Policy

State Laws on School Nursing Responsibilities

Child Trends, in partnership with EMT Associates, analyzed the landscape of state statutes and regulations as of October 2021 to better understand how state laws and policies define the role of school nurses. This 2022 brief presents their findings.

Knowing your state’s school nurse policies is important to practitioners, Parent Centers, families, and education administrators and staff alike. The brief details state policies on such matters as whether districts must employ school nurses, what qualifications are required, and nurses’ role in individual aspects of the work.

Additionally, the brief provides current data on state policies for a school nurse’s role in: managing chronic conditions; administering medication; developing and managing student health plans; student immunizations; and infectious disease control. Read CPIR’s abstract and access the brief here.

Supporting Students with Disabilities and Avoiding the Discriminatory Use of Student Discipline under Section 504

On July 19, 2022, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services released multiple guidance documents to help public elementary and secondary schools fulfill their responsibilities to meet the needs of students with disabilities and avoid the discriminatory use of student discipline. These newly released resources are the most comprehensive guidance on the civil rights of students with disabilities concerning student discipline, and include: (1) a 41-page guidance on avoiding the discriminatory use of student discipline under Section 504; (2) an accompanying fact sheet summarizing the main points of the guidance; (3) a 57-page Q&A regarding IDEA’s disciplinary provisions; (4) a 19-page technical assistance guide describing positive, proactive approaches to supporing the needs of children with disabilities; and (5) a letter from Secretary of Education Cardona to stakeholders. Read more about and connect with each document in CPIR’s abstract.

Return to School | Child Find and Early Intervention Services

This webinar for Parent Centers focuses on important guidance from the U.S. Department of Education. Presenters from OSEP review the new Part C guidance documents: (1) Return to School Roadmap: Child Find, Referral, and Eligibility; and Return to School Roadmap: Provision of Early Intervention Services. The Department issued the guidance interpreting the requirements of IDEA in response to requests from a diverse group of stakeholders, including Parent Centers. Both roadmaps are also available in Spanish, as is this webinar.

Return to School Roadmap | Child Find under Part B of IDEA

This Q&A document (OSEP QA 21-05) on Child Find under Part B of IDEA reaffirms the importance of appropriate implementation of IDEA’s child find obligations, which requires the identification, location and evaluation, of all children with disabilities in the states.

OCR’s Restraint and Seclusion Agreement with Saco Public Schools in Maine

(2021, November 5) | Relevant to Parent Centers, families of children with disabilities, disability advocates, and state and local public education systems with respect to policies and practices regarding restraint and seclusion of children with disabilities   The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Education has resolved its compliance review of […]

Return to School Roadmap: Child Find, Referral, and Eligibility

(2021, October 29) | Useful at the state and local levels of the Part C Early Intervention service system, early interventionists, and Parent Center staff and others who work with families of infants and toddlers with disabilities. Also available in Spanish | Hoja de ruta para el regreso a la escuela: búsqueda, derivación y elegibilidad […]

Provision of Early Intervention Services for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities and their Families

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) at the U.S. Department of Education has released yet another guidance in its Return to School Roadmap series–this one is called Provision of Early Intervention Services for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities and their Families under Part C of IDEA. The 11-page document focuses on the development and implementation of Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP), the written plan for providing early intervention services to an infant or toddler with a disability and the child’s family. The questions and answers addressed are intended to provide guidance and to identify the relevant requirements and options for flexibility for the State lead agencies (LA) and EIS providers when faced with unprecedented programmatic circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more about this Q&A, see a list of the questions addressed, and connect with this and other guidances in OSERS’ Return to School roadmap series here, at CPIR.

Webinar | Return to School: Development and Implementation of IEPs

This webinar focuses on important guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, issued on September 30th and entitled Return to School Roadmap: Development and Implementation of IEPs in the LRE. The guidance stresses the importance of revisiting the needs of students with disabilities as they return to classrooms. Have the needs and learning difficulties of individual students changed, given the impact of COVID-19, remote learning, and isolation? Do goals in the IEP need to be changed, do the services and supports to be provided need to be adjusted? Presenters from OSEP explore these and other questions, including compensatory services and addressing the school-related health needs of returning students.

Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral and Mental Health

This release from the U.S. Department of Education joins the many recent products from ED to support how schools and communities support and see to the well-being of children. “Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral and Mental Health” provides information and resources to enhance the promotion of mental health and the social and emotional well-being among children and students. This resource highlights 7 key challenges to providing school- or program-based mental health support across early childhood, K–12 schools, and higher education settings, and presents 7 corresponding recommendations. This resource includes many real-world examples of how the recommendations are being put into action by schools, communities, and states across the country.

Read more about the challenges discussed and the recommendations explored, and access the publication here.

Return to School Roadmap: Development and Implementation of IEPs in the Least Restrictive Environment

Adding to its Return to School Roadmap series, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) at the U.S. Department of Education issues this Q&A document, which highlights certain IDEA requirements related to the development and implementation of IEPs and other information that states, school systems, regular and special education teachers, related services providers, and parents should consider as students with disabilities return to school in Fall 2021.

The 41-page document is the Department’s response to the requests it received from a diverse group of stakeholders, asking that the Department issue new guidance interpreting requirements of the IDEA in light of the many challenges of the COVID‑19 pandemic and as more schools and programs are returning to in-person services. Read more about the Q&A, see its Table of Contents, and access it (and other documents in the Roadmap series) in our abstract of this Featured Resource.