Policy – Category 5000 (Students) BP 5001 – Identification and Referral of Individuals for Special Education
California Education Code § 56300. A local educational agency shall actively and systematically seek out all individuals with exceptional needs, from birth to 21 years of age, inclusive, including children not enrolled in public school programs, who reside in a school district or are under the jurisdiction of a special education local plan area or a county office of education. California Education Code § 56301(a). All children with disabilities residing in the state, including children with disabilities who are homeless children or are wards of the state and children with disabilities attending private, including religious, elementary and secondary schools, regardless of the severity of their disabilities, and who are in need of special education and related services, shall be identified, located, and assessed and a practical method is developed and implemented to determine which children with disabilities are currently receiving needed special education and related services. Identification and Evaluation of Children Younger than Three Identification, evaluation, assessment, and instructional planning procedures for children younger than three must conform to Education Code §§ 56425-56432 , and the California Early Intervention Services Act Government Code §§ 95000- 95029 . The California Department of Education (CDE) and LEAs are responsible for providing early intervention services to infants and toddlers who have visual, hearing, or severe orthopedic impairment; the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and its regional centers must provide services to all other eligible children in this age group. The law also requires regional centers and LEAs to coordinate family service plans for infants and toddlers and their families. Education Code § 56441 .11 sets forth eligibility criteria for preschool children aged three to five. A child aged three through five enrolled by his/her parents in a private school or facility that does not meet the state’s definition of “elementary school” would not be eligible to be considered for equitable services. However, the state’s obligation to make FAPE available to such a child remains. IDEA requires that states make FAPE available to eligible children with disabilities age three through 21 in the state’s mandated age range ( Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations § 300.101 ). Because many LEAs do not offer public preschool programs, particularly for three and four year-olds, LEAs often make FAPE available to eligible preschool children with disabilities in private schools or facilities in accordance with Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations §§ 300-145 through
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BP 5001 – Identification & Referral of Individuals for Special Education Desert Mountain Charter Special Education Local Plan Area (DMCS) (rev.08/21)
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