What is Child Find?
Under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), school districts have a legal responsibility to identify, locate and evaluate students, ages 3-21, for special education or related services.
All students with disabilities, regardless of the severity of a disability, who are residing in the school district or are attending private school at private expense in the district’s geographic boundaries and who are in need of special education and related services, are identified, located, and evaluated.
Child find activities include students with disabilities attending private schools, highly mobile students with disabilities (such as migrant and homeless students), and students who are suspected of having disabilities and are in need of special education, even though they are advancing from grade to grade.
Child Find in Worcester
The Worcester Public Schools (WPS) Special Education Department maintains an up-to-date census of all home-schooled, private, and non-public school students who are enrolled and/or living within the city of Worcester.
The district schedules annual consultation meetings with all parents of children who are home-schooled or in private and parochial schools to coordinate child-find activities based on student enrollment information.
The district reviews referral procedures as well as the types of services available to students with disabilities.
Additionally, parents of students who are home-schooled are notified annually as the district provides information regarding eligibility procedures and the types of services available to students with disabilities.
Definition of Child Find and IDEA
Massachusetts State policies and procedures ensure that . . . All children with disabilities residing in the state, including children with disabilities who are homeless children or who are wards of the state, and children with disabilities attending private schools . . . and who are in need of special education and related service, are identified, located and evaluated . . .
“Child Find must also include children who are suspected of being a child with a disability . . . and in need of special education services, even though they are advancing from grade to grade . . .”
Individuals Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
A Federal Special Education Law for children with disabilities provides specialized instruction and related services to students with disabilities to access the curriculum. The eligibility process for special education services under IDEA ensures that the child’s IEP Team must consider the three requirements when determining eligibility for specialized instruction:
The student has a disability or disabilities
The student is not making effective progress in school as a result of the disability or disabilities
The student requires specially designed instruction in order to make effective progress in the general curriculum, and/or requires related services to access the general education curriculum
Massachusetts State Law
Massachusetts state law Identifies (10) categories of impairments/disabilities:
Autism
Development Delay (Up to Age 9)
Intellectual Impairment
Sensory Impairment
Neurological Impairment
Emotional Impairment
Communication Impairment
Physical Impairment
Health Impairment
Specific Learning Disability
Eligibility Procedures
Students enrolled in private school at private expense including home-schooled students have all rights for Special Education and/or related services as students enrolled within the Worcester Public Schools.
Parents and/or guardians must sign a consent for the district to initiate the evaluation process to determine eligibility for special education services.
The district's responsibility for child find will include all non-public and private schools that are located in the City of Worcester, and for parents who reside in Worcester.
Parents who live in another district outside of Worcester, but attend a school located in Worcester will also have opportunities to collaborate with their home school district and the Worcester Public School district to request evaluations in order to determine eligibility.
WPS will collaborate all child-find efforts with the school district based on parents’ residence in accordance with state law.
The district of residence under state law evaluates, and determines eligibility, and, if eligible, writes IEPs for students regardless of where the child attends school.
However, federal law requires where the private school is located regardless of where the parent and/or guardian lives, must evaluate to determine eligibility.
If the district disagrees with the views of the private school official(s) or of the home-school parents on the provision of services or types of services (whether provided directly or through a contract), a discussion of how the district will provide the private school official(s) or representative of home-school parents with a written explanation of the reasons the District chose not to adopt the recommendations of the private school official(s) or representative of home-school parents.
Evaluation Process
WPS Special Education Evaluation Team Chairperson will initiate all referral paperwork to ensure that the parent/guardian has provided the district with informed consent to begin the evaluation process.
Parent/Guardian residence will determine which home school will complete the evaluation process.
This process will include a district representative who will reach out to parents or non-public schools to schedule a conference meeting to discuss the presenting concerns and evaluation process.
Upon receipt of signed consent to evaluate your child district assessors will contact the parent to coordinate the evaluation process.
Testing may occur at the district home school and/or the non-public/private school or a mutually agreed upon location (e.g., library, etc.).
Education information regarding the student's performance in the private school or home-schooling is also requested.
The student's classroom teacher(s) are invited to participate in the IEP Team meeting process.
In providing or arranging for the provision of the special education and/or related services described by the student's IEP, the district ensures that special education services funded with state or local funds are provided in a public school facility or other public or neutral site.
Worcester Public Schools does not withdraw or withhold services from a student whose parents reside in the district solely because the district has met the proportionate share spending requirements of federal law.
Proportionate Share
Worcester Public Schools calculates the proportionate share of Federal Special Education IDEA entitlement grant funds which is required to be spent on eligible private school and homeschooled students in the City of Worcester.
This process also includes the district allocating a specific amount of federal IDEA funds for students attending a private school located in Worcester and home-schooled students whose parents reside in the district.
District staff and/or consultants will also meet with private school staff and parents/guardians to develop when necessary a service plan to document the following services which is different from an IEP.
Special Education and/or Related Services (Direct Services)
Training or Support Services (Indirect services for School Personnel and/or Parents)
Please see the enclosed district SEPAC schedule and Child Find Brochure that provides additional information and resources to assist you throughout the child find process.
It is important to note that in Massachusetts, privately enrolled students include students who are educated at home under a plan reviewed and approved by the district.