DMSELPA Policies and Procedures

Policy – Category 5000 (Students)

BP 5001 – Identification and Referral

The DMSELPA works closely with public agencies such as Inland Regional Center (IRC), Head Start, California Children’s Services (CCS), Department of Behavioral Health (DBH), and others as appropriate in the identification of individuals with disabilities. Materials are distributed to pediatricians, health care professionals, and other agencies within the DMSELPA. Each Local Education Agency (LEA) within the DMSELPA has established procedures for the identification, location, and evaluation of children who may require special education services. Information regarding Child Find activities is included in the annual notice that is distributed to parents of all children. 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 as required by Section 1412(a)(3) and (10)(A)(ii) of Title 20 of the United States Code. A child is not required to be classified by his or her disability so long as each child who has a disability listed in Section 1401(3) of Title 20 of the United States Code and who, by reason of that disability, needs special education and related services as an individual with exceptional needs defined in Section 56026. It is the policy of the DMSELPA that children with disabilities ages birth through 21, be actively sought and identified by public schools. The Child Find process includes a section of the LEA’s annual notice to all parents that references the referral of children with disabilities. In cooperation with the Local Interagency Coordination Area, Early Start, ages birth to three, information is distributed to hospitals, doctors’ offices, and pertinent agencies. All individuals with disabilities and their parents are guaranteed their procedural safeguards with regard to identification, assessment, and placement in special education programs.

BP 5001 – Identification and Referral

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Desert Mountain Special Education Local Plan Area (DMSELPA) (rev. 08/21)

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