A man with disabilities stands indoors at a busy event space holding a sign that reads “I’M VOTING BECAUSE… it’s my voice!” The sign has The Arc logo in the top left and the hashtag #REVUP in the bottom right.

Fifth Circuit Ruling Puts Texas SB 1 Voting Barriers Back in Place for Voters With Disabilities

/in /by The Arc

The Arc of the United States and The Arc of Texas respond to a federal appeals court ruling that puts barriers to mail-in voting and voter assistance back in place for millions of Texans with disabilities.

On August 12, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dealt a major setback to voting rights for Texans with disabilities, reversing a lower court decision that had found several provisions of Texas Senate Bill 1 (S.B. 1) violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

The ruling means that barriers to mail-in voting and voter assistance will be in place for the November 2026 midterm elections, including burdensome identification requirements and restrictions affecting people who assist voters with disabilities. More than three million eligible Texas voters have a disability. For Texans with disabilities who rely on mail-in voting or voting assistance, this decision means greater obstacles to casting a ballot this November.

The Arc of the United States and The Arc of Texas have been involved in the legal challenge to S.B. 1 since the law was enacted in 2021. We brought the experiences of voters with disabilities and the people who assist them into court, documenting how voting restrictions can affect people’s ability to cast a ballot privately, independently, and with the assistance they need.

What Does the Fifth Circuit Ruling Mean for Voters With Disabilities?

The ruling means Texas voters with disabilities again face two major barriers challenged by The Arc and its legal partners: an identification-matching system for voting by mail and restrictions on people who provide voting assistance.

To vote by mail, a voter must provide an identification or Social Security number that matches the number in the state’s voter registration records. Voters with disabilities testified about rejected mail-ballot applications, difficulty completing the identification requirement, and inaccessible systems for correcting ballot problems.

S.B. 1 also requires people assisting voters to take an oath and imposes restrictions on the assistance they can provide. Members of The Arc of Texas testified that the threat of criminal consequences made some assistors reluctant to help, leaving voters with disabilities to choose between voting with less assistance than they needed or potentially not voting at all.

The lower court had blocked these provisions under the ADA and Section 504. The Fifth Circuit rejected most of the claims on standing grounds and one on the merits, rather than concluding that the barriers voters described never occurred.

Read the stories of Texas voters with disabilities who testified about the impact of S.B. 1.

“This decision is a huge setback for Texans with disabilities, making it harder for them to vote on issues that impact their daily lives,” said Shira Wakschlag, Senior Executive Officer of Legal Advocacy and General Counsel at The Arc of the United States. “Ample evidence was presented in the trial from The Arc’s members—voters with disabilities and their assistors—that S.B. 1 blocked their voices and stripped them of their fundamental right to participate in our democracy. Even when voters with disabilities managed to cast a ballot, they faced significant barriers that violate federal law. The Arc will continue to fight in every legal avenue to ensure that voters with disabilities have equal access to the ballot box, free from unnecessary hardship.”

“The Arc of Texas is disappointed by the Fifth Circuit ruling in our challenge to Texas voting restrictions that create barriers for voters with disabilities,” said Sabrina Gonzalez Saucedo, Director of Public Policy & Advocacy at The Arc of Texas. “This decision is a setback for Texans with disabilities and for ensuring they have equal access to the democratic process. We remain proud of the work done by our legal partners and advocates to challenge these barriers and stand alongside Texans with disabilities. We will continue to fight for a Texas where every voter can participate safely, independently, and without discrimination or unnecessary barriers.”

The Arc of the United States and The Arc of Texas worked on the S.B. 1 case alongside legal and civil rights partners including the Legal Defense Fund, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and ArentFox Schiff. The ACLU Voting Rights Project, which challenged the law in companion litigation, also condemned the Fifth Circuit ruling.

Read the full joint press release from the Legal Defense Fund.

How Has Texas S.B. 1 Affected Voters With Disabilities?

Since S.B. 1 took effect, Texans with disabilities have testified about rejected mail-ballot applications, inaccessible systems for correcting ballot problems, and difficulty getting the assistance they need to vote. For some voters, those barriers have meant trying to vote without needed assistance, attempting to vote in person instead, or risking being unable to vote at all.

In 2021, just after S.B. 1 was passed, the Legal Defense Fund, The Arc of the United States, Reed Smith, and, later, ArentFox Schiff filed a lawsuit on behalf of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Houston Area Urban League, The Arc of Texas, and an individual election judge challenging multiple provisions of the law.

Our challenge focused on two sets of restrictions with direct consequences for voters with disabilities: identification requirements for voting by mail and restrictions on voting assistance. Other plaintiffs challenged additional provisions of S.B. 1, including restrictions affecting early voting, drive-thru voting, mail-ballot drop-off locations, distribution of mail-ballot applications, and poll watchers.

In March 2025, a federal district court found that provisions of S.B. 1 violated the ADA and Section 504 and blocked their enforcement. The August 12, 2026 Fifth Circuit ruling reversed that decision.

Learn more about The Arc of the United States’ involvement in the Texas S.B. 1 case and our work to protect voting rights for people with disabilities.

The right to vote includes the right to access the voting process without discrimination. The Arc will continue pursuing every available legal avenue to protect equal voting access for people with disabilities in Texas and across the country.

About The Arc of the United States

The Arc of the United States is the nation’s largest community-based organization advocating for and with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. With a network of chapters across the country, The Arc works to protect disability rights and advance full inclusion throughout community life.

A little boy wearing a pink shirt and sandals sitting on a wooden walkway

HHS Head Start Rollback Threatens Disability Inclusion and Protections

/in /by Jackie Dilworth

Updated August 17, 2026

The Arc is opposing proposed changes to Head Start standards that could weaken inclusion and support for children with disabilities and their families.

For generations, Head Start has helped families access early learning, developmental supports, health services, and other resources during some of the most important years of a child’s life. For children with disabilities, Head Start has played an especially important role. Its federal performance standards help turn the promise of inclusion into everyday practice by setting expectations for how programs identify developmental concerns, connect children to services, support families, and include children with disabilities in the full Head Start experience.

Now, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is proposing sweeping changes to those standards. The proposed rule, Reducing Federal Burden for Head Start Programs, would eliminate or scale back many detailed federal requirements and give states and local programs more discretion over how Head Start services are delivered.

Head Start’s performance standards give programs specific responsibilities for supporting children with disabilities and give families expectations about what Head Start should provide. Without them, more could depend on what a local program knows about disability, what resources it has, and how successfully a family can navigate complicated education and disability systems.

How Could the Head Start Changes Affect Children With Disabilities?

The proposed changes would remove several federal requirements that help children with disabilities participate in and benefit from Head Start.

Programs would no longer be required to:

  • Provide developmental assessments to every child.
  • Make accommodations so children with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of the Head Start program.
  • Follow the current directive that children can’t be turned away because of a disability or chronic health condition.
  • Follow federal guardrails on temporary suspensions or the current prohibition on expulsion.
  • Support parents as they navigate the IEP process.

Federal disability laws would still apply, but the proposed rule changes how Head Start programs would be required to put those laws into practice. Current performance standards require Head Start programs and school districts to spell out who will evaluate a child for IDEA eligibility, how services will be delivered in the Head Start program, and how the agencies involved will work together. Without those requirements, programs may still have the same legal obligations, but families could have less certainty about how those rights will actually be carried out for their child.

Why Do Head Start Performance Standards Matter for Children With Disabilities?

Head Start’s commitment to disability inclusion goes back decades. A decade before children with disabilities won the federal right to a free appropriate public education, Head Start was already including young children with disabilities alongside their nondisabled peers.

In a new op-ed, Katy Neas, CEO of The Arc of the United States, explains why the details in Head Start’s performance standards are essential to making that commitment work. They helped establish an expectation that children with disabilities belong in early learning programs and should have access to the supports they need to participate. Katy warns that weakening those standards could undo some of that progress by making the quality of a child’s Head Start experience depend more heavily on local resources and how much support a family can find on its own.

Read Katy Neas’ op-ed in The 74: “Head Start Was Built to Include Children With Disabilities. Don’t Weaken It.”

Why Are Disability and Civil Rights Groups Opposing the Head Start Proposal?

The Arc of the United States has joined leading civil rights and disability organizations in calling on the administration to withdraw the proposed rule.

The coalition warns that eliminating Head Start’s federal standards could particularly harm children with disabilities and other children who already face barriers to early learning.

As the organizations wrote in the joint statement:

“These quality standards are the hallmark of the Head Start program that ensure every child receives an early education and services that promote healthy child development. Without them, Head Start will exist in name only, offering unequal services based on where the child lives. If finalized, these changes would mean that a child could be turned away from Head Start because of a disability or because a child is struggling. The proposal would also make it more difficult for families experiencing homelessness to enroll, and would remove prohibitions on corporal punishment, seclusion, and expulsion. This proposed rule would fundamentally alter Head Start and break the promise that America has made good on for decades to offer the children born furthest from opportunity with the best our country has to offer in early childhood education.”

The joint statement was signed by:

  • Children’s Defense Fund
  • EdTrust
  • Legal Defense Fund
  • NAACP
  • National Center for Learning Disabilities
  • National Urban League
  • The Arc
  • UnidosUS

Read the full joint statement.

How Can I Comment on the Proposed Head Start Changes?

HHS is accepting public comments on the proposed Head Start changes through October 6, 2026. We urge people with disabilities, families, educators, Head Start staff, advocates, and anyone who cares about inclusive early childhood education to weigh in and share why strong Head Start standards are worth protecting.

Submit a public comment by October 6, 2026.

Children with disabilities belong in early learning programs alongside their nondisabled peers. Head Start has helped make that possible for decades. Its standards should continue to protect quality, accountability, and meaningful inclusion for children with disabilities and their families.

A picture of a white tow truck carrying a red SUV against an orange and yellow background

Donate Your Car to Charity and Support Disability Rights

/in /by The Arc

Have a car you keep meaning to get rid of? When you donate your car to charity, you can skip the hassle of selling it, schedule free pickup, and support a cause that matters.

Through The Arc’s vehicle donation program, you can donate a car, truck, RV, boat, motorcycle, or other vehicle to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Most vehicles are considered, running or not.

That vehicle may not be getting you where you need to go anymore. But it can still help protect disability rights, strengthen family support, and create more opportunities for people with disabilities across the country.

Donate Your Vehicle Today

What does donating my car to The Arc support?

Many nonprofits accept vehicle donations. What makes The Arc different is what your donation helps protect.

The Arc is the nation’s largest community-based organization advocating for and supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and other diagnoses. Through national advocacy and a nationwide network of chapters of The Arc, we support people with disabilities and their families at school, at work, at home, and in the community.

Your donated vehicle can help fund work that people with disabilities and families rely on every day, including:

  • Advocacy that protects disability rights
  • Resources for families navigating school, services, and support systems
  • Programs that support community living, travel, technology, future planning, and education
  • Outreach that helps decision-makers, including appointed and elected officials, understand what people with disabilities and families need

A vehicle that’s no longer useful to you can help protect rights, strengthen support, and create more opportunities for someone else.

How does vehicle donation work?

Donating your vehicle to The Arc is designed to be simple.

  1. Start online or by phone. Fill out the short vehicle donation form or call 833-990-8-ARC (833-990-8272).
  2. Schedule free pickup. A tow company will pick up your vehicle at a time that works for you.
  3. Skip the hassle. You don’t have to handle the sale, repairs, advertising, or towing.
  4. Get documentation for your records. You’ll receive an initial donation receipt at pickup and additional tax documentation after the vehicle is sold.

The Arc partners with CARS, also known as Charitable Adult Rides & Services, to manage the donation process. CARS handles the pickup, sale, and paperwork so you don’t have to.

What types of vehicles can I donate?

All vehicles are considered. The Arc accepts many types of vehicle donations, including:

  • Cars, trucks, and vans
  • Motorcycles
  • RVs, campers, and trailers
  • Boats
  • Off-road vehicles
  • Some specialty, farm, and heavy equipment

Most vehicles are considered, running or not. In many cases, a car that no longer starts, has high mileage, needs repairs, or has not been used in years may still qualify.

If you aren’t sure whether your vehicle can be accepted, start the form or call the Vehicle Donation Support Team at 833-990-8-ARC (833-990-8272). They can help you understand the next step.

Is car donation pickup free?

Yes, vehicle pickup is free to donors. You don’t have to pay towing costs or drop the vehicle off yourself.

After you complete the donation form or call the support team, pickup will be scheduled at a convenient time. A licensed tow company will come to you and take the vehicle to be sold.

That means you can donate your car without dealing with repair costs, listing it for sale, negotiating with buyers, or arranging transportation.

Is donating a vehicle to charity tax-deductible?

Your vehicle donation may qualify for a tax deduction. Every tax situation is different, so it’s best to consult a tax advisor.

After your donated vehicle is sold, you’ll receive tax documentation for your records. If the vehicle sells for more than $500 and the required information has been provided, you may receive IRS Form 1098-C.

The Arc can’t give tax advice, but the Vehicle Donation Support Team can explain the documentation process.

What happens after I donate my vehicle?

After pickup, donated vehicles are usually sold through used-car markets, auctions, or other sale channels. The proceeds support The Arc’s advocacy and programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

That means your vehicle can help protect rights, strengthen resources, and support people with disabilities to build good lives in the community.

It may have taken you to work, school, appointments, errands, and road trips. Now it can help people with disabilities and their families access support, opportunity, and a stronger future.

Ready to donate your car, truck, RV, boat, or motorcycle?

If you have a vehicle you no longer need, donating it to The Arc is a big way to put it to work for disability rights.

You can start your vehicle donation online or call the Vehicle Donation Support Team at 833-990-8-ARC (833-990-8272).

Donate Your Vehicle Today

No towing fees or selling hassle. Most vehicles are considered, running or not. You can turn your unwanted vehicle into support for people with disabilities and families across the country.

Frequently Asked Questions About Donating a Vehicle to The Arc

What is the easiest way to donate my car to charity?

The easiest way to donate your car to The Arc is to complete the online vehicle donation form or call 833-990-8272. The Vehicle Donation Support Team will help schedule a free pickup and explain the next steps.

Can I donate my car to The Arc if it doesn’t run, has high mileage, or needs repairs?

In many cases, yes. Most vehicles are considered, including cars that don’t run or have high mileage, mechanical issues, or repair needs. The support team can confirm whether your vehicle can be accepted.

Do I have to pay to tow my donated car?

No, towing is free for donors. A tow company will pick up your vehicle at a scheduled time, so you don’t have to pay towing costs or drop it off yourself.

How fast can my donated car be picked up?

In many cases, pickup can be scheduled during the initial call. In other cases, the Vehicle Donation Support Team will contact you within two to three business days to schedule a convenient pickup time.

What paperwork do I need to donate a car?

In most states, you’ll need the vehicle title. If you have questions about your title, registration, or vehicle condition, the Vehicle Donation Support Team can help you understand what is needed.

Do I need to notify the DMV after donating my car?

State requirements vary. In some states, you may need to notify your motor vehicle division or surrender license plates after the vehicle is picked up. The Vehicle Donation Support Team can explain the steps for your state.

Will I get a tax receipt for donating my car?

Yes, after your vehicle is picked up and sold, you will receive tax documentation for your records. Your donation may qualify for a tax deduction, but tax situations vary, so donors should consult a tax advisor.

Is free car donation pickup available in every state?

Yes, The Arc’s vehicle donation program offers free pickup in all 50 states. After you complete the donation form or call the Vehicle Donation Support Team, they can schedule a licensed tow company to pick up your vehicle at a convenient time.

Who operates The Arc’s vehicle donation program?

CARS, also known as Charitable Adult Rides & Services, operates The Arc’s vehicle donation program. CARS is a nonprofit organization that specializes in vehicle donation services for nonprofits and helps manage pickup, sale, paperwork, and charitable receipting.

How can I donate my vehicle to help people with disabilities?

You can donate your vehicle to The Arc to help support advocacy, programs, and resources for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, including work to protect disability rights, strengthen community supports, and help families navigate complex systems.