SECURING FUNDING OF SERVICES FOR AUTISTIC CHILDREN

I. LOCAL REGIONAL CENTER

How do parents request regional center services?

1. Call the central intake line of your local regional center and say you want to begin the application process for services.

2. Within 15 working days your child will be seen by a regional center staff person for an initial intake and a decision to provide an assessment will be made.

3. Within 120 calendar days following the initial intake, your child's eligibility will be determined (60 days where the delay would expose your child to unnecessary risk to his or her health and safety or to significant further delay in mental or physical development, or the child would be put at imminent risk of placement in a more restrictive environment). Any needed assessments will be completed within this time period. After July 1, 2006 , the assessment shall be performed within 60 days following intake and if unusual circumstances prevent the completion of assessment within 60 days, this assessment period may be extended by one 30-day period with the advance written approval of the department.

4. Within 60 calendar days after eligibility is determined, an IPP (Individual Program Plan) will be completed. If a final agreement regarding services cannot be reached, a subsequent meeting will take place within 15 days.

When are autistic children eligible for regional center services?

Autism is considered to be a lifelong developmental disability qualifying a child as eligible indefinitely for services from the regional center. Although not referred to as "early intervention services" provided through the Early Start Program after the age of three years, eligibility for regional center services does not stop when a child reaches the age of three.

The eligibility of a child for regional center services is not affected by the financial resources of the child or the child's parents. An exception to this general rule became effective on January 1, 2005 in the form of the Family Cost Participation Program (FCPP). The FCPP requires parental contribution for children over the age of three years who are living at home and are receiving day care, respite and/or camping services from a regional center.

The family cost participation (FCP) is calculated according to the family's annual income and the number of individuals that live in the home. The amount of the required contribution is on a sliding scale and ranges from 5% to 80%. Families affected are those that have an annual income of 4 times the federal poverty level or more. For example, under the April 1, 2005 FCP assessment schedule, a family of 2 with annual income of $51,320, a family of 3 with an income of $64,360, or a family of 4 with an income of $77,400 would be required to make a 5% contribution.

What services do regional centers provide?

1. Early intervention services to minimize the impact of the disability. These may specifically include behavior modification therapy or applied behavior
analysis
( ABA ).
2. Hearing and/or vision services
3. Family training, counseling and home visits
4. Medical services (for diagnostic or evaluative purposes)
5. Nursing
6. Nutrition counseling
7. Occupational and physical therapy
8. Psychological services
9. Respite
10. Speech and language therapy
11. Transportation
12. Family support groups
13. Assistive technology devices
14. Diapers and other supplies
15. Child care supplementation (if rate exceeds the rate charged for other children)
16. Residential living options
17. Adult day programs
18. Supported employment
19. Advocacy services

How can parents appeal a regional center's refusal of requested services?

Fair hearing is the process to appeal a decision made by a regional center.

Fair hearing is initiated by submitting a request form available on the Department of Developmental Services website to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). This request can be for a fair hearing, a voluntary informal meeting with the local regional center director, a voluntary mediation or any combination of these procedures.

If an informal meeting with the local regional center director is requested, it will be scheduled on a mutually agreeable date within 10 calendar days of submitting the request and the person requesting the meeting will be advised of the decision reached by the director within 5 working days after the informal meeting has taken place.

If an informal meeting or mediation is not requested, a due process fair hearing will be conducted before an administrative law judge (ALJ) of the OAH within 50 days of receipt of the request for fair hearing. A written decision shall be issued within 10 working days of the hearing, but not later than 80 days after receipt of the fair hearing request.

III. LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Are autistic children eligible for special education services?

"Special education" is specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. Autism is specifically recognized in the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) as a disability.

Special education can include instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions and in other settings and instruction in physical education.

A "free appropriate public education" (FAPE) is available to all children with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21.

"Least restrictive environment" (LRE) - To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities are educated with children who are not disabled. Special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature and extent of the disability is such that education in the regular classes with supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

How is a referral for special education services initiated?

A written request is made to the child's teacher, principal or special education administrative office. The request is a referral for assessment for special education services. The school district is required to present an assessment plan within 15 calendar days. The parents then have 15 calendar days to determine if they will consent to the proposed assessments.

Within 50 calendar days of the district's receipt of the written consent to assessment, the assessments must be completed and the IEP (Individualized Education Program) developed. The IEP is developed at a meeting of the IEP team.

What can a parent do if there is disagreement over eligibility, placement, services offered or refused or inappropriate goals and objectives?

A parent can file for a due process fair hearing with the Special Education Hearing Office (SEHO). If the parent believes there is a violation of special education law by the district, the parent may also file a compliance complaint with the California Department of Education (CDE).

SEHO has 45 days from the day it receives the due process hearing request to make a decision. The CDE has 60 days from receipt of a compliance complaint to carry out any necessary investigation and to resolve a complaint.

When a fair hearing request is made, a mediation (basically a settlement conference) will be scheduled if both the school district and the parents agree to participate.

If the parents prevail at a due process fair hearing, they may recover attorney's fees and costs incurred.

III. MEDICAL INSURANCE

Assembly Bill 88:

1. Every healthcare plan issued, amended or renewed on or after July 1, 2000 shall "provide coverage for the diagnosis and medically necessary treatment of severe mental illnesses of a person of any age" in an amount equal to those benefits offered "to other medical conditions". Health & Safety Code § 1374.72 (a); Insurance Code § 10144.5 (a).
2. "Severe mental illnesses" are defined to include: "(1) schizophrenia; (2) schizoaffective disorders; (3) bipolar disorders (manic-depressive illness); (4) major depressive disorders; (5) panic disorder; (6) obsessive-compulsive disorder; (7) pervasive developmental disorder or autism ; (8) anorexia nervosa; and (9) bulimia nervosa". Health & Safety Code §1374.72 (d) (1)-(9); Insurance Code §10144.5 (d)(1)-(9).

This legislation expressly applies to: "(1) outpatient services; (2) inpatient hospital services; (3) partial hospital services; (4) prescription drugs, if the...contract includes coverage [already] for prescription drugs". Health & Safety Code § 1374.72 (b)(1)-(4); Insurance Code § 10144.5(b)(1)-(4).

WEBSITE ADDRESS: www.anthonychildadvocates.com

RECOMMENDED REFERENCE LINKS:

www.wrightslaw.com
www.copaa.net
www.pai-ca.org
www.autism-law.com

Parents need competent legal guidance to assist them in procuring special education services that their children with disabilities need.

It is our mission to provide that guidance.

Today's choices have lasting effects.
Your child's lost opportunities may never be recovered.

Grigori Potemkin constructed elaborate facades that appeared to be picturesque villages with inhabitants happily engaged in commerce and other pursuits. These facades were constructed along routes traveled by Queen Catherine to conceal from her the poverty and misery existing just beyond her sight. A Potemkin village was a moveable, fake village designed to give the Queen a satisfying but false experience of the state of her dominions.

I recently arranged for a psychologist to conduct an observation of a nonverbal 5-year-old autistic boy in his special day class. The boy had become increasingly more agitated during his enrollment in the class. Unknown to the mother, another more aggressive child had targeted her son and the teacher was under specific instructions from the school psychologist to not tell the mother of any problems her son may be experiencing in the classroom. The mother directly asked the school psychologist whether she knew the cause of her son’s growing agitation. The psychologist, knowing the precise cause from the teacher, said it was a pity that the boy could not communicate better and tell his mother what was troubling him.

When the mother frantically confronted the teacher and told her in tears that it was not fair to conceal from her the cause of her son’s distress, the teacher relented and disclosed what was happening to her son in the classroom and disclosed also the school psychologist’s instructions that prevented her from telling the mother earlier.

On the day before the scheduled observation, the school psychologist and special education coordinator met with the teacher. The teacher was instructed to remove the aggressive child from the classroom on the day of the observation. That child, and any other disruptive children, were to be hidden in another classroom until after the visiting psychologist left. The teacher was instructed to cancel the recess period so the visitor would not see the confusion that often occurred during recess. The teacher was to erase the class schedule from the blackboard so the visiting psychologist would not be alerted to the fact that the normal scheduling was being abandoned for her benefit.

The teacher’s conscience would not allow her to go through with this elaborate deception. She alerted the mother who in turn alerted the visiting psychologist. At the time of the observation, questions were posed to the special education coordinator, the school psychologist and the teacher regarding the variance in the classroom attendance and schedule. Despite the lies told by the school psychologist and special education coordinator, the teacher confessed the details of the deception that was taking place.

The exposed school psychologist and coordinator then abruptly terminated the observation and asked the visiting psychologist to leave.

It would be unfair to characterize this dishonest and cruel school psychologist as typical of those occupying her position at other public schools. It would also be naïve to assume that, even if to some lesser degree, the practice of creating special education Potemkin villages is unique to this school.