Remember, to watch webcasts of the OSEP Leadership Conference. Online viewing is available on July 29-31, 2013. OSEP Leasership Conference Free Webcasts, See agenda @ link below. Sessions to be webcast are marked w/ a computer icon or (Webcast). See Webcasts http://tadnet.adobeconnect.com/idea2013 To hear dial toll Free: 1-877-512-6886, Participant code: 8613019655
2012OSEP Project Directors' Conference . The 2012OSEP Project Directors' Conference will be held July 23–25, 2012, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in ...
*"*Sequestration sends a signal that the United States is backtracking on its commitment to reform and its long-standing promise to promote equity through Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA." *Fiscal year 2013 is a little more than two months away and sequestration kicks in three months after that on January 2nd -- so it's critically important that we – and the American people – fully understand the consequences of sequestration and take steps to avoid it now.* *The sequestration will put at risk all that we've accomplished in education and weaken ...more »
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.
DisabilityRightsWisconsin. 131 W. Wilson St. Suite 700 ... This is in response to your letter to me, dated December ... /s/ MelodyMusgrove. MelodyMusgrove, Ed.D. Director
Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick, Beth Swedeen, Lisa Pugh. Disability Rights Wisconsin. 131 W. Wilson St. Suite 700. Madison, Wisconsin 53703. Dear Mr. Spitzer-Resnick, Ms ...
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: 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
By Nirvi Shah on July 2, 2012 9:20 AM http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2012/07/least-restrictive_environment_.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2 ]
In 'The Capitol Insider Blog', The Arc - 'For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities' posted on by The Arc : In a June 22, 2012 letter sent to Disability Rights Wisconsin,... Dr. Musgrove clarified that if a work setting is an appropriate transition service for a student, it must be included in the child’s individualized education program (IEP). She also stated that the LRE provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) pertain to the employment portion of the student’s program and services in a segregated setting (work placement) if the use of supplementary aids and services (job coach, assistive technology) could not support the student in a less restrictive setting. The guidance indicated that schools should count students’ time spent in integrated employment settings as time spent inside the regular classroom.
Disability Scoop, 'The Premier Source on Developmental Disabilities News', reported:
Feds: Least Restrictive Environment Applies To Transition Too
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.”
Boards to pin on include: I am the 'I' in IEP.; 'Parents do understand...'; 'Apps for kids with Special Needs'; 'Therapies and Treatments'; 'Educating & Learning & Teaching'; 'picky-eaters'; 'Sensory relief'; 'AUTISTImotions'; and 'AUTsumers!'.
AUTISM IS A DISABILITY... and not just because it gets you a 'Disabilty' Parking Spot!http://t.co/rGDg8Eic
Disability Rights Wisconsin (DRW) is the state's protection and advocacy agency for people with all types of serious disabilities. It provides a wide variety of ...
Disability Rights Wisconsin has learned that the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) received a July 20 letter from the Center for Medicaid and Medicaid ...
A statewide resource for individuals, families, service professionals and others concerned with disability issues. Works to ensure the rights of all state citizens ...
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.
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is dedicated to improving results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21.
2012 OSEP Project Directors' Conference . The 2012 OSEP Project Directors' Conference will be held July 23–25, 2012, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in ...
OSEP assists states with implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As part of its mission, OSEP is charged with developing ...
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.
In 'The Capitol Insider Blog', The Arc - 'For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities' posted on : In a June 22, 2012 letter sent to Disability Rights Wisconsin,... Dr. Musgrove clarified that if a work setting is an appropriate transition service for a student, it must be included in the child’s individualized education program (IEP). She also stated that the LRE provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) pertain to the employment portion of the student’s program and services in a segregated setting (work placement) if the use of supplementary aids and services (job coach, assistive technology) could not support the student in a less restrictive setting. The guidance indicated that schools should count students’ time spent in integrated employment settings as time spent inside the regular classroom.
Disability Scoop, 'The Premier Source on Developmental Disabilities News', reported:
