Working with Local School Districts

Determining who is eligible for services can be difficult. Ideally, school districts would know where every student is at every moment of their enrollment. However, that is not a reasonable expectation. To coordinate services, Douglas County Department of Corrections (DCDC) sends a weekly updated census list of all individuals 22 years of age and under housed within DCDC to our point of contact at the three most popular school districts within our area. From there the school districts review the list and identify every individual that is eligible to receive SPED services. The school districts can then coordinate services with DCDC. In addition to sending out a weekly census, DCDC quarterly uses the aforementioned census and locates each individual to ask:

• if they have graduated or earned their GED,
• whether they had an IEP at any point, and
• which schools they previously attended.

If an individual indicates that they received services from a different school district, DCDC informs the school district that one of their students is in our custody and works with that district to have services provided to their student.

Another challenge you may run into is identifying the party responsible for providing the SPED services. Determining the school district of residency is largely dependent upon individual state laws. In Nebraska for example, the school district of residency is the last school district in which the student was officially enrolled, regardless of their lack of attendance (Nebraska Department of Education, 2022, § 92-51). This is easy enough to ascertain through a simple conversation with your students. Child Find states that it is the responsibility of the school district to find and assess all students identified as possibly in need of services. Not every state requires that Child Find be applied to individuals that are incarcerated, though I would greatly suggest legislators reconsider that. It is important that your facility familiarize yourself with your particular state’s policy on Child Find within carceral settings.

To add to the challenge of successful implementation, sharing information between school districts can be vague and tedious. It is important for facilities to obtain copies of student’s IEPs in order to apply for testing accommodations. Even though parental involvement will be highly encouraged by the school districts for updating and implementing the IEPs, it is not required as part of the program. Once a student reaches the age of majority, they have the ability to request and release their own academic records (Nebraska Department of Education, 2022, § 92-51). This can be an important tool for ensuring that all students are receiving the services they are entitled to receive. Different states have different laws dictating what types of services incarcerated students are eligible for. Finally, there is ambiguity in what resources and services are protected under Part B of IDEA. Some states will require that eligible students be enrolled in regular credit accruing coursework concurrent with SPED services (California Education Code § 56041). Other states will not require school districts to offer credit accruing coursework. Instead, they will offer complimentary services to help eligible students progress through the selected high school equivalency program (Nebraska Department of Education, 2022, § 92-51).

Providing Accommodations

Special education services encompass more than extra homework assistance. These services can also include alternative methods of instruction, whether that may be having material read out loud, visual learning aids, and/or hands-on lesson plans. These methods of instruction should not be limited to your education department. In order to best serve the people in your facility, consideration should be given to implementing several methods of instruction across all classes and programming.