What is Child Find?
Child Find is a mandate of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which requires states to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities ages 3-21. The Child Find search is for students residing in or being educated in Colleton County who have not been previously identified as a student with disabilities under IDEA Part B or Part C.
What Services Are Available?
If the child is identified as a student with an educational disability, specialize instructional services may be provided to address the child's developmental, functional, and academic needs. Related services are considered if there is a reasonable basis to suspect that specialized support services, such as speech/language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, are required for the student to participate in developmentally appropriate activities or to make progress in school.
What is the process?
- A screening is scheduled and conducted on designated days each month. Child Find screenings may include direct screening of the child's hearing, vision, speech, developmental skills and/or academic skills as will as a parent interview.
- The Child Find Screening Staff will review screening results with parents, provide recommendations, and make a Special Education Referral if an educational disability is suspected.
- If an educational disability is suspected, the parent is invited to an Evaluation Planning Meeting to determine the developmental, functional, and academic areas that will be included in the evaluation and to obtain parental consent for the evaluation.
- Once the parental consent for the evaluation is obtained, the Evaluation Team conducts the comprehensive evaluation and invites the parent to an Eligibility Determination meeting to review the evaluation results and discuss SC Eligibility Criteria for a student with an educational disability.
- If the child meets the Eligibility Criteria for a student with an educational disability, the Eligibility Determination team must determine if the disability has a significant adverse impact on the child's ability to participate in developmentally appropriate activities or the child's ability to make education progress, Futhermore, the team must consider whether specialized instruction is required to ensure the child can participate in developmentally appropriate activities or make progress in the general curriculum.
- When a child is found eligible for special education services, the District will request parental consent for the provision of special education services.
- Once parental consent is received, the IEP team, including the parent(s)/guardian(s), will develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Individualized Service Plan (ISP) to describe the instructional and related services the child requires to participate in developmentally appropriate activities or to make educational progress in school.