Special Education and the Comprehensive Services Act

1
Special Education and the Comprehensive Services
Act

• Lissa Power-deFur
• Virginia Department of Education
• 2004

2
Topics

• Source of Requirements
• Before CSA
• Comparing CSA and Special Education
• Fast Facts about Special Education in Virginia

• Special Education Eligibility and Placement
• Parental Rights
• Confidentiality
• Residency
• Paying for Services

3
Source of Special Education Requirements

• Case Law

• Federal statutes and regulations
• State code, regulations and funding requirements
• Local policies and procedures

4
Federal Requirements

• Individuals with Disabilities with Education Act
• IDEA implementation regulations
• Family Education Rights and Privacy Act
• FERPA implementation regulations

5
Virginia Requirements

• Code of Virginia
• Special Education
• Residency (and Foster Care)
• Student Records
• Attendance
• Appropriation Act
• Funding

• Regulations
• Special Education
• Teacher Licensure
• Accreditation (graduation)
• Management of Student Records

6
Pre-CSA

• Private Special Education Tuition
• Local school division IEP placement
• State-local match
• Interagency Assistance Fund
• Placement by social services, courts, mental
  health
• 100 state funding of special education component

7
Pre-CSA cont.

• Foster Care Education Reimbursement
• Reimbursed divisions for the local cost of
  educating children placed in foster care in that
  school division from another jurisdiction
• Did not cover foster care children placed in
  private placement
• Interagency Assistance Fund or Private Special
  Education Tuition paid for those placements

8
Pre-CSA cont.

• Regional Special Education
• Reimbursed school divisions in a regional program
  for low incidence disability condition
• Local School Division Special Education budget
• Statewide
• 64 local funds
• 27 state funds
• 10 federal funds

9
CSA Purpose

• Consolidate categorical agency funding and
  institute community responsibility for the
  provision of services.

10
Pre-CSA Post-CSA

• Private Special Education Tuition
• Interagency Assistance Fund

• CSA Pool

11
Pre- CSA Post-CSA

• Foster Care Education Reimbursement
• Regional Special Education
• Local School Division Budget

• Foster Care Education Reimbursement
• Regional Special Education
• Local School Division Budget

12
Medicaid billing in schools

• Certain services provided to medicaid-eligible
  children by local school divisions
• Must meet medicaid provider and services
  requirements
• OT, PT, speech, nursing, psychological services,
  transportation

13
Special Education vs. CSA

• Highly regulated
• Individualized
• Least restrictive environment

• Highly flexible locally
• Individualized
• Least restrictive environment

14
Special Education vs. CSA

• Placement by multidisciplinary team
• Review revise program (IEP process)
• Significant parent student rights

• Placement by multidisciplinary team
• Review revise program (UR process)
• Minimal parent and student rights

15
Fast Facts in Virginia

• 171,880 served (December 1, 2003)
• 14.4 of public school population (1.2 million)
• Serve ages 2 through 22 (since 1972)
• 94.5 served in the school division
• 2067 (1.2) served in private day or residential
  placements
• 7237 (4.2) served in public day/residential
  (including correctional) homebound or hospital
  placements

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FFV cont.

• 1,165,631,001 expended by school divisions to
  provide special education services (2000-01)
• average of 13,816 per student
• DOES NOT include 61,950,617 CSA
• 74 million is local (63.6)
• Average additional per child cost 6,776
• Range of 3,547 to 16,057 according to
  disability
• Average per child (non-sped) cost 6,632

17
Special Education Eligibility

• Must have a disability condition
• e.g., Learning Disability, Emotional Disturbance,
  Mental Retardation, Autism
• A disability under IDEA must have an adverse
  educational impact
• As a result of that disability, the child must
  require special education and related services

18
Special Education

• Specially-designed instruction,
• At no cost to the parent
• To meet the needs of the child with a disability

19
Related Services

• Services to benefit from special education
• Includes
• Transportation
• Psychological services
• OT, PT, speech-language pathology services
• School social work services
• Parent counseling and training

20
Determining Eligibility

• On the basis of evaluation results
• Evaluation criteria and procedures specified by
  IDEA
• Team, including parents, determines
• Is there a disability?
• Does the child need special education and related
  services?
• If YES to both, the child is eligible for special
  education

21
Individualized Education Program

• A written statement for the child developed,
  reviewed and revised in a meeting in accordance
  with IDEA requirements
• Includes
• childs present levels of educational performance
• measurable annual goals and short-term objectives
• transition services

22
CSA Purpose

• Design and provide services that are responsive
  to the unique and diverse strengths and needs of
  troubled youths and families.

23
IEP Team

• Parent
• Regular education teacher
• Special education teacher
• Representative of school division
• knowledgeable about general curriculum and
  availability of resources
• Individual who can interpret evaluation
• Others, with special expertise
• The child

24
IEP Team Others

• May include representative of other child-serving
  agencies
• probation officer
• social worker
• mental health worker
• May include representative of the FAPT

25
IEP Team and FAPT

• Interaction and collaboration critical to success
• Variety of approaches work best
• One representative as the other person
• e.g., probation officer, social workers, mental
  health workers
• Meet with FAPT prior to IEP meeting
• Hold joint meeting
• Must get parental consent for non-school
  personnel to be participants

26
Transition planning

• Required for any child with IEP who is at least
  14 years old
• Coordinated set of activities that promotes
  movement from school to post-school activities
• Includes
• Independent living
• Community participation

27
IEP Team Transition

• Includes student
• Any other agency that is likely to be responsible
  for providing or paying for transition services
• If agency invited does not attend, the school
  division must obtain participation

28
CSA Purpose

• Increase interagency collaboration and family
  involvement in service delivery.

29
Services and placement

• Determined by IEP team, including parent
• Cannot be predetermined
• Presumption is general education with support

30
Least Restrictive Environment

• To the maximum extent appropriate, children with
  disabilities are educated with children without
  disabilities
• Separate schooling occurs ONLY when the Least
  Restrictive Environment cannot be achieved with
  supplementary aids and services

31
CSA Purpose

• Ensure services and funding are consistent with
  the Commonwealths policies of preserving
  families and providing services in the least
  restrictive environment.

32
IEP Development

• IEP team must consider
• Strengths of child
• Concerns of parents for childs education
• Results of most recent evaluation
• For child whose behavior impedes his or her
  learning or that of others
• Must address positive behavioral interventions,
  strategies or supports to address that behavior

33
IEP Review and Revision

• IEP team reviews childs IEP periodically, at
  least annually
• To determine whether annual goals are being
  achieved

34
IEP Review and Revision

• IEP team revises the IEP to address
• Any lack of expected progress
• Results of any reevaluation
• Information about the child provided to or by the
  parents
• Childs anticipated needs
• Other matters

35
IEP Process

• Use current evaluation information
• Identify measurable desired annual goals
• Identify benchmarks or short-term objectives to
  reach annual goals and objectives
• Identify services needed

36
IEP Process

• Determine placement
• Negotiate with provider, if private placement
• Implement IEP
• Review and revise IEP, at least annually

37
IEP Process

• Possible actions as a result of review
• Change services
• Change provider
• Change annual goals and objectives
• Change benchmarks or short-term objectives

38
CSA Utilization Review

• A mandated process for reviewing placements
• Collect individual and family assessment data
• Identify desired outcomes
• Identify services needed
• Identify recommended level of need
• Consider mitigating circumstances

39
CSA UR

• Finalize child service plan
• Negotiate with providers
• Implement plan
• Periodic regular review of child and family
  progress

40
CSA UR

• Possible actions as a result of the review
• continue current plan
• change length of time for current services and
  objectives
• change objectives
• change aspects of the environment
• change provider
• change treatment modalities
• change placement

41
CAFAS/PECFAS

• Uniform assessment instrument identified by the
  State Executive Council
• as required by the 1998 General Assembly
• CAFAS/PECFAS must be completed for all children
  and youths who receive CSA-funded services
• Scores are guideline for placement
• No requirement to place according to score

42
CSAs Multi-Disciplinary Team Requirements

• All youth and families for which CSA-funded
  services are requested are to be assessed by the
  FAPT or a collaborative, multidisciplinary team
  process approved by the State Executive Council.

43
Private School Placements

• Special education and related services must be
  provided -
• In accordance with IEP
• Must be at no cost to parents
• Provided without charge
• Does not preclude incidental fees normally
  charged to students with disabilities in regular
  education

44
Private School Placements

• Education must meet all standards that apply to
  education provided by school division
• Special education and non-special education
  personnel
• School division remains responsible for the
  childs education
• IEP and Evaluations
• Procedural safeguards

45
Parental Rights

• Who is a parent?
• Natural or adoptive parent
• Both parents, unless parental rights terminated
• Foster parent if parental rights have been
  terminated
• Surrogate parent if parent cannot be located
• Who is not a parent?
• Employees of social services or other agency

46
Parental Rights

• To receive notice of all rights (procedural
  safeguards)
• Notice shall be understandable and in the
  parents native language

47
Parental Rights

• It is implicit in the requirement that parents
  be ensured the opportunity to be members of any
  group making the placement decision, that
  whatever placement options are available to a
  child will be fully discussed and analyzed at
  placement meetings, allowing input from all the
  participants. (Fed Register, 3/12/99)

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Parental Rights

• Participate in all meetings
• meeting to determine evaluation components
• meeting to determine eligibility
• meeting to develop IEP
• meeting to determine placement
• US Dept of Education required language in
  Virginia regulations to require parent
  participation in CSA team meetings that involve
  the childs placement

49
Parental Rights

• Time and location of meeting must be mutually
  agreed upon
• Receive advance notice of meeting purpose and
  participants

50
Parental Rights

• Consent to evaluate child
• Consent to initial placement
• Any revision to the childs IEP
• Consent to change in identification
• Consent to termination of services
• Consent to use private insurance
• Consent to share education records

51
Parental Rights

• Inspect and review all education records re
  identification, evaluation, placement, and
  services
• Request independent educational evaluation if
  disagree with division evaluation

52
Parental Rights

• Transfer to students at age of majority (at age
  18)
• Must be informed that rights transfer one year
  prior

53
Parental Rights

• May initiate a due process hearing on any matter
  related to identification, evaluation, placement
  or services
• Must be informed of free or low-cost legal and
  other relevant services

54
Due process hearing

• Issues of appropriateness of identification,
  eligibility, IEP, or placement
• Hearing conducted by hearing officer appointed by
  the Supreme Court of Virginia
• Decision of hearing officer is binding
• May be appealed to court

55
Due process hearing

• Costly
• Resources, both personnel and fiscal
• Relationship between school personnel, parents
  and child

56
Due Process Hearing and CSA

• When a due process hearing is requested, the
  stay put provision applies the child stays
  put in the current placement
• When a special education child is in a
  non-educational placement and the parent files a
  due process hearing
• The stay put provision applies to the last
  placement agreed to by the division and the
  parent before the non-educational placement.

57
Hearing Officers and CSA

• The hearing officer has the authority to order a
  private placement or the reimbursement of a
  private placement the parents have made.
• Funds are available under the CSA to support the
  costs (Virginia special education regulations)

58
Mediation

• Available as an alternative to due process
  hearing
• Va. Dept. of Education responsible for costs of
  mediation
• May not preclude right to due process hearing

59
Confidentiality

• Confidentiality of education records assured by
  FERPA
• Education record means
• those records directly related to the student and
• maintained by the educational agency (or party
  acting for the agency).

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Confidentiality

• Parents have access to all educational records
• Parent must consent to release of educational
  records
• including release to CSA representative at IEP
  meeting, FAPT, CPMT, or local CSA fiscal agent

61
Children in Foster Care

• School division where foster parents reside is
  responsible for education if the child can be
  served in local school division or regional
  special education program
• Responsible for IEP, evaluations, procedural
  safeguards, funding
• DOE Foster Care funds partially offset costs
• Also applies to children placed in
  child-caring-caring institution licensed under
  COV 63.1-195

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Children in Foster Care

• If the child cannot be served in the local school
  division or regional special education program
• Placing CPMT assumes responsibility for
  educating child placed in private day or private
  residential facility (the CPMT that placed the
  child into foster care)
• The school division on that CPMT is responsible
  for IEP, evaluations, procedural safeguards
• CPMT is responsible for funding

63
Children in Foster Care

• Plan for the childs education when making a
  foster placements out of the jurisdiction
• Planning is important for stability of foster
  care placement and childs education
• Education representative on CPMT should be
  contact person
• Can avoid/forewarn costly educational services

64
Residency

• Code of Virginia establishes residency
  requirements
• Local school board has authority to
• Accept or not accept non-residents
• Charge tuition for non-residents

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Residency

• What is the residence for children in group homes
  not licensed by DSS as a child-caring agency?
• Requires review of facts of individual situation
• Type of facility
• Custody
• Residency
• Special education status
• Foster care status

66
Special Education and CSA

• Sum sufficient (mandated) status required by
  IDEA and state law

67
Mandated special education services

• A Services provided to a child whose IEP calls
  for a private day or residential special
  education placement

68
Mandated special education services

• B The special education portion of a placement
  in a private residential facility that was made
  by another CSA entity for non-educational reasons
• The non-special education portion may be mandated
  (under foster care) or non-mandated

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Mandated special education services

• C Services identified on the childs IFSP and
  identified by the FAPT as necessary to maintain
  the child in a less restrictive placement
• Less restrictive than a private day or private
  residential facility
• IDEA requires that there be no fiscal incentive
  to place a child in a more restrictive placement

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Mandated special education services

• C. cont.
• Must be services necessary to keep child out of a
  more restrictive special education placement
• Services for special education students that are
  unrelated to the childs education are
  nonmandated.
• Schools pay for instructional staff, all IEP
  services and transportation

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Mandated special education services

• Limited to
• Special education services specified in the IEP
• Services specified on the IFSP as necessary to
  remain in less restrictive educational placement

72
Mandated special education services

• Does not include non-educational services for a
  child who is receiving special education
• e.g., services required by mental health or the
  juvenile court
• An IEP calling for private placement may not be
  ordered by a FAPT, a CPMT or a juvenile and
  domestic relations court judge.

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Paying for services

• CSA Pool pays for all services on IEP for
  children placed by IEP in private day or
  residential special education placements.
• Including room and board
• Schools pay for transportation associated with
  the placement

74
Paying for services CSA Pool

• CSA Pool pays for the special education component
  of private residential placement made for
  non-educational reasons
• Non-educational services may not be charged as
  special education
• Also applies to medicaid-funded placements

75
Paying for services Schools

• IEP services for students not in private special
  education placements
• including medical services on the IEP
• Instructional aides and paraprofessionals
• Evaluations associated with special education
• Instructional materials

76
Paying for services Schools

• Homebound instruction
• Regional special education program tuition
• Local school division tuition
• Transportation to provide special education and
  related services

77
Paying for services Documentation

• Certain services could be billed to CSA, with
  documentation in the FAPT record
• why the service is on the IFSP
• why the service is necessary to prevent a more
  restrictive special education placement
• Decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis
• Authority given to local teams

78
Paying for services CSA Pool

• SOME services may be paid for by the CSA Pool if
  the FAPT finds necessary to keep the child out of
  a more restrictive educational placement
• Services must be on the IFSP
• FAPT must document why the services will keep the
  child out of a more restrictive educational
  placement

79
Services that MAY be paid by the CSA Pool

• Alternative education
• Behavioral aides
• Case management
• Contracted services
• GED expenses
• In-home counseling
• In-home services
• Independent living services
• Non-special ed evaluation

• Job Coaching
• Recreation and leisure services
• Respite care
• Student mentor
• Student supervision
• Summer services
• Tutoring
• Medical services not on the IEP

80
Paying for services Prohibitions

• Certain services are not allowable to be billed
  to CSA as mandated for any child eligible for
  special education
• Clothing
• Substance abuse treatment
• Juvenile delinquency services ordered by the court

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Resources

• Your local school division CPMT and FAPT
  representatives
• Virginia Department of Education
• Special Education and Student Services Units
• Lissa Power-deFur [phone]
  lpower-d_at_mail.vak12ed.edu
• CSA Office