News and other information you might find useful…..
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The following press release is from WGBH:
Press Contact:
Karen Frascona
617.300.5465
December 28, 2009 (updated 1/5/10)
WGBH Radio announced today a 10-part special report Educating Everyone: The Struggles and Costs of Special Education in Massachusetts, airing weekdays beginning Monday, January 11 at 7:35am on 89.7 WGBH, Boston's NPR Station for News and Culture, and WCAI 90.1, 91.1 and 94.3 for the Cape and Islands.
A complete archive of each report will be available online at www.wgbh.org/897.
Educating Everyone examines the challenges presented in educating special-needs children, following 10 different families in 10 different communities in Massachusetts as they tell their unique stories. Produced by 89.7 interim news director Steve Young, the series is an in-depth
examination of the myriad of struggles faced by towns, school districts, parents, and most of all, the disabled children at the center of the issue.
The series is rooted in the passage of a federal law 35 years ago, designed to "mainstream" children with disabilities and "educate everyone." While the law pledged funding for 40 percent of special education costs, that share has never reached higher than 18 percent. Viewed as one of the largest unfunded mandates in United States history, the mandate has become a
burden on every school district in the country. In Massachusetts, individual towns bear nearly the full expense of Special Education, with costs rising to over $100,000 per child in some cases.
Increased needs and shrinking budgets compound the issue across the state. Over the past 20 years, behavioral and developmental disorders like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia have risen significantly. Autism, a rare disease in the 1970s, has seen a dramatic increase; cases of autism have surged from 1 in 10,000 20 years ago to 1 in 150 today. Coupled with a deepening recession that has deceased tax revenues, towns are unable to meet the needs of their communities.
Descriptions of each report follow:
"Starting Out"
Monday, January 11; Reporter: Sean Corcoran
The Johnsons of Marston Mills have a son with developmental disabilities. When he reached school age, they were unaware as to what to expect from the system. They soon got an education.
"Early Intervention"
Tuesday, January 12; Reporter: Cathy Corman
The Amarals of Dartmouth wondered why their infant son was slow to reach significant developmental milestones. Early intervention prior to attending school helped him to exceed expectations.
-more-
"New School"
Wednesday, January 13; Reporter: Sean Corcoran
Susan Danton couldn't get the therapies and help she says her autistic son needed from the school system. So she started her own school, hiring staff and consultants and garnering the proper approvals. Now school is open, and her son is the first student.
"To Advocate or Not?"
Thursday, January 14; Reporter: Cathy Corman
Sometimes things can become heated when parents and school administrators sit down to formulate a plan for a special education student. Is requesting assistance from an educational advocate or a lawyer the right answer? What's available for parents who need help advocating for their children?
"Endless Battle"
Friday, January 15; Reporter: Sean Corcoran
Jennifer is an assistant Special Education teacher in Harwich; however, despite being a part of the system, she can't find help for her own child.
"Among the Elite"
Monday, January 18; Reporter: Cathy Corman
Public schools stretch to meet the needs of exceptionally bright students, while also going to great lengths to educate their most severely disabled students. What happens when a student is both exceptionally bright and severely disabled? One Roxbury family experienced this unique challenge.
"Appeals Court"
Tuesday, January 19: Reporter: Sean Corcoran
When parents and school districts find themselves in conflict over what services a child needs and deserves under the law, there is a process available to help reach agreement. The process can go all the way to a state hearing, though most often things are settled before then. In this report, a parent discusses the appeals process.
"Lost in Translation"
Wednesday, January 20: Reporter: Cathy Corman
Families seeking help for children with special educational needs often face significant obstacles. Those obstacles may become insurmountable when families don't speak English and schools don't have appropriate interpreting services. Parents originally from China and Puerto Rico describe their feelings of frustration and helplessness in this report.
"Inclusion"
Thursday, January 21: Reporter: Cathy Corman
The 3400 children born with Down Syndrome each year in the United States are different physically, socially, and intellectually. A generation ago, these children were routinely institutionalized. A family in Westford made sure their daughter was included in a mainstream school since kindergarten.
"Our Children, Our Challenge"
Friday, January 22: Reporter: Sean Corcoran
While parents face challenges compelling school districts to do what's required of them under the law, districts struggle to fund special education. And that struggle has become more pronounced over the past two years as the state and local budget crises have deepened. School districts
talk about the challenges they face as the try to do what's right by children.
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Kennedy Foundation Public Policy Fellowship Program 2010-2011
The Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation is seeking exemplary professionals and/or family members of persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities who are currently working or volunteering in the field of inclusive services and supports for people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities for an intensive one-year Public Policy Fellowship in Washington, D.C. The Foundation anticipates up to three fellowships will be awarded for the period July, 2010-June 30, 2011. The Fellowship starting date will be negotiated with the successful applicant.
The application deadline for 2010-2011 is March 5, 2010 by 5:00 P.M. EST.
For more information go to
http://www.jpkf.org/Fellowship_guidelines/PublicPolicyFellowshipAnnouncement
2010-2011.pdf
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Teens with Intellectual Disabilities Needed for Research Study
Looking for Teens Ages 13-18 to Participate in the Teens’ Recreation and Activity Choices (TRAC) Study, a Research Study of Adolescents with and without Intellectual Disabilities
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Waltham, MA is looking for adolescents with and without intellectual disabilities to participate in a research study to learn more about what teens do in their free time. A better understanding of how teens spend their free time is an important first step toward designing effective health promotion programs. The study is currently in its pilot phase, so we are looking for families to participate in the interviews we have developed to determine whether the questions are clear so that we may use them successfully in our larger study.
Pilot TRAC Study Details:
* Attend one visit at the Shriver Center in Waltham, MA. This visit will last approximately 1 hour.
* Flexible scheduling; appointments available daytime, afternoons, evenings, and weekends.
* Parents will complete a questionnaire and interview regarding their teens’ activities.
* Teens will participate in an interview on how they spend their free time.
* Parents and teens will be asked for their feedback about the interview questions.
* Parents and teens will be compensated for their participation.
For more information or to enroll in the TRAC study, please contact:
Melissa Maslin at (781) 642-0292
~ Free Parking Available ~
UMMS IRB Docket #:
H-13242
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A NEW REPORT FROM UCLA:
Interventions to Support Readiness, Recruitment, Access, Transition, and Retention for Postsecondary Education Success: An Equity of Opportunity Policy and Practice Analysis
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/postsecondary.pdf
Recognition is growing about the public health and civil rights imperative for reducing the high rate of school dropouts. However, too little policy attention is paid to enhancing equity of opportunity for those transitioning from adolescence to young adulthood by increasing enrollment and success in postsecondary education.
Previous policy and practice reports from the Center at UCLA have provided analyses indicating that reducing dropouts, increasing graduation rates, and closing the achievement gap require more than improving preK-12 instruction and enhancing school management. In doing so, those analyses clarified fundamental flaws in prevailing school improvement policies and practices
for addressing barriers to learning and teaching and recommended transformative changes.
This new report extends the earlier work by analyzing postsecondary education. Given concerns about diversity and the degree to which some subgroups are underrepresented in postsecondary education, the report stresses that it is essential to use the lenses of equity of opportunity and
social justice in rethinking postsecondary education policies and practices. Using these lenses, the report focuses on interventions for improving K-12 in ways that reduce dropouts and improve readiness for postsecondary education, programs for bolstering recruitment and access, and efforts to facilitate transition and retention; recommendations for a shift in policy to enhance equity of opportunity are offered. The work is particularly timely given the increasing calls for enhancing enrollment in and completion of postsecondary education programs and for ensuring inclusion of more and more students from subgroups that have been underrepresented for too long.
For this report to have value, it needs to be shared. Please forward it to anyone you think should be paying attention to these matters.
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/postsecondary.pdf
School Mental Health Project/
Center for Mental Health in Schools
UCLA Dept. of Psychology
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563
(310) 825-3634 / Toll Free: (866) 846-4843 / Fax: (310) 206-8716
Email: smhp@...
Web: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu
Share Your Transition Experience
The Federation for Children with Special Needs recently developed a brief, online transition survey to gather information on the Transition experiences of students who were ages 14 - 22 during the 2008-2009 school year. If you are the parent or advocate for one of these students, or if you are yourself a student of Transition age, please follow the link below to the survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229EYL5EHJN
Ed Extras: Pre-K
Helpful information about learning brought to you
by Reading Rockets, Colorín Colorado, and LD OnLine
Does My Preschooler Have a Developmental Delay?
It’s natural to want the very best for your child, and to worry when you begin to suspect there might be a problem. Parents and caregivers are often the first to notice delays, and these concerns should be discussed with the family doctor or pediatrician. A diagnosis for developmental delay can be made by a physician after careful and thorough evaluations.
Developmental milestones exist for many areas, for example motor, language, social and thinking skills. It is important to remember that there are wide ranges within each set of milestones. Developmental delays are not small differences in reaching milestones, they are more ongoing, and reflect major delays in development.
Language and speech problems are among the most common types of developmental delay. Speech has to do with how your child produces sounds and words and her voice, and language has to do with how well your child understands others and how well your child can share thoughts, ideas, and feelings. It’s important to talk with your doctor about speech and language development at every routine well-child visit.
According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, a two-to-three-year-old child should be able to understand the differences in meaning (big-little, up-down) and can follow to requests (“Get the book and put it on the table.”) Most two-to-three-year-old children have a word for almost everything, can use two or three words to talk about and ask for things, and their speech is understood by those who know the child. By the age of three to four, a child can answer simple, “Who?”, “What?”, “Where?” questions, are understood by people outside of the family, and can talk in sentences that have four or more words.
If you have concerns or questions about your child’s speech and language development, do not hesitate to contact your pediatrician or family doctor. Your doctor may encourage you to seek help from a certified speech-language pathologist, or point you in the direction of some early intervention services. The earlier you seek help, the earlier your preschooler can receive any extra help he or she may need.
For more information, read “How Does Your Child Hear and Talk?”
www.ReadingRockets.org/article/5129
October 21 2009
New AT development
Camera Mouse is a free program that enables you to control the mouse pointer on your computer screen just by moving your head. The main audience for this program is people who do not have reliable control of a hand but who can move their head. The program was developed by researchers at Boston College and Boston University to help people with disabilities use the computer.
http://www.cameramouse.org/
October 16, 2009
Introduction of New Mental Health Services in Massachusetts
In response to the court ruling in Rosie D. v. Patrick, Massachusetts has created a new Medicaid children’s mental health system. For the first time, youth under 21 will be able to receive a range of mental health services and supports based in their homes and communities, including Intensive Care Coordination. These services will be delivered in a way that builds on children’s strengths, empowers their families, appreciates their cultures and addresses their unique needs.
A child may be entitled to receive the new services if he or she is:
#9679; Eligible for MassHealth;
• Under the age of 21; and
• Has serious emotional or behavioral health needs.
The new services include:
• Intensive Care Coordination
• Family Training and Support
• Mobile Crisis Intervention
• In-Home Behavioral Services
• In-Home Therapy Services
• Therapeutic Mentoring
Please visit www.rosied.org for more detailed information about MassHealth’s new behavioral health services and the Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative.
Assistance for Children and Families
The Center for Public Representation (CPR) is a public interest law firm which has served persons with disabilities for the past 35 years. As counsel for the plaintiff class Rosie D., CPR is committed to ensuring access to the new services and is available to provide consultation, referral assistance and direct representation to eligible youth and families. Please contact the Center if you have been denied access to services for any of the following reasons:
• A clinician determined that the youth does not have a serious emotional disturbance (SED);
• A Community Service Agency (CSA) determined that Intensive Care Coordination (ICC) is not medically necessary;
• A Managed Care Entity decided to deny, reduce, or prematurely terminate a requested service;
• A disagreement between the Individual Care Planning Team and state agencies has not been resolved through the dispute resolution process.
You can request further assistance and representation by calling (617) 965-0776. A legally authorized representative (youth over 18, parent/guardian) is required to consent to and direct ongoing representation.
October 16, 2009
Come to a Health Care Town Hall Meeting on this coming Monday. Congressman Markey is now our Senior ranking member of the Mass Delegation.
MEDFORD, MA. - U.S. Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Malden), a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, today announced that he will host a health care reform town hall meeting this Monday evening in Natick.
WHO: Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Malden)
WHAT: Health Care Reform Town Hall
WHEN: 7:00PM; Monday, October 19, 2009
WHERE: Wilson Middle School Auditorium
22 Rutledge St., Natick
October 16, 2009
LADDERS now taking adolescent/adult patients with Autism
Lurie Family Autism Center LADDERS OPEN HOUSE;
Date: Thursday, November 5, 2009, 4-6:30 p.m.,
Location: 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA 02421
The Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation has donated $29 million to create the Lurie Family Autism Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.
LADDERS is the clinical component of the Lurie Family Autism Center. In addition to caring for children with autism and related disorders, we will expand our care to provide evaluations and services for adolescents and adult patients with autism, Asperger's syndrome and developmental
disabilities.
Join us for an open house to celebrate the expansion of the LADDERS Program, meet the specialists at the Center and enjoy some refreshments.
Thursday, November 5, 2009, 4 - 6:30 p.m., 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA02421
If you plan on attending the event, please email us at LurieCenterLadders@partners.org
For more information about the Lurie Family Autism Center LADDERS, please visit us online at www.massgeneralforchildren.org/LFAC-LADDERS or call 781-860-1700.
We look forward to seeing you.
Lurie Family Autism Center LADDERS 1 Maguire Road, Lexington, MA 02421
Children's Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI) Update
October 9, 2009
MassHealth Rolls Out Two More Community-Based Services: In-Home Behavioral Services and Therapeutic Mentoring. Two new community-based behavioral health services for MassHealth-enrolled children and youth under age 21 began on October 1, 2009. In-Home Behavioral Services provides support to children and youth with challenging behaviors. Therapeutic Mentoring Services provides a therapeutic mentor to work one-on-one with a child. The mentor supports and coaches the child or youth learn social skills, such as better ways to communicate with other children and adults, how to deal with different opinions and how to get along with others.
How to Access These Services: To access In-Home Behavioral Services or Therapeutic Mentoring, a child or youth must be receiving services from a "clinical hub", either: outpatient therapy, In-Home Therapy, or Intensive Care Coordination (ICC). The child's treatment plan, developed by one of these "clinical hub" providers, must include a goal which requires one of the new services to address. Families should talk to their child's behavioral health provider about these services, or they can call the customer service department of their MassHealth Health Plan. (These numbers are listed at the end of this notice.) Lists of providers of the new services
can be found on any of the MassHealth Health Plan's websites.
In-Home Therapy Will Become Available Nov. 1, 2009: In-Home Therapy (IHT) provides intensive therapy for a child and family to treat the child's behavioral health needs and help the family support the child in the home. Contact information for In-Home Therapy providers may be found on any of the MassHealth Health Plan's websites. Families may contact IHT providers directly, or they may call the customer service department of their MassHealth Health Plan for assistance.
Community Service Agencies (CSA)s Serving Over 1,600 Children and Youth:
The MassHealth Managed Care Entities (MCEs) have reported over 1,691children and youth are currently being served by the 32 CSAs located across the state.
Click here to see the list of CSAs
The CSAs began delivering services to MassHealth-enrolled children and youth under age 21 on June 30, 2009. They provide two of the five new MassHealth behavioral health services, 1) Intensive Care Coordination (ICC) and 2) Family Support and Training (Family Partners), to children and youth with serious emotional disturbance (SED).
Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams Delivering Needed Services: Emergency Service Providers (ESPs) began delivering round-the-clock Mobile Crisis Intervention services on June 30, 2009. Since that time, Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams have recorded over 2,040 mobile crisis interventions or "encounters" with MassHealth-enrolled children and youth under age 21. The MassHealth Managed Care Entities (MCE) and Mobile Crisis Intervention providers are presently working within their communities to educate families, caregivers and others about the availability of crisis services in the home and community. Many people are still accustomed to the previous practice of crisis service delivery through the hospital emergency room.
Get the statewide directory of Mobile Crisis Intervention providers Click HERE
CBHI Informational Meetings with K - 12 Schools. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Children's Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI) are co-sponsoring a series of seven half-day informational meetings this fall. A well attended first meeting took place on October 8th at the South Shore Collaborative. Subsequent meetings will be held throughout October and in early November. A schedule of the remaining meetings will be distributed shortly. The purpose of the meetings is inform school principals, special education directors and staff, school nurses, school psychologists and guidance and adjustment counselors of MassHealth's new home and community-based behavioral health services. Attendees will receive information on CBHI, including descriptions of the new services and how staff can help students access these and other MassHealth behavioral health services. Discussions include how schools can refer to and collaborate with providers of the new services and familarities/differences between the ICC care planning process and the process for developing an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Contact Information for the MassHealth Health Plans Boston Medical Center (BMC) HealthNet Plan: 1-888-566-0010 (English and other languages) or 1-888-566-0012 (Spanish) (TTY: 1-800-421-1220 for people with partial or total hearing loss)
Fallon Community Health Plan: 1-800-868-5200 (TTY: 1-877-608-7677 for people with partial or total hearing loss)
Neighborhood Health Plan: 1-800-462-5449 (TTY: 1-800-655-1761 for people with partial or total hearing loss)
Network Health: 1-888-257-1985 (TTY: 1-888-391-5535 for people with partial or total hearing loss)
Primary Care Clinician (PCC) Plan: 1-800-841-2900 (TTY: 1-800-497-4648 for people with partial or total hearing loss)
Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership: 1-800-495-0086 (TTY:
617-790-4130 for people with partial or total hearing loss)
CBHI Children's Behavioral Health Initiative
http://www.mass.gov/masshealth/childbehavioralhealth
Email us:cbhi@state.ma.us
College/Grad School Scholarship Opp for Student’s w/disabilities
The American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) is proud to announce the creation of the 2009 AAHD Scholarship Program. The AAHD Scholarship Program will support students with disabilities who are pursuing higher education. Preference will be given to students who plan to
pursue undergraduate/graduate studies in the field of public health, health promotion, or disability studies, to include disability policy and disability research. Royalties from the Disability and Health Journal will fund the first year of the AAHD Scholarship Program.
Visit http://www.aahd.us to read more about the Scholarship Program and to download the
application. Application deadline - must be postmarked by October 15, 2009.
MassHealth Launches New Behavioral Health Services for Children and Young Adults (click here to learn more)
The Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI) is an interagency effort of the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services. CBHI’s mission is to strengthen, expand and integrate Massachusetts state mental health services into a comprehensive community-based system of care, to ensure that families and their children with significant behavioral, emotional and mental health needs receive the services necessary for success in the home, school and community.
6/25/09
Links to three new Q&A documents recently posted on the IDEA.ed.gov Web site.
We hope this information is useful to you!
Questions and Answers on Discipline Procedures:
Questions and Answers on Disproportionalty:
Questions and Answers on Secondary Transition:
Didn’t find the information you were looking for? We have much more information available via the Sped PACs Yahoo Group.
Go to the Contact Us page and click on the Yahoo Group Button.
This is an informational page only. If you have news or information to post please email it to worcspedpac@worcesterspedpac.org
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