PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon lawmakers and an organization in Central Oregon are sounding the alarm after the U.S. Department of Education canceled a grant that was serving rural Oregon families raising children with disabilities.

Since 2004, the Central Oregon Disability Support Network has helped families in rural counties — including Deschutes, Crook, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake and Wheeler counties — providing peer-support services and helping families navigate disability services in parts of the state where these resources are scarce.

But after the Education Department recently canceled the funding — CODSN is warning that more than 4,000 Oregon families will be impacted by the cut.

“The Central Oregon Disability Support Network (CODSN) is heartbroken by the loss of federal funding that supports vital special education supports and services for more than 4,000 families across rural Oregon,” CODSN Executive Director Dianna Hansen told KOIN 6 News.

“While this decision threatens critical programs that help children with disabilities thrive, we are deeply grateful for the incredible outpouring of support from our elected officials, community partners, and the families we serve,” Hansen added. “Their voices remind us of the impact and importance of these services, and we remain committed to fighting for the resources our rural communities need and deserve.”

The funding stems from the Education Department’s Community Parent Resource Center grant, which CODSN applied for in April 2021.

According to Hansen, the grant provided funding for five years, with recurring competitive grants.

In a letter dated August 27, the Education Department notified CODSN that it was terminating the last year of grant funding, which totaled $150,000 for the organization, Hansen said.

In the letter, the U.S. Department of Education said “The Department has undertaken a review of grants and determined that the grant…provides funding for programs that reflect the prior administration’s priorities and policy preferences and conflict with those of the current Administration, in that the programs: violate the letter or purpose of Federal civil rights law; conflict with the Department’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education; undermine the well-being of the students these programs are intended to help; or constitute an inappropriate use of federal funds. The grant is therefore inconsistent with, and no longer effectuates, the best interest of the Federal Government and will not be continued.”

The department noted that CODSN’s grant application referenced a two-year professional development initiative among the organization’s staff and board related to diversity, equity and inclusion, which does not align with the Trump administration’s priorities.

In response, CODSN sent a letter to the Education Department on September 11 appealing the decision to cancel the grant.

In the letter, CODSN explained that its work aligns with the Education Department’s requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Act, which calls for services to “underserved parents of children with disabilities, including low income parents, parents of limited English proficient children, and parents with disabilities,” as well as for “families who experience significant isolation from available sources of information and support.” 

In the appeal, Hansen added that the two-year DEI initiative was completed before the grant’s performance period and “did not focus on race, sex, or gender DEI issues.”

Instead, the topics in the program included how to effectively serve rural families living below the federal poverty line, grandparents raising grandchildren often due to the drug addiction epidemic in rural areas and parents with disabilities raising children.

“The ongoing professional development related to diversity, equity and inclusion referenced in our application refers to disability as a form of diversity. CODSN has always understood disability to be a form of human diversity and as such, we feel it is important to ensure our board and staff are trained to understand and apply best practices around disability issues,” Hansen wrote to the department, adding, “The trainings referenced were not political and were unrelated to typical federal DEI discussions.”

As of September 15, CODSN told KOIN 6 News that the organization has not received a response to its appeal.

Meanwhile, some Oregon lawmakers are urging the Education Department to release the funding.

“Terminating this grant fundamentally undercuts that mission and leaves thousands of rural families, who are already too often overlooked, without a lifeline they have come to trust and depend on to ensure their children’s success,” wrote Democratic Congresswoman Janelle Bynum (OR-05) in a letter joined by Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley.

“Accordingly, we urge the Department to immediately reinstate the Community Parent Resource Center grant funding for CODSN,” the lawmakers continued, “At a time when rural communities in Oregon and across the nation face growing challenges, we ask that you restore the vital support they desperately need and rightfully deserve.”

In a press release from Bynum’s office, CODSN Executive Director Hansen noted that the lost funding, “means families already facing poverty, isolation, and complex disabilities will lose the peer-led support helping their children graduate, pursue higher education, and live independently. Without these services, families will face overwhelming barriers and greater dependence on costly state and federal systems.”

In a statement to KOIN 6 News on Monday, ED Press Secretary Savannah Newhouse said, “The Trump Administration is no longer allowing taxpayer dollars to go out the door on autopilot – we are evaluating every federal grant to ensure they are in line with the Administration’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education. The Department re-awarded over 500 IDEA Part D grants and non-continued fewer than 35 grants that do not align with the Administration’s priorities. Many of these use overt race preferences or perpetuate divisive concepts and stereotypes, which no student should be exposed to. The non-continued grant funds are not being cut; they are being re-invested immediately into high quality programs that better serve special needs students.”