A. Preschool .
Preschool. Each administrative unit, BMR and DSE will work
together to identify and locate preschool handicapped children. If the
identification process leads to a referral and acceptance for BMR programming,
then the CDW may have direct involvement in home programming prior to school
entrance. In those areas where preschool handicapped coordination projects are
in place, existing procedures shall be utilized
Where preschool coordination projects do not exist, BMR
(through its regional offices and the Infant Development Center) and DSE (in
conjunction with the affected administrative units), will use the following
procedures to assure the at transition of developmentally delayed children into
public schools occurs in planned and organized manner.
(1) BMR
a.
Shall report the existence of developmentally delayed children (0-5) to
preschool handicapped coordination projects in December of each year. Where
preschool handicapped coordination projects do not exist, BMR shall report to
administrative unit's personnel in December of each year.
b. May arrange for development of an IPP by
December of each year for children who will be school age that following year.
c. Shall notify members of the
IDT, including the administrative unit and/or preschool personnel, of the IDT
meeting.
d. Shall indicate the
severity of the child's handicapping condition and the probability of the
child's participation in an existing administrative unit's program.
e. Shall seek parental permission for the
release of BMR information to the appropriate administrative unit.
f. Shall assure, at the IDT meeting, that
transitional plans for entering the education system are developed with
assigned responsibilities for implementation.
g. Shall transfer all records to appropriate
administrative unit by March 1st of each year, if permission of the child's
parent/legal guardian is obtained.
(2) Each Administrative Unit Shall:
a. Determine the need for P.E.T. prior to the
child entering school in the fall after preschool screening (conducted by an
administrative unit or preschool project with BMR assistance as appropriate)
and after receiving the information from BMR outlined in 5 A).
b. Notify the child's BMR worker, if a P.E.T.
is to be held, to determine the need for additional information or further
transitional plans.
c. Invite the
child's BMR worker to participate in any P.E.T. arranged during the child's
first year to evaluate and monitor the child's program and make recommendations
concerning the continued involvement of BMR.
B. School Age 5-20 General
Each administrative unit, BMR and DSE shall work together to
assure that cooperative planning occurs for the delivery of appropriate
services to their shared client population. The following regulations describe
the responsibilities of each party in carrying out the cooperative planning
effort.
(1) Each Administrative Unit
shall:
a. Refer child to BMR as child's needs
dictate (Form Appendix A).
b.
Notify parents/legal guardian/surrogate parent of the BMR referral for children
under 18 years of age.
c.
Coordinate, through the P.E.T. process, with the consent of the parent/legal
guardian, the BMR worker's involvement, upon BMR referral acceptance
d. Reassess the student's need during his/her
16th year and each subsequent year until completion of a high school
program.
e. Participate in a joint
P.E.T./IDT meeting, by December of the student's last year, held to develop a
transition plan for the student/client from his/her educational program to
adult services.
(2) BMR
shall:
a. Accept referrals based upon: 1) the
presence of mental retardation; 2) the granting of permission by the parents or
legal guardian; and 3) the need for services or the need for planning for an
adult program.
b. Participate, with
consent of the child's parent/ legal guardian in the P.E.T. to determine level
of BMR involvement.
c. Provide
liaison between home and school as appropriate.
d. Assist in the continuity of the program
outside the school day.
e. Share
evaluation data among the agencies with the consent of the child's parent/legal
guardian.
(3) IDT/PET
shall:
a. Discuss the educational and
residential needs of the student.
b. Assign responsibility for the development,
location and facilitation of both the educational and residential placement.
The principle of least restrictive environment shall apply.
c. Stress proximity of the program, least
restrictive environment and transportation in its decision-making
process.
d. Reconvene within 30
days to approve the placement, if mutually acceptable educational and
residential alternatives are located and placement has occurred.
e. Reconvene if mutually acceptable
educational and residential alternatives cannot be located to determine the
optimal educational/residential placement from the alternatives
located.
f. Determine transition
plans and assign responsibilities.
g. Discuss feasibility, time frames, and/or
strategies for the child's eventual return to his/her family, once placement is
made outside of the natural home.
h. Report annually to the Special Education
Director on progress made toward attaining the goal of return to the
family.
(4) The State
Department of Educational and Cultural Services shall:-
a. Be responsible for arranging financial
support for educational costs (DECS).
b. Determine responsibility, if a conflict
over administrative unit responsibilities arises, as provided under 20 MRSA,
Chapter 213.
D. Conflict
If a conflict arises over which administrative unit Is
responsible for delivering special education services, the administrative unit
in which the child's legal guardian is physically residing is encouraged to
assume temporary financial and programmatic responsibility until such conflict
can be resolved.
Determination of responsibility shall be made by the
Commissioner of Education ,m as provided under 20-A MRSA, Chapter 213.
E. Planned Client/Student Respite
Care:
If scheduled respite care will cause more than one
consecutive week's absence from school, the BRM case worker and the Director of
Special Education shall determine type and amount of interim service need and
shall jointly coordinate the procurement of educational service. If the respite
care is more than one week and not in the context of a state institution, this
shall constitute a change in placement and a P.E.T. shall be convened.
F. Community placement out of BMR
Institutions.
(1) May make community
placements from BMR institutions for non-educational reasons.
(2) Shall define and describe the child's
placement needs through the IDT process.
(3) Shall identify specific institutional and
regional staff responsible for locating appropriate residential and educational
placement through the IDT process.
(4) Shall notify the sending school and
administrative unit (where the child originated) when a specific, tentative
placement in located. Such notification shall be by the assigned BMR
worker.
(5) Shall convene an
IDT/P.E.T. once tentative residential and education placements are located and
invite both sending and receiving school districts to attend.
(6) Shall make available, upon request,
educational staff from the institution to assist with program design and
transition before and after the actual placement.
G. Emergency Placements
(1) BMR shall:
a. Notify the administrative unit of the
request for emergency placements, if time permits, to enable its Special
Education Director and the case worker to discuss events leading up to the
request.
b. Consult with the
administrative unit's Special Education Director on types of emergency
placements that could meet both the residential educational needs of the
student/client.
c. Notify the
administrative unit's Special Education Director within 2 working days of the
placement, if time does not permit prior consultation, and indicate the
expected duration of the placement.
d. Convene an IDT/P.E.T. within 10 days of
the emergency placement to address residential and educational plans, if the
placement constitutes a change in the IPP/IEP.
e. Be responsible for arranging/coordinating
any available financial support for the board/care and treatment components of
the program.
(2) The
Administrative Unit shall:
Convene an IDT/P.E.T. within 10 days of the emergency
placement to address residential and educational plans, if the placement
constitutes a change in the IPP/IEP.
(3) The Department of Educational and
Cultural Services, Division of Special Education, shall:
Be responsible for arranging financial support for
educational costs.
H. Educational Placement
(1) The Administrative Unit shall:
a. Have primary fiscal responsibility for the
board/care and educational components of the placement for children not in
custody of the Department of Human Services.
b. Assure implementation of all procedural
safeguards in accordance with federal and state statutes.
I. Placement of a Child in the
Care and Custody of the Department of Human Services
This sub-section covers children in the care or custody of
the Department of Human Services who are placed in a special purpose private
residential school or residential treatment facility.
State P.E.T. shall accept transfer from an administrative
unit of all the responsibilities as outlined in these regulations at the end of
the first year of placement.
