Deadline for help is approaching

To the editor:

Indiana is fast approaching a critical deadline that affects Hoosier children with intellectual disabilities.

More than 180,000 Hoosier students have learning needs that require greater care to meet their abilities, and nothing is more important than ensuring the education of a child. As a proud school-choice parent, my wife and I were lucky to have options available for all of our children that met each of their learning needs.

But finding the correct educational choices can be intimidating, and parents can feel lost getting their children the services and support they need to receive a well-rounded learning experience.

The Indiana Education Scholarship Account is intended to help parents readily access the educational environment that best meets their student’s learning needs.

But the deadline to apply for these funds is Sept. 1, 2023 — just days away.

INESA allows parents to customize education for their children with disabilities who are receiving non-public education — such as private education, at-home learning, and other hybrid educational settings.

Parents can receive up to $19,000 in scholarship funding for their child.

Parents of eligible students, or emancipated eligible students, can spend this scholarship money on pre-approved educational programs, therapies, services, and other expenses related to their child’s education.

There are more than 300 providers throughout the state where INESA funds can be applied, including private-school tuition, educational services such as tutoring, camps, social/life skill programs, Applied Behavior Analysis therapy and speech/language, to name a few.

To qualify, students must be five years of age or older, in a K-12 grade level, and be less than 22 years of age by Oct. 1 of the school year they’re currently participating in — and the student must have a disability requiring special education services and at or below the income qualification. For a family of four, that income qualification limit is $222,000.

Time is running out to apply for the 2023/2024 school year with the Sept. 1 application deadline. To date, $3.86 million has been allocated to 333 students. There are still available funds for parents needing this support to ensure a quality education for their child.

Applying takes less than 10 minutes, and most applications are reviewed the same day. To learn more about the INESA and how to apply, parents should visit in.gov/tos/inesa.

About $10 million of funding and support are available – and we want to see every Hoosier student with disabilities in Indiana receive a quality education.

Sincerely,

Daniel M. Elliott

Indiana Treasurer of State