Many children who are being raised by a grandparent or other relative have special needs that may hinder their progress in school. Grandparents need to be aware of the laws that protect their children and that ensure the best educational experience possible for them. If you think the child in your care needs some special assistance, first contact the child’s teacher and work with him or her. The teacher will help to make referrals to appropriate school personnel. For specific laws in your state, contact your state Department of Education or Department of Health and Human Services.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997 (idea.ed.gov/explore/home) require that each state set forth polices and procedures to assure that there is a goal of providing full educational opportunity to all students with disabilities from birth through 21 years of age. The overall Individual Education Plan (IEP) requirement, as described in IDEA, has the following purposes and functions:
- The IEP meeting serves as a communication vehicle between parents and school personnel and enables them as equal participants, to jointly decide the exceptional student’s educational needs, what services will be provided to meet those needs, and what the anticipated outcomes may be.
- The IEP process provides an opportunity for resolving any differences between the parents and the public agency concerning the special education needs of an exceptional student; first, through the IEP meeting and second, through the procedural protections that are available to the student and the student’s parents.
- The IEP sets forth in writing a commitment of resources necessary to enable an exceptional student to receive needed special education and related services.
- The IEP is a management tool that is used to ensure that each student is provided special education and related services appropriate to the student’s special learning needs.
- The IEP is a compliance/monitoring document that may be used by authorized monitoring personnel from each governmental level to determine whether an exceptional student is actually receiving the free appropriate public education agreed to by the parents and the school.
- The IEP serves as an evaluation device for use in determining the extent of the student’s progress toward meeting the project outcomes.
Generations United (GU) www.gu.org is a national organization that advocates for the needs of older adults and children and supports intergenerational programming. GU has given this advice for parenting grandparents who are raising children with disabilities:
- According to federal law, schools should be including relative caregivers in the process of developing IEP’s for children with disabilities.
- The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the primary source of federal money for special education services, and the US Department of Education regulations implementing the IDEA define “parent” to include relative caregivers.
- The definition of “parent” is found in Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at section 300.20(a).
- The term parent means a person acting in the place of a parent (such as a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives, or a person who is legally responsible for the child’s welfare).
Reference
- Building the Legacy: IDEA 2004. Retrieved from IDEA.ed.gov.
