My name is Tera Lisicky. I'm a single mom of two disabled children in San Diego, and co-founder of Transcenders Inc., a nonprofit helping disabled youth transition to adulthood.

A loved one of mine is autistic and enrolled in the Aspiring Scholars Program at Cal State San Marcos: a four-year college program for autistic students, recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. He earned VA Chapter 35 education benefits as the son of a Marine who served from 2001 to 2025 with a 100% disability rating. I completed that application myself.

But he can't use those benefits. Chapter 35, the CalVet College Fee Waiver, and student loans all refuse to pay for his program because it doesn't grant a standard degree. His program is a federally recognized Comprehensive Transition Program. It gives students confidence, skills, and inclusion. It is a real college program. But over a technicality, the benefits his family earned won't cover it.

He is not alone. Thousands of veterans' dependent children are in programs like this one, locked out of the same benefits.

In California, SB 60 would have helped but died in Senate Appropriations, and it covered only degree programs anyway. AB 264, which would have let families use CalVet and Chapter 35 together, was vetoed by Governor Newsom on September 30, 2026.

We are asking Congress, the VA, and the California Legislature to act: make federally recognized Comprehensive Transition Programs eligible for VA Chapter 35 benefits and the CalVet College Fee Waiver. These families earned these benefits. Their children should not be locked out over a technicality.

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