According to a letter from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Head Start, the quality of education services within individual education plans is slipping, especially since the pandemic.
For young children in Head Start programs, according to the letter, services like educational placement and determining eligibility for children suspected of having disabilities aren’t being provided to the fullest extent. This comes at a time when students in special education programs are disproportionately suspended from schools. The ED issued guidance in July on discriminatory practices for disciplining students with disabilities.
Now there are concerns about whether preschool-aged children with disabilities are receiving proper services related to their Individualized Education Programs and educational placements.
According to the letter, Head Start recipients continue to suffer from pandemic-related disruptions. “As we start this new school year, OSEP and OHS want to emphasize the importance of providing children with disabilities and their families the services and supports that they need to thrive,” it reads.
Regardless of the pandemic’s impact on such programs, the departments remind districts and Head Start programs of their responsibilities to provide special education services.
“The Departments acknowledge that the pandemic continues to present challenges to implementing appropriate programs and services for young children,” the letter reads. “However, OSEP and OHS want to emphasize that, notwithstanding these challenges, children with disabilities retain their rights under IDEA to receive appropriate special education and related services in accordance with their individualized education programs (IEP).”
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By assessing quantitative data and other related information, the departments addressed the following inequities for children in Head Start programs:
- Delays in eligibility determination of children in need of special education services.
- Special education services/IEPs are not provided in a timely manner or fully implemented.
- Educational placements are not being made in accordance with IDEA’s LRE requirements.
The departments also highlighted the roles and responsibilities of state educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs) and Head Start programs:
- SEAs: Ensure full implementation of child find and other IDEA requirements by enforcing necessary policies and procedures in ensuring free appropriate public education (FAPE) is available to all eligible children.
- LEAs: Evaluate children suspected of having disabilities “in a timely fashion,” in addition to implementing IEPs in accordance with IDEA requirements.
- Head Start programs: Refer children and families for IDEA evaluations, in addition to ensuring IEPs are implemented.
“It is the long-standing policy of our Departments that young children with disabilities be included in high-quality early childhood programs, including Head Start,” the letter reads.
