2026 Indiana General Assembly: Bills of Interest

Advocates are watching six bills which are still to be considered for the 2026 Indiana legislative session. They have the power to change the lives of people with disabilities.

 A bill ending a governmental advisory board made up of people with disabilities and their allies is on the agenda for this session. Excluding any minority group from leadership positions is a way to oppress them. We cannot afford to lose this foot hold.

If passed, children with Autism will be able to receive Applied Behavioral Analysis services in their school. As of now, federal law states that children have the right to be educated in the least restrictive environment. This bill can keep children who need these services in classes with their peer group. One drawback is that the school will not be financially responsible for the therapy.

A very necessary piece of legislation moves us in the correct direction of not executing individuals with cognitive disabilities. There is some discussion that this bill does not go far enough to safeguard individuals whose cognitive disability does not manifest early in the trial process.

Finally, there are 2 bills that deal with Medicaid.  One bill makes it more difficult to qualify for benefits by reducing the income limit. It does not mention waiver income limits. The other bill is regarding long-term care and the PathWays program. It requires the state to apply for new funds and sets guidelines for where care can take place. Basically, if it is cheaper to put someone in an institution, they have no choice. Care at these facilities is not preferable to care at home. Facilities are already overcrowded, understaffed and underfunded.

All these bills are listed below with their authors and co-authors. IDJ urges anyone to be an advocate or self-advocate. Information on these, and all current legislation, and phone number of legislatures can be found at https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2026/bills. The closest thing to an email list is at https://indianacoalitionforpubliced.org/email-legislators/.

HB 1003 – Representative Bartels (with co-author Representative Miller) – Boards and commissions
This bill proposes to restructure administration of Indiana’s funds and oversight boards. Of particular concern is the plan to end the Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services (DDRS) Advisory Council at the end of 2026. The Council brings expertise, lived experiences, and advice to the DDRS across many areas including technology, health, policy and advocacy.

HB 1102 – Representative Greene (with co-authors Representatives Olthoff, Gross-Reaves, and Bauer) – Applied behavioral analysis therapy services
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is a therapeutic technique used with those with Autism who have high access needs. IDJ does not endorse any therapeutic technique. This bill will require public schools to allow a student to have ABA services in their school according to their educational plan. The school will have no financial responsibility and will have immunity from civil liability for good faith efforts to comply with these requirements. The board of education will assist schools.

HB 1432 – Representative Bascom (with co-authors Representatives Zimmerman and Greene) – Death sentence and intellectual disabilities.
No one with a cognitive disability should be put to death. This bill is a step in the right direction, but advocates would like to see the timeframe for diagnosing a intellectual disability extended, stating that it may not be seen before the beginning of the trial.

SB 275 – Representatives Mishler and Garten – FSSA fiscal matters
It lowers the Medicaid eligibility income limit. This means that if one’s income is over $994, they will be ineligible for full Medicaid coverage. Right now, that limit is $1,305. There is no change to waiver income limits in this bill.

HB 1277 – Barrett (with co-authors Representatives Goss-Reaves, Porter, and Slager) – Long term care
If passed, Indiana will apply for federal funds to create a new waiver to cover assisted living services and require that folks covered under an existing waiver apply for this new waiver. It also calls for care of individuals under a community and home based waivers to not exceed the cost of institutionalization. The bill also states that a person who has been in a nursing facility more than 100 days will no longer be covered and will receive Medicaid services under a fee for service program.

Using Data in Unconventional Ways: What ICADV Is Learning from Disabled Hoosiers Through Art

Expanding How We Understand Domestic and Sexual Violence
At ICADV, we are continually exploring new and meaningful ways to understand the experiences of survivors across Indiana. One area where traditional data collection consistently falls short is in capturing the realities of Disabled people and people with disabilities who experience domestic and sexual violence.

Many existing data sources do not collect disability status at all or rely solely on the six standard disability questions used in federal surveys. Even when disability is measured, reporting systems and data collection tools are frequently inaccessible. Physical, cognitive, and other barriers can prevent people with disabilities from safely reporting harm or participating in research. As a result, disabled survivors are often underrepresented—or entirely missing—from the data that informs policies, programs, and prevention strategies.

With more than one in four Hoosiers identifying as disabled, these data gaps have serious consequences. When disabled people are left out, our understanding of violence is incomplete, and our prevention efforts fail to reach those who may be at greatest risk.

Moving Beyond Counting Harm
Collecting, analyzing, and publishing data about violence against disabled people is essential. However, data must do more than count incidents after harm occurs. We must also understand what keeps people safe, what promotes healing, and what helps disabled people thrive within their communities.

This includes examining how we create protective, affirming, and accessible environments that support autonomy, dignity, and resilience. To do this effectively, we need data collection methods that are as inclusive, flexible, and creative as the communities we aim to serve.

Art as Data: Centering Disabled Voices
With support from the Noyes Foundation, the Hub exhibits expressive arts projects that invites disabled people to share their experiences, identities, barriers, and sources of strength through creative expression. This approach allowed participants to communicate on their own terms, using methods that felt safer and more accessible than traditional surveys or reporting tools.

The artwork produced through this project is not only beautiful, it is data. It is storytelling. It is lived experience. It offers insights that traditional research methods are rarely designed to capture. By treating art as valid and meaningful data, we are able to learn directly from disabled people in ways that honor their expertise in their own lives.

As we reviewed the artwork and accompanying reflections, clear themes emerged that deepen our understanding of both risk factors and protective factors related to domestic and sexual violence within disabled communities.

Protective Factors That Support Well‑Being
Many participants emphasized the importance of supportive relationships and environments. Words such as love, joy, calm, family, encouragement, acceptance, and stable housing appeared repeatedly throughout the artwork. These concepts highlight how affirming relationships, safe housing, and access to people who can help connect individuals to resources play a critical role in safety and healing.

Stable housing was consistently identified as foundational to well‑being. A safe place to live is not just a basic need, it is a key factor in reducing vulnerability to violence.
Identity and empowerment also emerged as strong protective themes. Participants reflected on disability identity, queer identity, visibility, and dignity as sources of strength. They shared that being able to define oneself and be recognized as a full, autonomous person is closely linked to self‑worth, confidence, and meaningful connection.

Creativity itself played a protective role. Engagement with special interests, passion projects, and artistic expression supported mental health, joy, and agency. Creative work offered participants a way to process experiences, express identity, and cultivate a sense of purpose.

Risk Factors That Increase Vulnerability
Alongside protective elements, participants also shared experiences associated with increased risk and harm. This included references to mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, chronic stress, sadness, and suicidal ideation. These themes underscore the need for mental health supports that are affordable, accessible, and affirming for disabled people.

Trauma, abuse, and oppression were recurring themes throughout the artwork. Participants named experiences of violence, discrimination, stereotyping, internalized ableism, and isolation. These harms are not individual failures; they are the result of systemic inequities and social exclusion.

Barriers to autonomy were also commonly described. Participants shared experiences of having decision‑making power taken away, being treated as a burden, or feeling constrained by systems that limit independence. These conditions can increase vulnerability to abuse and negatively impact mental health.

Social isolation appeared repeatedly as both a risk factor for violence and a consequence of ableism—particularly when disabled people are excluded from community spaces and relationships.

Participants also pointed to unmet needs, including exhaustion, emotional distress, and concerns about safety. These reflections signal gaps in support systems and highlight areas where intervention is urgently needed.

What This Means for Prevention and Public Health
Together, these insights point to several critical considerations for public health and violence prevention efforts. Participants’ reflections reinforce the importance of intersectionality, particularly for people who are disabled, queer, neurodivergent, or navigating multiple marginalized identities. Prevention strategies must recognize these overlapping experiences and address compounded forms of stigma.

The data also highlights the value of safe and nurturing environments, including stable housing, supportive relationships, and spaces that encourage creativity and independence. Supporting autonomy and decision‑making is essential for promoting safety and well‑being.

Finally, the prevalence of trauma and mental health concerns reinforces the need for accessible, trauma‑informed, and disability‑affirming services across systems.

Expanding What Counts as Data
This project demonstrates that disabled Hoosiers are fully capable of sharing their experiences. The challenge has never been communication—it has been whether our systems are prepared to listen.

When we expand our definition of data to include art, creativity, and expressive storytelling, we gain deeper and more accurate insights. We center people who have historically been excluded, strengthen our understanding of both risk and protection, and inform prevention strategies grounded in real lived experiences.

As you explore the art on the IDJ Resource Hub, we invite you to appreciate the talent on display, reflect on the messages the artwork conveys, and commit to being inclusive and creative when collecting valuable information from communities with distinct needs and powerful solutions.

ICADV will continue to use innovative and inclusive data methods to build safer, more ccessible, and more responsive systems for all survivors.

This content was written by Timike Jones at tjones@icadvinc.org.

To learn more about how we evaluate or do violence prevention, please email barizmendi@icadvinc.org.

I Am Whole By Arturo Contreras Mejia

There is a radial gradient with a golden center that fades into purple with text. The text reads I am whole (bold lettering). I am whole (bolder lettering). I am not deficient (light lettering). I am enough (bold lettering). I am enough for my (bold lettering) community. I am right to trust me (bold lettering). I could only lead me to where I want to go. I am whole (boldest lettering). I am efficient (boldest lettering). I am plentiful (boldest lettering).

Image Description: Arturo is standing on the left of the picture, in front of a telephone pole with his arms crossed. He is wearing a pink hoodie, jeans, and sunglasses. He has a serious bearded face. To the right, is a plentiful cactus plant. Behind a gas station that reads “kinda tropical”.

Arturo’s Story

Being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult is weird. Suddenly so much of your life makes sense, like now I know why I always forget something at home when I’m about to leave. But the other thought that would enter my brain is that I was not enough. I would think this because I would fall short. I always over promise but underdeliver. There was always this nagging voice at the back of my head telling me that what I was doing was wrong, that I was not giving enough, that of course life is going terribly because I thought I knew what was best.

All of those things were untrue. I knew then and I know now that its not true.

To combat this I would face them head on. I tell myself that I am enough, that I am right and that I know where I want to go in life. ADHD is not a hinderence. It is not an unbeatable monster. ADHD is a friend that tells you EVERYTHING. ADHD tells you; what you are stressed about, because you (I) avoid it and get anxious about it; where you can find happiness, because you will be obsessed with it; what you don’t like, it calls attention to the things you like (day dreaming). 

I have ADHD. But it is not who I am. I am whole. I am a person. A person who is enough. A person who adds value. A person who loves ,cries, and thinks. ADHD is a part of me, a part that I have struggled to come to terms with. But, the ADHD is not going to go away and neither am I. 

My ADHD makes me feel empowered. I have the power to think about many things at once, to see details that others skip over, connect with lots of people because of my never ending thirst for knowledge and the dopamine that comes with learning. But aside from my own actions it is my community that supports and empowers me. Like IDJ empowers me to share my experience, allowing me to fill a me-shaped hole in my community. Spaces that allow creatives to work, are empowering because it tell me that someone wants to hear our story, see our point of view. 

What does not make me feel supported are the suspiciously low number of callbacks I receive when I self identify as having a disability. What does not make me feel empowered is the stripping of our Universities majors to “better reflect the job market”. The market does not make me feel supported, because there was a time when mental asylums where the solution the market dictated. 

Investing in people and programs to let people express themselves , no matter how difficult the truth, will always be more supporting than pretending that people with disabilities don’t exist. The difficult truth is that everyone in their life will at some point experience disability. We need to support and empower those of us who are disabled now, so that when we are disabled we can work together and find out. What that looks like is investing in these communities, investing in their voices, and making sure to keep those voices at the decision making tables.

About the Author

Arturo is standing on the left of the picture, in front of a telephone pole with his arms crossed. He is wearing a pink hoodie, jeans, and sunglasses. He has a serious bearded face. To the right, is a plentiful cactus plant. Behind a gas station that reads “kinda tropical”.

Image Description: Arturo is standing on the left of the picture, in front of a telephone pole with his arms crossed. He is wearing a pink hoodie, jeans, and sunglasses. He has a serious bearded face. To the right, is a plentiful cactus plant. Behind a gas station that reads “kinda tropical”.

Arturo Contreras Mejia is a 27-year-old Mexican Man. He is currently a student at IUPUI studying digital marketing. Arturo is an Indianapolis creative. In his free time, Arturo enjoys spending time with his loved ones.

Safety By Mateo Alvarez

This painting features a vibrant, diagonal rainbow background. Scattered across the rainbow are several golden infinity symbols, a white skull with a pink bow, a penguin, and a figure with blue hair. Other icons include headphones with musical notes, a medicine bottle with pills, a syringe, and a black pendant.

Image Description: This painting features a vibrant, diagonal rainbow background. Scattered across the rainbow are several golden infinity symbols, a white skull with a pink bow, a penguin, and a figure with blue hair. Other icons include headphones with musical notes, a medicine bottle with pills, a syringe, and a black pendant.

Mateo’s  art represents the good and safe things that help them feel better, less alone in the world. For example, the monster high character they painted is their favorite representation of autism.