Interagency Agreement: SED, OMRDD-Transition and Service Delivery

TO:

FROM:

SUBJECT: Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Between the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) and the State Education Department (SED) regarding Cooperative Efforts to Improve Access and Delivery of Services to Persons with Developmental Disabilities and Their Families

Responsibility for the coordination and delivery of services to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families is shared by the State Education Department (SED) and the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disability (OMRDD). Therefore, SED and OMRDD have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (attached) that will help persons with developmental disabilities receive the educational and other services they need to participate more actively in their schools, communities and work places.

Activities resulting from the MOU provide an opportunity for school districts and OMRDD systems across the State to coordinate services for individuals who are eligible for OMRDD services. Consistent with the tenets of the new Compact for Learning, this coordination would involve persons with disabilities and their families, providers of services, OMRDD Developmental disabilities Services Offices (DDSO), local school districts and BOCES and the district offices of the Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID). This memorandum is intended to provide school district personnel with information on the purpose and implications of the interagency effort.

The MOU is an important step towards building a complimentary service delivery system that improves access to services for individuals with developmental disabilities and reinforces family preservation. The MOU provides a framework for bringing the resources of the two systems together and allows for expanded efforts to address a broad spectrum of joint initiatives to assist families of young children with developmental disabilities in accessing appropriate services and enabling a fuller, richer, and more independent use of the community for those persons with lifelong disabilities.

Eligibility for OMRDD services is determined by the presence of autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, mental retardation, a neurological impairment, or a related condition that has a substantial impact on the person's ability to function independently. Neurological impairments include such specific conditions as neurologically based severe learning disabilities, spina bifida, Tourette syndrome, neurofibromatosis, narcolepsy, traumatic brain injury, Prader-Willi syndrome and sensory impairments (that are caused by central nervous system disorders).

The MOU creates the conditions for bringing needed services into local schools as service settings which often prove most convenient to persons with disabilities and their families. The involvement and cooperation of the educational and developmental disabilities services communities will enable persons with developmental disabilities and their families to receive:

• Increased access to services, including enhanced transition to adult services;
• Timely information and advice to plan for the future;
• Access to necessary treatment and related services;
• Opportunities to participate in life long learning through greater access to school facilities and programs;
• Better employment opportunities through combined efforts of school and VESID vocational rehabilitation services, and long term supports available through the OMRDD system; and
• The supports needed to keep children at home and in the community, rather than in restrictive residential options.

As an initial step in this integration process, DDSO personnel will contact school personnel to discuss possible cooperative activities aimed at assuring access to appropriate educational, clinic and support services. It is hoped that this contact will lead to regional planning with key members of the community to discuss implementation of the MOU.

• Enhanced interaction between school districts and OMRDD regional offices to provide information on services available within the community and the manner in which services can be accessed;
• Cooperative development of OMRDD clinical services within schools to allow for the maximum use of scarce professional staff, the provision of services in the environment most meaningful for its use (e.g. the classroom or worksite), and less duplication of services;
• Use of school district or BOCES space for adult OMRDD services such as family support services, after school programs, recreation, and respite, to promote involvement in the community and provide financial assistance to OMRDD providers through the use of low cost arrangements;
• More effective and earlier coordination between educational and adult services through regional coalitions involving schools, parents, service providers, community organizations and business and industry to facilitate the integration of youth with severe disabilities into all aspects of community life;
• Increased emphasis on lifelong learning through access to adult education to enhance the capabilities to improve both social and vocational aspirations. Resources to fund such programs could come through the OMRDD systems and/or, as appropriate, parents or an individual themselves; and
• Prevention of residential placements by the provision of early intervention and planning and incorporating necessary support through OMRDD's Family Support Services program.

Support for the many and varied activities will be provided through the resources of both State agencies. For example, increased decision making by families in the planning process may be supported by using the Education Department's Special Education Training and Resource Centers (SETRC) personnel to provide training for families to increase their participation in educational planning and to provide parents with the skills, techniques and technology for maintaining the child in the community, including services available through the OMRDD service system. The DDSOs and OMRDD providers could be used to provide training and technical assistance to school boards, professionals, Committees on Special Education and instructional staff on early identification of, and working with, individuals with developmental disabilities.

The goal of the attached MOU is to provide the opportunity for cooperative efforts to improve access and the delivery of services to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. We encourage the educational community to work together in developing innovative and practical methods to accomplish this goal and to share information on their efforts. The SED and OMRDD will distribute information as community activities proceed. If you are interested in assisting in planning or piloting efforts or have questions regarding the MOU, please contact:

The Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) is responsible for coordination and delivery of services for individuals with developmental disabilities throughout New York State and the New York State Education Department (SED) is responsible for coordination and delivery of educational and vocational services, and administering independent living services for persons with disabilities in New York State.

Therefore, the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and the State Education Department will integrate the resources of two major State systems to enable persons with developmental disabilities to take their rightful place as participating members of their communities.

The agencies' expanded efforts will address a broad spectrum of joint initiatives including assisting families of young children with developmental disabilities in accessing appropriate services, enhancing integration of services within the schools and creating lifelong learning opportunities, broadening vocational opportunities, and enabling a fuller, richer, and more independent use of the community for those persons with lifelong disabilities.

OMRDD and SED agree to:

• Cooperative interchange of information
• Strengthened training and technical assistance for parents, school boards, professional and instructional staff, and service providers;
• Coordinated prevention and public education;
• Early identification of individuals through needs assessment processes that assure early access to services;
• Increased opportunities for inclusion of individuals with developmental disabilities with peers who are not disabled.
• Collaboration in the provision of assistive technology;
• Enhanced interaction between schools and district offices of OMRD; and
• Joint development and delivery of programs and services.

• Expanded array of family support, recreational, child care, and other services provided in community settings through collocation of services;
• Enhanced integration of clinic and other Medicaid services in educational settings;
• Enhanced lifelong learning through access to adult and other educational opportunities; and
• Environments which encourage the inclusion of individuals with developmental disabilities in school and community settings.

• More effective and earlier coordination between educational and adult services;
• Improved preparation of youth for employment through expanded integrated employment opportunities;
• Streamlined access to lifelong support services;
• Increased participation in independent living services;
• Continuity between school and community-based vocational training and integrated employment, including supported employment;
• Increased involvement of business and industry in the educational and vocational process; and
• Opportunities for access to lifelong learning in community based and educational settings, including post-secondary education.

• Joint activities to provide the social and education supports necessary to assist families to keep their child at home or in their home communities.
• Increased decision-making by families in the planning process; and
• Joint training for families to encourage participation in their children's learning and development.

In summary, the OMRDD and the SED agree to coordinate their planning, budgeting and service delivery efforts in order to ensure that programs and services for persons with developmental disabilities and their families provide opportunities for lifelong learning, increased employment options, and greater participation in the community.