As I understand it, this program is geared toward preparing parents of EI kids to be advocates their kids and the programs which serve them. I can't speak to the quality of this program, but I'll certainly say that understanding the regulatory, funding, and political environment surrounding EI will benefit parents both for that short time and down the road.
This is one of my little policy hobby horses, that families who benefited from good EI services should remain advocates for the program, even and especially after they are no longer in the program -- it is a wonderful gift you can give to the next cohort of EI families, who are scrambling to deal with the challenges and urgent opportunities of a newly diagnosed young child.
But this training program is for parents of kids still getting EI services. So, if you know a parent of a newly diagnosed child, this should go on their list of competing priorities.
-- Lynn Decker
Responses should go to Margaret Sampson, Coordinator of the program. Here is her information:
Margaret Sampson
Family Initiative Coordinator:
E-mail: ms.fic@att.net
Phone: 1-877-205-0502 (toll-free)
Web: http://www.eifamilies.com
The NYS Department of Health's Bureau of Early Intervention and the Family Initiative Coordination Services Project at the Just Kids Foundation are sponsoring an Early Intervention Partners Training Project in New York City this fall.
The Early Intervention Partners Training Project is for parents of infants and toddlers with disabilities
currently receiving early intervention services in the five boroughs of New York City.
The Early Intervention Partners Training Project helps parents of young children with disabilities become involved in Early Intervention Program leadership activities. The training sessions provide information, resources, and skill-building activities designed to increase parent advocacy and leadership skills. Parents
are encouraged to form working partnerships with early intervention professionals and policymakers.
We are inviting you to apply to participate in this training program. We will select parents from the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island to attend. The training program is free of charge,
and all meals, training materials, and overnight accommodations are provided at no cost. A limited amount of funding is available to assist parents in need of support for child care and travel expenses. Prior approval by the Family Initiative Coordinator is required for those needing assistance.
A series of three sessions will be held at the Crowne Plaza JFK Airport, 151-20 Baisley Blvd., Jamaica, Queens, on the following dates:
Session Day Date Time Meals
Session I: Saturday September 27, 2008 9:00 A.M.-3:00 P.M. Lunch
Session II: Friday October 24, 2008 4:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. Dinner
Saturday October 25, 2008 9:00 A.M.-3:00 P.M. Breakfast/Lunch
Session III: Friday November 21, 2008 4:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. Dinner
Saturday November 22, 2008 9:00 A.M.-3:00 P.M. Breakfast/Lunch
Session I meets for one day.
Sessions II and III meet for two 2-day sessions and include an optional overnight stay.
Applicants must commit to attend Session I and both days of Sessions II and III. This commitment is a requirement for acceptance to the Early Intervention Partners Training Project. In addition, parents who wish to attend with a partner or another family member must submit a joint application.
Space is limited. If you are interested in attending, you must complete and return the enclosed application. You can also download extra copies, or complete the application online at: http://www.eifamilies.com.
Applications are due by Friday, August 15, 2008.
Notification of acceptance will be mailed on Monday, August 18, 2008.
These training sessions will help parents of infants and toddlers with disabilities gain a better understanding of the Early Intervention Program. Parents who are accepted to attend will receive information about early intervention laws and regulations, Individualized Family Service Plan development, family assessment,
natural environments, transition, funding, record keeping and confidentiality, clinical practice guidelines, and parent rights.
In addition, parents who are accepted to attend will also learn more about opportunities for parent involvement within New York State's Early Intervention Program.
If you have questions or need more information, please contact
Margaret Sampson, Family
Initiative Coordinator:
E-mail: ms.fic@att.net
Phone: 1-877-205-0502 (toll-free)
Web: http://www.eifamilies.com
We thank you for your interest and commitment to this project, and for your cooperation by responding in a timely manner.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
My Time Inc. Parent Empowerment Series
PARENT SUPPORT CENTER
A special place to be
1312 East 84 Street
Brooklyn NY 11236
718 251 0527
www.mytimeinc.org
info@mytimeinc.org
PRESENTS
AN EMPOWERING SERIES, EDUCATING AND INFORMING PARENTS ABOUT SPECIAL NEEDS PLANNING FOR THEIR CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW…………
Date Time Presenter(s) Topic
July 9thth 10 am – 12 pm Peter Kalin, CSNA
Financial Advisor, Certified Special Needs Advisor
KM Group, Merrill Lynch
Dennis Mc Intrye, Financial Advisor, Certified Special Needs Advisor
How can I financially prepare for my child with special needs future?
Special Needs Planning
What does it mean ?
July16th 10 am – 12 pm Carol Greenberg Parent Advocate
Steps in advocating for your child: Planning ahead
July 23th 10 am – 12 pm Cheryl Kinch Understanding guardianship
July 30th 10 am – 12 pm Mitch Weisbrot, CLU Andrew Cohen, Esq.
Mitch and Andrew are fathers of special needs children.
Their personal experience and professional expertise enable them to help other parents navigate the confusing and emotional aspects of estate planning to best serve the interests of each special needs child.
Topics of Discussion:
• Protecting wealth without disqualifying eligibility for government benefits
• Special needs trusts – how they work and why they’re useful
• Estate planning and wills
• Strategies for funding trusts and accumulating assets
• Establishing guardianship
A LIGHT CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST WILL BE SERVED SEATING IS LIMITED…. CALL TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW
A special place to be
1312 East 84 Street
Brooklyn NY 11236
718 251 0527
www.mytimeinc.org
info@mytimeinc.org
PRESENTS
AN EMPOWERING SERIES, EDUCATING AND INFORMING PARENTS ABOUT SPECIAL NEEDS PLANNING FOR THEIR CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW…………
Date Time Presenter(s) Topic
July 9thth 10 am – 12 pm Peter Kalin, CSNA
Financial Advisor, Certified Special Needs Advisor
KM Group, Merrill Lynch
Dennis Mc Intrye, Financial Advisor, Certified Special Needs Advisor
How can I financially prepare for my child with special needs future?
Special Needs Planning
What does it mean ?
July16th 10 am – 12 pm Carol Greenberg Parent Advocate
Steps in advocating for your child: Planning ahead
July 23th 10 am – 12 pm Cheryl Kinch Understanding guardianship
July 30th 10 am – 12 pm Mitch Weisbrot, CLU Andrew Cohen, Esq.
Mitch and Andrew are fathers of special needs children.
Their personal experience and professional expertise enable them to help other parents navigate the confusing and emotional aspects of estate planning to best serve the interests of each special needs child.
Topics of Discussion:
• Protecting wealth without disqualifying eligibility for government benefits
• Special needs trusts – how they work and why they’re useful
• Estate planning and wills
• Strategies for funding trusts and accumulating assets
• Establishing guardianship
A LIGHT CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST WILL BE SERVED SEATING IS LIMITED…. CALL TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Settlement Offers Vouchers For Children Denied Services
I'm posting this a day late for it to be useful news -- you had to file by 6/30/08. Qualifying families went to hearing and got an order for services that weren't ever or weren't timely delivered. Nice work from Advocates for Children all the same.
NY Law Journal - 6/24/08 - p. 1
Settlement Offers Vouchers For Children Denied Services
By Daniel Wise
June 24, 2008
To settle a class action lawsuit, New York City has agreed to compensate the parents of New York City public school children with disabilities for services that were required by an administrative order but never provided.
The settlement, which provides for the issuance of vouchers for as much as $15,000, was announced yesterday by Advocates for Children of New York, the group that filed the class action in 2003.
Kim Sweet, the executive director of Advocates for Children, said that a "significant" portion of 9,000 administrative orders from December 2000 to January of this year directing that specified services be provided to disabled students had not been complied with.
Even with the monitoring required by the agreement, Ms. Sweet pointed out, the Department of Education is only required to comply with 75 percent of the administrative orders issued from this month through the end of November.
Jeffrey S. Dantowitz, a senior counsel at the city Law Department, said the fact that only 250 parents to date have filed claims indicates that his client, the Department of Education, "has done a far better job than the plaintiffs asserted in the lawsuit."
The deadline for parents to file forms requesting compensation is June 30. Southern District Judge Richard J. Holwell preliminarily approved the settlement in L.V. v. New York City Department of Education, 03-9917, in December and signed off on it on April 10 following a fairness hearing.
Claims forms were mailed to the class members in February along with notice of the April fairness hearing.
Under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 USC §1400 et seq., local school districts are required to furnish disabled students with services needed to enable them to acquire an education on a par with their abilities. The law provides that when parents feel that a school district has not provided required services, they can request an administrative hearing that comports with due process.
In the L.V. case, the class consisted of parents who have sought or will seek hearings from administrative officers at the Department of Education on claims that the department had not provided services to their disabled children. In September 2005, Judge Holwell certified the case as a class action (NYLJ, Sept. 27, 2005) with the result that more than 8,000 parents have now been notified that they may be eligible for financial relief.
The types of services that disabled children may be entitled to under the law include, depending upon their disability, speech therapy, occupational therapy, vocational training and electronic devices that can enhance the learning process.
Unless an administrative order specifies otherwise, services must be implemented within 35 days.
The settlement, which is enforceable as a court order, provides for both prospective and retroactive relief. It also provides that the city will pay the class' attorney's fees but the amount of those fees has yet to be determined.
The lawsuit was brought by attorneys on the staff of Advocates for Children and from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, which worked on the case pro bono. Advocates for Children was formed in 1983 to improve public school education in New York City.
Parents who won administrative orders that were either never, or belatedly, implemented are entitled to one of two types of relief, depending upon the circumstances.
Those who paid for the ordered services are entitled to reimbursement for the sums they laid out.
Vouchers are to be issued to the parents of children who never received the services. The vouchers can be used to purchase services to make up for those that were never received, Ms. Sweet said.
It is anticipated that vouchers will usually be issued in the amount of $8,000 with amounts greater or less, depending upon the circumstances, with the maximum amount being $15,000, Ms. Sweet said.
Monitoring Required
Prospectively, the settlement provides that the Department of Education is to reach "benchmarks" in terms of complying with administrative orders. During the first six months that the settlement is in effect, from June 1 to next Dec. 1, the department is required to timely implement 75 percent of all orders issued.
The compliance rate required will climb to 91.5 percent for the two-year period from June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2011.
Pursuant to the agreement, the firm of Daylight Forensic & Advisory, based in New York City, has been hired to monitor the department's compliance with the performance levels set forth in the pact.
If the department fails to meet the compliance levels, it will be required to develop a remedial plan. Should compliance still fall short, the parents can return to court to request further relief.
In monitoring the department's implementation of individual orders, Daylight Forensic will determine whether any parent has not received full compliance with an administrative order, and letters to that effect will be issued to the parent.
To enforce compliance with an order, however, Ms. Sweet said, the parent must begin a new lawsuit in either federal or state court. In such a lawsuit, she added, a letter from Daylight Forensic will be sufficient to establish a lapse in enforcement, but the Department of Education will be permitted to rebut that conclusion.
The parent class was represented by Shawn Morehead, of Advocates for Children, and Douglas Henkin, a partner at Milbank Tweed.
NY Law Journal - 6/24/08 - p. 1
Settlement Offers Vouchers For Children Denied Services
By Daniel Wise
June 24, 2008
To settle a class action lawsuit, New York City has agreed to compensate the parents of New York City public school children with disabilities for services that were required by an administrative order but never provided.
The settlement, which provides for the issuance of vouchers for as much as $15,000, was announced yesterday by Advocates for Children of New York, the group that filed the class action in 2003.
Kim Sweet, the executive director of Advocates for Children, said that a "significant" portion of 9,000 administrative orders from December 2000 to January of this year directing that specified services be provided to disabled students had not been complied with.
Even with the monitoring required by the agreement, Ms. Sweet pointed out, the Department of Education is only required to comply with 75 percent of the administrative orders issued from this month through the end of November.
Jeffrey S. Dantowitz, a senior counsel at the city Law Department, said the fact that only 250 parents to date have filed claims indicates that his client, the Department of Education, "has done a far better job than the plaintiffs asserted in the lawsuit."
The deadline for parents to file forms requesting compensation is June 30. Southern District Judge Richard J. Holwell preliminarily approved the settlement in L.V. v. New York City Department of Education, 03-9917, in December and signed off on it on April 10 following a fairness hearing.
Claims forms were mailed to the class members in February along with notice of the April fairness hearing.
Under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 USC §1400 et seq., local school districts are required to furnish disabled students with services needed to enable them to acquire an education on a par with their abilities. The law provides that when parents feel that a school district has not provided required services, they can request an administrative hearing that comports with due process.
In the L.V. case, the class consisted of parents who have sought or will seek hearings from administrative officers at the Department of Education on claims that the department had not provided services to their disabled children. In September 2005, Judge Holwell certified the case as a class action (NYLJ, Sept. 27, 2005) with the result that more than 8,000 parents have now been notified that they may be eligible for financial relief.
The types of services that disabled children may be entitled to under the law include, depending upon their disability, speech therapy, occupational therapy, vocational training and electronic devices that can enhance the learning process.
Unless an administrative order specifies otherwise, services must be implemented within 35 days.
The settlement, which is enforceable as a court order, provides for both prospective and retroactive relief. It also provides that the city will pay the class' attorney's fees but the amount of those fees has yet to be determined.
The lawsuit was brought by attorneys on the staff of Advocates for Children and from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, which worked on the case pro bono. Advocates for Children was formed in 1983 to improve public school education in New York City.
Parents who won administrative orders that were either never, or belatedly, implemented are entitled to one of two types of relief, depending upon the circumstances.
Those who paid for the ordered services are entitled to reimbursement for the sums they laid out.
Vouchers are to be issued to the parents of children who never received the services. The vouchers can be used to purchase services to make up for those that were never received, Ms. Sweet said.
It is anticipated that vouchers will usually be issued in the amount of $8,000 with amounts greater or less, depending upon the circumstances, with the maximum amount being $15,000, Ms. Sweet said.
Monitoring Required
Prospectively, the settlement provides that the Department of Education is to reach "benchmarks" in terms of complying with administrative orders. During the first six months that the settlement is in effect, from June 1 to next Dec. 1, the department is required to timely implement 75 percent of all orders issued.
The compliance rate required will climb to 91.5 percent for the two-year period from June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2011.
Pursuant to the agreement, the firm of Daylight Forensic & Advisory, based in New York City, has been hired to monitor the department's compliance with the performance levels set forth in the pact.
If the department fails to meet the compliance levels, it will be required to develop a remedial plan. Should compliance still fall short, the parents can return to court to request further relief.
In monitoring the department's implementation of individual orders, Daylight Forensic will determine whether any parent has not received full compliance with an administrative order, and letters to that effect will be issued to the parent.
To enforce compliance with an order, however, Ms. Sweet said, the parent must begin a new lawsuit in either federal or state court. In such a lawsuit, she added, a letter from Daylight Forensic will be sufficient to establish a lapse in enforcement, but the Department of Education will be permitted to rebut that conclusion.
The parent class was represented by Shawn Morehead, of Advocates for Children, and Douglas Henkin, a partner at Milbank Tweed.
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