Does Your Child Have A 504 Plan? 17 States Are Trying To Eliminate It

Parents of children with disabilities may be familiar with “a 504” as a plan made with their child’s school to accommodate their child’s health and learning. For example, a child with ADHD/ADD may be given movement breaks to help them focus, or extra time on a test. Children with allergies can rest easier knowing that their teacher has been instructed on how to identify and emergently treat an allergic reaction.

But these accommodations, and many beyond schools, are being threatened by Texas v. Becerra, a lawsuit brought by 17 states that seeks to eliminate this 52-year-old law.

What is Section 504?

Section 504 (US Code 29, subsection 794) is a portion of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that states that “no otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section ... shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance or under any program or activity” that receives federal funding or grants.

Effectively, this ensures access to accommodations that enable access to learning, activities, and physical spaces. This can also take the form of maintaining health — physical and mental — while engaging in these activities and spaces.

There are many disabilities protected by Section 504, from anxiety to diabetes, cancer to visual impairments. Eligible disabilities are routinely added as Section 504 is reevaluated.

Section 504 serves more than a million students a year

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 1.6 million students with disabilities were served under Section 504. Accommodations ensured by section 504 are wide-reaching and can include anything from medical resources to occupational therapy.

A 504 accommodation is different from an Individualized Education Program(IEP), which provides specialized instruction to approximately 6.8 million children supported by an IEP via the IDEA Act, which ensures a free appropriate public education to children and young people with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21.

IDEA is also under potential threat as it is enforced by the Department of Education, which the Trump administration seeks to eliminate.

But Section 504 is not just for students

While 504 may be most familiar to parents via public schools, any institution that benefits from federal funds must accommodate disabilities deemed eligible by Section 504.

For example, if a doctor receives funds from Medicaid or Medicare, they cannot stop seeing a patient because the patient has a disability. If a college receives federal grants, they must have buildings accessible to students, staff, and faculty who use wheelchairs.

In short, Section 504 is a far-reaching law, and has been in place for so long that many people may not realize all the ways it affects their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

What states are involved in the lawsuit?

Currently, Texas v. Becerra has 17 co-plaintiffs: the states of Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.

If the suit is successful, however, all states would be affected.

What does Texas v. Becerra argue?

The lawsuit takes issue with an update made to Section 504 in May 2024, including the inclusion of gender dysphoria in its list of eligible disabilities which the suit refers to as “the Final Rule.”

But while it does highlight “the Final Rule” in its suit, urging the courts to deem it unlawful (among other things); it doesn’t seek only to strike down particular items within Section 504. The suit argues that Section 504 itself is unconstitutional. In so doing, critical protections, accommodations, services, and accessibility could be denied to millions of Americans.

What can we do to protect Section 504?

The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) urges those who want to protect Section 504 to contact your state Attorney General, especially if you live in one of the 17 states involved in the suit.

If you live in one of the plaintiff states, ask your state Attorney General to drop out of the case. This can be done by letter, email, on the phone, or even in person. DREDF notes that in-person as a member of a group can be particularly powerful. But if you can’t get to your state capital, the organization offers examples of what to include in an effective letter on their website.

If you live in one of the 33 states not involved in the lawsuit, you can still make your voice heard. By February 25, the plaintiffs and the federal government will submit legal briefs stating their positions on the issue. But other states and organizations, like disability advocacy organizations will be able to file amicus briefs, legal documents that assert the potential ramifications of the case on their interests. So you can still urge your state’s attorney general to speak up in support of Section 504.

Society, left to its own devices, is historically not built for disabled people. Not only does this hurt disabled people, but it denies society as a whole the full and vibrant participation of disabled in our society. Everyone loses. Section 504 is a vital law to make our society more accessible, and one none of us can afford to lose.