Child Find has Teeth! A Sign of Things to Come in IDEA Reauthorization?

Cases involving IDEA typically begin or end with the issuance of a prior written notice; either the school district has refused to initiate a service or proposed it, and parents disagree. Last week, the Ninth Circuit expanded this traditional framework.

In Compton Unified School District v. Starvenia Addison, a parent sued the school district seeking compensatory services because she alleged the district should have known her daughter, Addison, was eligible under IDEA, long before it found her eligible.  The facts, as alleged, are disturbing. While in high school, Addison failed all of her classes, played with crayons at her desk, played with dolls and urinated on herself. Still, the district continued to promote her from grade to grade. As the Court explained, “Addison’s mother was reluctant to have her ‘looked at,’ and School District officials decided not to ‘push.’” Finally, Addison’s mother requested an evaluation. The district granted her request, and the team found her eligible.

The school district argued a parent cannot sue until there is an “active” refusal of service, meaning the district must affirmatively refuse service and issue a prior written notice. The Court disagreed. It ruled that under child find a school district is obligated to actively find students with disabilities, and if it is negligent in doing so, it may have to pay for compensatory services. One judge dissented, however, stating this ruling inappropriately created a new right of action and weakened the family role by placing the entire responsibility for identifying a need for services on the district, which is contrary to IDEA’s stated goal of a family – school partnership.

This case comes on the heels of the well publicized Forest Grove v. T.A. where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a student does not have to have received special education services from a district to be eligible for reimbursement for private education. In combination, the cases stand for an expansion of the principle of child find.

It is unclear whether the District will appeal this case to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Regardless, it foreshadows what is certain to be an issue in the coming reauthorization of IDEA: when does a district refuse service?

Comments

[watkins]

This is an unfortunate outcome for other studnets with disabilities who are passed on to the next grade although they have not mastered the appropriate skills or becuase teachers and administration feel it is easier to promote them than to provide them with the appropriate services.

[Sue]

This serves as a reminder to our secondary schools of their obligation to conduct child find activities. Often I hear, "Oh, the parents don't want him/her assessed". It is our responsibility to follow up with the parents and maintain a written record of our actions/efforts to provide assistance to students.

[Patricia Porter]

This is sad for both the student, who has suffered because two responsible parties the parents, and the school district refused to take the steps necessary to assess, and make a plan and educate a student. I do believe that not all the responsiblity should be placed on the school however we are in the business of educating students that is our "job" and our responsibilty.

[Brittanie D. Wilson]

This is a prime example of why schools need to push to have students suspected of having a disability tested. I understand that the parent in this case may not have wanted her child to be labeled as "special," however there was clearly something wrong here and this poor child was the one that fell through the cracks in the system. It is sad but all too true that schools will pass the students on to the next grade level so that it can become "someone else's problem." All they are doing is creating a larger problem by not providing the proper services. With that said, I don't think the parent should get off totally free either. She had to suspect that something was wrong with her child and she should have also taken the necessary steps to have the child tested so the proper placement could have been made BEFORE the child got to high school.

In the end who really won? This poor child has gone her entire school career and I'm not so sure she has a lot to show for it. What a sad scenario.

[Catherine]

What would have happened and the school had "pushed" to identify this child for services against the parents wishes. Could the parent then claim additional problems were actually caused by this stress? If this girl was in high school, many teachers had come in contact with her, why didn't they bring up the issue. Was the student new to the district. Its really hard to judge what could have been going on by the facts presented.

[Leonie]

This is an unfortunate situation and the only person that has lost out on the opportunity of receiving an education best suited to their needs is the student. How can a responsible parent not "see" and acted on this foresight that developmentally all was not well with the child. Why would a responsible parent wait until the situation has escalated into the high school years before seeking to address the issue? On the other hand where was the school? Were there no advocates on the Child Study Team? wWhat role did the teacher play in all of this? How about child protective services, did they know of this situation? It is all too commonn an occurrence in today's classrooms. Parents are afraid to 'venture into the unknown' field of special education which has such a stigma attached to it. School is afraid to stand up for children and avenues that will intervene on behalf of the children are not sought. But all this is not about the parent; where were the teachers, (not one, several) the child study team, and the schools for that matter? This is a wake up call for all parties involved but more so the parent.

[Robert]

For a child to be this severe in high school is both a shame on the parent and the school system. Part of an educator's job is to identify and serve every child's needs. I see very little evidence of identifying and monitoring this student. This points out my main concern with NCLB. It seems more and more students are being "passed on" and not properly accommodated. We are leaving more and more children just like this one behind because we think "policy" instead of philosophy.

[Vida Amick]

IDEA requires all states to comply with the Child Find system so that children at risk can be identified and get the services they so desperately need. It is so unfortunate for the child when a district has done their job, identified the student, only to have the parent refuse services. Thank goodness the parent refusals are much less frequent than parent acceptance of services. Just recently, at my school, we had a parent whose son qualified for special services. She moved out of our school district before we could make him eligible for special services. Unfortunately, he may be one of the students who gets passed on from grade to grade, never getting what he needs, because the parent chose to ignore his learning problems.

[JRockwood]

It is both concerning and disheartening that a student in high school who was this severe was not assessed and found elgible for services much sooner. There really should have been more people advocating for this student even if her mother was not intially doing so. It really should not have taken child find or a ruling to assist this student. Students have to identified as early as possible to incorporate plans and best meet their needs ensuring that their abilities will increase and that they can be successful.

[Leila Rodulfa]

It is very heartbreaking that the child was not able to receive special education since the first day of school. No one in her school advocated for her inspite that her parents were hesitant or reluctant to provide addison An Assessment ofr Special education elligibility. Child Find Law under IDEA stated that the school will provide Addison initial assessment for appropriate placement inspite of the parents's reluctancy.

[Robert]

While true the school system should have tested this little girl, I put most of the blame on the parents. These parents didn't have enough sense to ask for help, but they did have a lawyer. Now this will cost that county many hundreds of thousands of dollars.

From what I am reading, the parents did not initially want their child labeled?? Now they are blaming the school system for not identifying their child and want compensation.

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[wood pellet fuel]

however there was clearly something wrong here and this poor child was the one that fell through the cracks in the system. It is sad but all too true that schools will pass the students on to the next grade level so that it can become "someone else's problem." All they are doing is creating a larger problem by not providing the proper services.

[Foreign Language Learner]

This child deserves a fair chance. I hope someone learns from this so we can prevents future issues like this one.

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yea, agree completely. We use Amber alerts frequently and they seem to elicit a good response from the citizens.

[Sharon Cottle]

My first response is anger at the parents for not listening to the school when it was first suggested that this young lady should be evaluated. At the same time I'm wondering about the school district. There are so many unknowns in this situation. Did this family move around from district to district? This is one way that kids fall through the cracks. If not, you would think her teachers were creating a paper trail of interventions and attempts to work with the family. This doesn't sound like a student who was simply underachieving and teachers concerned. This child sounds like her issues would have been noticed by staff and students alike. Why wouldn't anyone intervene for her?

It is also sad, as someone stated earlier, that although the parents didn't advocate for their own child by getting her the help she needed, they seemed to be able to find a lawyer who would advocate for them. I feel they are just as much to blame as the school district.