KFF Health News

In August, a federal judge in Montana approved a settlement between the state’s education agency and disability rights advocates that will enable eligible Montana students to continue receiving special education services through age 22. Despite existing legal precedent and recent attempts at a legislative fix, Montana remained one of the last states where local school districts could disenroll students with special needs after age 18. Now students are guaranteed an additional four years of public school eligibility and, by extension, access to school-based services that have helped recent graduates like Jette move toward independence.