Wow! I was interviewed on the Adriana Beasley podcast “Conversations That Inspire” talking about Legal Life Planning. Many families with children with special needs have experiences that are similar to mine and to Adriana’s. Even though it seems as though so much of your life is out of your control, you do have the power to set your family’s course for the future with legal life planning. If you have a child with special needs who is approaching adulthood, now is the time to contact Filis Law Firm for a free 30-minute consultation about Guardianship, SDMAs, Special Needs Trusts, and other legal documents to protect your family’s future.
Category: Special Education
Make a Difference in a High School Senior’s Life and Donate Now
Filis Law Firm just made a $100 donation to S.A.F.E. Diversity Communities. You too can help make a difference in a high student’s life by making a donation to help him or her go to college.
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November 27th, 2018
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As the holiday season brings cash flowing to retail businesses, non-profits can get in on the action thanks to #GivingTuesday. Participate today by donating to S.A.F.E. Diversity Communities as we embody and empower diversity through our unique platform and approach. Thanks to supporters like you we have been able to promote cultural diversity and a safe community for many Houstonians, and if you continue to support us we can continue to educate and spread love and positivity. Join the team and donate today.
Make a contribution today
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Thank you Mr. Mike Khan Founder/CEO of Radio Dabang 99.5 FM for making a generous $500 donation.
http://www.safediversitycommunities.org/full-donation-page.html
#GivingTuesday
#FilisLaw
The Embracing Diversity Radio Show and $1000 Scholarships
Thank you Radio Da Bang and Ms. Thelma Scott!
I will be co-hosting with Ms. Scott once a month leading up to the fabulous 5th Annual Unique Blue Carpet Scholarship Awards Gala May 3, 2019. We are trying to get funds to high school students to enable them to go to college.
If you know a high school senior who wants an opportunity to earn a $1000 scholarship, tune in to the Embracing Diversity Radio Show at 99.5FM or or click this link for more information on the S.A.F.E. Diversity Communities website.
Don’t Let The 8.5% Cap on Special Ed Continue
In 2016, after the publication of a series of investigative articles by Brian M. Rosenthal in the Houston Chronicle, many parents wit
h children in Texas public schools obtained confirmation of one of their worst fears – their children were missing out on education opportunities that could enrich their children’s lives. It may not sound like much to a parent with a typical child who can catch up on academics with a tutor, but for parents with children who require special education services and accommodations, catching up can feel impossible.
The U. S. Department of Education conducted their own investigation which concluded that Texas Education Agency (TEA) led schoold districts to delay or deny special education services to students by instituting an arbirtrary cap for enrollment of services at 8.5%.
Now, the TEA owes the public school children in Texas a proper education and the TEA is asking for your help. We have until April 18th to offer comments on the draft of the the strategic plan to get our schools in line with rest of the country with regards to special education.
Click on the link below to read more information on the draft and to offer your comments.
Have an ARD Meeting Soon? Be Prepared.
In the next week weeks, many parents of children who receive special education services under the federal IDEA Act will be invited to their child’s public school to attend an Admission, Review and Dismissal (“ARD”) meeting.
At this meeting, the ARD team will review the current Individualized Education Program (“IEP”) for the student and propose recommendations for the child’s education plan –
To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living. – IDEA (§300.1)
At the ARD meeting, parents can agree or disagree with some or all of the proposals. If there is a disagreement with the proposed IEP, the ARD team can take a recess, negotiate terms, and reconvene (in ten days typically).
Preparing for such a meeting can be stressful for parents based on fear and anxiety for possibly failing your child by not protecting their rights or not demanding proper education services.
Parents who are engaged with the IEP process can find success by reading up on the following:
- school records (including daily reports),
- assessments from school and private sources (and knowing which new assessments should be requested), and
- education laws.
U.S. Supreme Court provides guidance in the recent Endrew F. case that a student offered an educational program providing “merely more than de minimis” progress from year to year can hardly be said to have been offered an education at all, setting the floor for the application of the holding in the Rowley case that the school must confer an IEP reasonably calculated to enable the child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.
At the ARD meeting, show up with your questions and notes and if you are considering agreeing to a new service or the removal of a service that you are not comfortable with but are willing to try out the situation temporarily, agree to try it out and have a follow-up meeting in a month to re-assess the situation. Under IDEA, the ARD meeting can occur annually or a often as needed allowing a parent to request a meeting in writing.
Take your time at the ARD, listen to suggestions, and stay on track with your goals for the meeting.
Have an Upcoming ARD?
Fall semester school obligations have begun. Parents of students in general ed have probably had their 15 minute one-on-one meeting with the teacher. For the rest of us, we are preparing for upcoming ARD meetings. ARD stands for Admission, Review and Dismissal. For my son, I am at the review stage of the ARD process. We have an individualized education program (“IEP”) in place from the last school year. The IEP is a contract and all the services described in the IEP must be provided by the school district.
In my situation, at the next ARD meeting, there will be a review of the prior IEP terms and suggested revisions based on my son’s new education needs. One example of what will probably be discussed is the reduction of support. Some members of the ARD committee have informally signaled to me that they will be requesting less paraprofessional in-class support time for my son during his inclusion in his general education classes. When I first heard of this potential change, I was frightened.
Parents involved in the ARD process may suffer an emotional toll. In my situation, I have a concern that once I agree to reduce in-class support, my son may never get the support back when he really needs it. In contrast, I do want my son to gain independence and have an opportunity to blossom without the support of a SpEd professional. Will my decision short-change my son’s educational experience? To make an informed decision, pre-ARD actions need to be taken. I will review my son’s daily reports, his classwork and homework grades, and interview the special ed professionals that observe him in the general ed classroom.
As my son’s advocate, preparation for the ARD meeting is time-consuming and sometimes frustrating. To assist with organization aspect of the preparation, I will update my IEP binder with daily reports, progress reports, copies of communications with the school, therapist and doctor reports, and previous IEPs. For those of you who are preparing an IEP binder, if you discover that you are missing school records, give your school a written request for the records, as you are allowed under Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”). The IEP binder will help you decide on IEP goals and provide you with evidence to support your arguments during the ARD meeting, if needed.
Being a present and contributing member of the ARD team can be hard work, but your child will need your involvement to get the most out of his or her public school experience.
Where Are Our Special Education Teachers?
I recently visited a popular job posting site and conducted a search for Special Education Teacher jobs in Houston, Texas. The results were amazing – 221 jobs in Houston waiting to be filled. Why so many? Has the general population not realized the growing need for qualified people to care for our children? Are our SpEd teachers burnt out from the extreme demands placed on them and have moved on? As I prepare to send my son back to school next week, I am relieved to know that his SpEd teacher is still at our school, but what about other schools in Texas?
In December 2015, the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) was replaced with the Every Student Succeeds Act (“ESSA”) with goals set to ensure students not only graduate from high school, but also attend college. In order for this federal Act to succeed, states are encouraged to be innovative accountable for results. According to their website, the Texas Education Agency (“TEA”) will attempt to fully implement ESSA by focusing on four goals: (i) improving our low-performing schools; (ii) tying high school success to a future with college and a career; (iii) getting back to basic reading and math; and most importantly (iv) “recruiting, supporting and retaining teachers and principals.”
As a parent of a child with special needs, your voice should be heard during this planning process. Provide feedback on the key policy decisions concerning your child’s education. We need keep our SpEd teachers from leaving their professions by paying these teachers proper compensation for all that they do every day with our kids. We need to attract additional skilled professionals and paraprofessionals.
ACT NOW – The Texas Education Agency is now accepting comments on the ESSA State Plan until August 29th.
Senate Vote Texas Vouchers for School
Parents,
All your work from years of ARD meetings, IEPs, and lawsuits will disappear once your student receiving special education services from public school uses vouchers for private school education. Private schools are not forced to follow the laws protecting your child’s education rights.
Click here to listen to the call from Filis Law Firm’s managing attorney Leona Filis to Pacifica Radio encouraging Texans to call their senators and tell them to vote NO to public school vouchers.
This segment was taken from the 7/24/2017 broadcast found at http://kpft.org/programming/newstalk/open-journal/
The Texas School Voucher proposal passed 19-12 in the state senate. The next step is the Texas House. Please contact your representatives.
COPAA alert about Medicaid and Students with Disabilities
As a parent with a child with autism and ADHD, I find myself joining many groups for parents of children with special needs. One such group is COPAA – Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates. From time to time, I receive notifications and articles from COPAA discussing pending legislation that could potentially impact my family. Below I am sharing such a notification/alert.
Protecting the Legal and Civil Rights of Students with Disabilities and their Families
(Please feel free to share this alert)
Dear Leona:
The U.S. Senate is currently negotiating a health care bill to replace the Affordable Care Act. There is support in the Senate to follow the House and reduce federal Medicaid spending by 25 percent by distributing Medicaid funds through a block-grant or a per-capita cap, which would shift costs to states and cut Medicaid by $4 billion each year! COPAA has advocated against these cuts and we need you to act with us.
Medicaid and Students with Disabilities
Medicaid permits payment to schools for certain medically necessary services provided to children under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) through an individualized education plan (IEP) or individualized family service plan (IFSP). Schools are eligible to be reimbursed for direct medical services to Medicaid eligible students with an IEP or IFSP. In addition, districts can be reimbursed by Medicaid for providing Early Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment Benefits (EPSDT), which provides Medicaid eligible children under age 21 with health screening, diagnosis and treatment services such as vision, hearing and more. Many schools and districts rely on Medicaid to provide services and to pay for certain personnel (e.g. school nurse, aides); to purchase and update specialized equipment; and to purchase and/or provide assistive technology and items needed for each child to access the school curriculum alongside their peers
Visit our Medicaid in Schools page to learn more.
Please reach out to your Senators today!
U.S. House Bill for Students with Visual and Hearing Challenges
Last month the 115th Congress was introduced to H. R 1120 called Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act by Pennsylvania Representative Matthew Cartwright.
Representative Cartwright previously introduced a similar bill in 2015; however, the 2015 bill was not enacted.
H.R.. 1120 focuses on the need to identify children who are deaf-blind, improve early intervention for affected infants and toddlers, and improve services for such children and their families. The proposed legislation would seek to serve children with a disability who is deaf or hard of hearing, with speech. This eligibility language could be more inclusive than states’ definitions of disability.
Click here for the text of H.R. 1120.