benefit to the member or otherwise give the appearance of a conflict of interest.
(E)The plan shall provide assurances that special financial and technical assistance will be given to organizations that provide community services, individualized supports, and other forms of assistance to individuals with developmental disabilities who live in areas designated as urban or rural poverty areas.
(F)The plan shall provide assurances that programs, projects, and activities funded under the plan, and the buildings in which such programs, projects, and activities are operated, will meet standards prescribed by the Secretary in regulations and all applicable Federal and State accessibility standards, including accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), section 794d of title 29, and the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.).
(G)The plan shall provide assurances that any direct services provided to individuals with developmental disabilities and funded under the plan will be provided in an individualized manner, consistent with the unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, and capabilities of such individual.
(H)The plan shall provide assurances that the human rights of the individuals with developmental disabilities (especially individuals without familial protection) who are receiving services under programs assisted under this part will be protected consistent with section 15009 of this title (relating to rights of individuals with developmental disabilities).
(I)The plan shall provide assurances that the State has taken affirmative steps to assure that participation in programs funded under this part is geographically representative of the State, and reflects the diversity of the State with respect to race and ethnicity.
(J)The plan shall provide assurances that fair and equitable arrangements (as determined by the Secretary after consultation with the Secretary of Labor) will be provided to protect the interests of employees affected by actions taken under the plan to provide community living activities, including arrangements designed to preserve employee rights and benefits and provide training and retraining of such employees where necessary, and arrangements under which maximum efforts will be made to guarantee the employment of such employees.
(K)The plan shall provide assurances that the staff and other personnel of the Council, while working for the Council, will be responsible solely for assisting the Council in carrying out the duties of the Council under this part and will not be assigned duties by the designated State agency, or any other agency, office, or entity of the State.
(L)The plan shall provide assurances that the designated State agency, and any other agency, office, or entity of the State, will not interfere with the advocacy, capacity building, and systemic change activities, budget, personnel, State plan development, or plan implementation of the Council, except that the designated State agency shall have the authority necessary to carry out the responsibilities described in section 15025(d)(3) of this title.
(M)The plan shall provide assurances that the Council will participate in the planning, design or redesign, and monitoring of State quality assurance systems that affect individuals with developmental disabilities.
(N)The plan shall contain such additional information and assurances as the Secretary may find necessary to carry out the provisions (including the purpose) of this part.
(d)(1)The plan shall be based on public input. The Council shall make the plan available for public review and comment, after providing appropriate and sufficient notice in accessible formats of the opportunity for such review and comment. The Council shall revise the plan to take into account and respond to significant comments.
(2)Before the plan is submitted to the Secretary, the Council shall consult with the designated State agency to ensure that the State plan is consistent with State law and to obtain appropriate State plan assurances.
(3)The Secretary shall approve any State plan and, as appropriate, amendments of such plan that comply with the provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (c) and this subsection. The Secretary may take final action to disapprove a State plan after providing reasonable notice and an opportunity for a hearing to the State.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, referred to in subsec. (c)(5)(F), is Pub. L. 101–336, July 26, 1990, 104 Stat. 327, which is classified principally to chapter 126 (§ 12101 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Short Title
note set out under section 12101 of this title and Tables. The Fair Housing Act, referred to in subsec. (c)(5)(F), is title VIII of Pub. L. 90–284, Apr. 11, 1968, 82 Stat. 81, which is classified principally to subchapter I (§ 3601 et seq.) of chapter 45 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Short Title
note set out under section 3601 of this title and Tables.
Amendments
2004—Subsec. (c)(3)(B). Pub. L. 108–364 substituted “section 3003 or 3004 of title 29” for “section 3011 or 3012 of title 29”.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
42 U.S.C. § 15024
Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73