Please Ask Congress: Include Special Olympics in your Fiscal Year 2027 Appropriations Requests

 

Please ask your Members of Congress to include Special Olympics in their Fiscal Year 2027 appropriations requests!

 

Unified Champion Schools® (UCS): 39,140,000 to expand UCS programming nationwide

(a 3% inflationary increase over FY2026 anticipated funding level)

• Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools programming promotes meaningful social inclusion by bringing young people with and without intellectual disabilities (ID) together to create school communities that are accepting of all students. UCS programming is in over 12,000 schools across 3,800 school districts in all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico.

• 2x: For every federal dollar invested, Special Olympics delivers double the value to students with and without ID through its UCS programming.

• The average cost to implement UCS programming is $3,000 in a suburban school and $5,500 in a rural or urban school.

• Special Olympics wants to reach 20,000 U.S. schools through UCS programming by 2030.

 

Health programs: $20,500,000 to expand health programming nationwide

(a 3% inflationary increase over FY2026 anticipated funding level)

• Special Olympics Health programs improve the quality of life of people with ID, resulting in significantly lower healthcare usage and costs. 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico currently receive federal funding for Special Olympics Health programming.

• For every federal dollar invested in Special Olympics Healthy Athletes, Special Olympics delivers $7.42 of health screenings and connections to community care.

• Special Olympics' health partners have provided nearly $5.7M in corrective vision devices and over $1.6M in corrective hearing devices since 2022, at no cost to our athletes.

• Special Olympics wants to reach 500,000 Special Olympics athletes by 2030 through free health and fitness programming, screenings, and follow up care.

 

The Impact of Our Programming

• Children who participated in just two months of Young Athletes (an early inclusive childhood development program) saw 7-9 months of motor skill improvement.

• Young adults with ID who participate in Special Olympics are 49% less likely to be diagnosed with depression and 15% less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes.

• From 2007-2017, the mean cost of healthcare services billed for Special Olympics participants was $169,191 lower than non-participants.

• Multi-year UCS programming is linked to higher standardized test scores, GPA, and graduation rates for both students with and without ID.

• 81% of UCS liaisons reported UCS programming increased attendance of students with ID, and 75% reported increased attendance of students without ID.

• 5.3 million fitness and sports experiences were available to students in UCS schools during the 2024-2025 school year.

• 9:10 voters believe both Special Olympics educational and health programs are an excellent or good value for their tax dollars, and the same proportion (89%) favor increasing federal funding for both the Unified Champion Schools and health programs.

 

Your voice makes a difference. Please take action to send a message to your federal representatives now.