The Texas Tribune

Texas lawmakers this year added $100 million to a scholarship fund to help families across the state pay for early child care, an extraordinary investment that may ease a waitlist to help thousands of children. However, advocates say legislators fell short in creating more opportunities for the state’s youngest living with disabilities. “Most families with children with disabilities are really struggling in one area, if not multiple,” said Bethany Edwards, director for research and evaluation at the Center for Transforming Lives, a North Texas nonprofit that helps single mothers. Edwards is also a parent of a child with disabilities. “And there’s a lot that can happen from a policy standpoint to change these systems, but change seems to happen very slowly,” she said. Expanding the state’s public preschool programs to children with disabilities and incentives for more and better training for child care workers were among the proposals that fell short this year. Texas lawmakers ended the legislative session on June 2.