TRANSLATOR

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Transition - Least Restrictive Environment beyond the Classroom



OSEP issues favorable transition LRE letter

Q & A with Office of Special Education Programs Director Melody Musgrove
Re:  Least Restrictive Environment applying to Transition and the Workplace

Question: Is the individualized education program (IEP) Team required to include work placement in a transition-age student's IEP?


Question:  Is the IEP Team required to provide parents with "notice of placement" when determining a student;s work placement?

Question:  Can segregated work be considered an appropriate outcome, particularly with appropriate assessment in a LRE before such a placement occurs?

Question:  Is the LEA required to provide suppplemental aids and services to allow the student to participate in the least restrictive work placement possible?

How must LRE for work placements be monitored?

Are State required to consider a student's work placement when they report the number of students participating in regular education?

This Q & A was prompted in response to a letter 'Disability Rights Wisconsin' sent to OSEP Director Musgrove on December 22, 2011.  They had a conversation about it on December 2, 2011, in which 'Disability Rights Wisconsin' requested an opinion from OSEP on the applicability of the least restrictive environment (LRE) requirements under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to transition work placement.  Director Musgrove addressed her response letter to Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick, Beth Swedeen, and Lisa Pugh.  The letterhead states:  United States Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, along with the official seal of the United States of America Department of Education.

OSEP Policy Letter dated June 22, 2012 (MS Word)

Disability Rights Wisconsin. 131 W. Wilson St. Suite 700 ... This is in response to your letter to me, dated December ... /s/ Melody Musgrove. Melody Musgrove, Ed.D. Director
www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/062212...
OSEP Policy Letter dated June 22, 2012 (MS Word)
Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick, Beth Swedeen, Lisa Pugh. Disability Rights Wisconsin. 131 W. Wilson St. Suite 700. Madison, Wisconsin 53703. Dear Mr. Spitzer-Resnick, Ms ...
www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/062212...

Disability Rights Wisconsin

DRW and the Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD) wrote a letter to the federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) seeking better guidance about the least restrictive environment (LRE) impact on community based transition services. OSEP responded with a favorable letter on June 22, 2012. Click here for the letter. [ http://www.disabilityrightswi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/OSEP-transition-letter.0622121.pdf ]

DRW and BPDD believe:
The letter provides more guidance to states on how to apply Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) requirements under Part B of IDEA to transition work placements. There has been confusion among states, school districts, IEP teams (including parents and youth) about how transition services can facilitate integrated employment. USDOE clearly states that transitions services are a coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that are designed as part of a results-oriented process. This process is meant to help the child move to post-school activities, which include integrated employment (including supported employment).
Transition services (including work placements) should be based on a child’s strengths and interests.
USDOE clearly state that a work placement, if it is included as part of a youth’s transition services, must be included in the child’s IEP and then is subject to the provisions of a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).
USDOE clearly states that when work placements are part of transition services, they must meet the LRE test, which includes the IEPs team’s determination that the youth is only receiving services in a segregated setting (segregated work placement) if the use of supplementary aids and services could not support the youth in a less restrictive setting. We believe those supplementary aids and services should include things like job coaches and assistive technology.
USDOE clearly states that, just as the LRE test applies in the classroom, supplementary aids and services based on peer reviewed research – must be provided to the youth to help him or her make progress in the work placement setting. An IEP team must consider those aids and services the can help the student participate with non-disabled peers.
USDOE clearly states that SEAs (DPI) has the responsibility to monitor whether LRE is being met for youth in work placements. Therefore a district would be expected to show a variety of work placements based on the strengths and interests of the youth in their district.
Posted in DRW Announcements, Public Policy on Thursday, June 28th, 2012

DRW Managing Attorney Jeff Spitzer-Resnick is quoted in an Education Week blog post on this topic: On Special Education Click here to read the blog post. [Spitzer-Resnick said these conversations must happen more often, because often for students with disabilities, especially severe disabilities, the job they get after high school is the job they have for the rest of their lives.
Otherwise, while a lot has been done to improve the education of students with disabilities, serve them more inclusively at school, and demand more of them academically, that effort may be going to waste.
"It is clearly the IDEA's goal that children get an education so they can lead a productive adult life," he said. "If we are doing a good job in the earlier years... and we end like this, what a waste of resources."

'Least-Restrictive Environment' Must Be Considered at Workplace, Too

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2012/07/least-restrictive_environment_.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2 ]

 Disability Scoop, 'The Premier Source on Developmental Disabilities News', reported:

Feds: Least Restrictive Environment Applies To Transition Too

By  
By law, students with disabilities are supposed to be included in general education to the greatest extent possible. Now, federal officials say the same tenet of inclusion should apply to transition as well.
Informal guidance issued recently from the U.S. Department of Education indicates that the requirement in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, that students be placed in the “least restrictive environment” extends beyond the confines of the classroom.
Specifically, the concept should apply to work placements if such experiences are part of a student’s individualized education program, or IEP, officials at the Education Department said.
“Placement decisions, including those related to transition services (including work placements), must be based on these (least restrictive environment) principles and made by the IEP team,” wrote Melody Musgrove, director of the Office of Special Education Programs at the Department of Education. “The IDEA does not prohibit segregated employment, but the (least restrictive environment) provisions would apply equally to the employment portion of the student’s program and placement.”

News of Musgrove’s letter was first reported by Education Week.
Read the entire article:
Feds: Least Restrictive Environment Applies To Transition Too - Disability Scoop

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Related information:


Disability Rights Wisconsin Externship | University of ...

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law.wisc.edu/academics/clinics/drw_externship.html

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Disability Rights Wisconsin: Disability.gov

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The Affordable Care Act and People with Disabilities

Read this informational paper from the Survival Coalition of Wisconsin Disability Organizations to understand what the Affordable Care Act means for people with disabilities, how it can promote employment of people with disabilities and next steps for implementation in the state. Click here to read the informational paper.

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