Date: December 1993

State Education Department
Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities

M E M O R A N D U M

TO:

FROM:

SUBJECT: Enhancing Family Preservation Through Coordination of Services for Children with Developmental Disabilities

The State Education Department (SED) and the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) are involved in an interagency initiative to coordinate services to enhance the State's family preservation efforts. This initiative is dependent upon the formation of a local partnership between the education and the developmental disabilities services system. An initial step in this process is local level discussions between school personnel and representatives of the Developmental Disabilities Services Offices (DDSO) which are OMRDD's regional offices. The purpose of these meetings is to share information on the educational, clinical and support services that are available to children with developmental disabilities and their families. The long-term goal of this initiative is to prevent out-of-home placements by combining the resources of both systems to provide individualized services to children with developmental disabilities and their families in school, home and community settings. We are requesting the support and leadership of the DDSO Directors, BOCES District Superintendents and the Superintendents of the large five city school districts in developing the linkages between the two systems that will lead to the accomplishment of this goal.

The Board of Regents, in the New Compact for Learning, described its vision for improving public elementary and secondary education results in the 1990s. The Compact emphasizes that for all children to learn and develop to their fullest, parents, the State, local schools and the community must form a partnership. This partnership should be based upon a shared belief that, with the appropriate supports, all children can learn and be contributing members of their community.

OMRDD has reoriented its approach to service delivery to people with developmental disabilities so it can better respond to individual needs of children and their families without resorting to standard "prepackaged" programs and services. Each year a significant number of children with developmental disabilities leave their families and many are placed in residential school settings. We believe that many placements in residential schools could be prevented by interagency planning combined with early intervention and necessary supports for families.

It is very clear that no one system can meet all the needs of some children with developmental disabilities and their families. Therefore, we need a mechanism to coordinate the services needed to maintain these children in community-based programs. The input from parents of children placed in residential settings, parent groups, and local service groups should be sought throughout this effort. Collaborative delivery of services, collocation of OMRDD services in school facilities, involvement of school district students in mentoring programs and enhanced parental access to OMRDD family support services for eligible families are only a few examples of the benefits of this partnership.

To assist in this endeavor two lists are attached. OMRDD, through its DDSOs, has designated an individual who will be responsible for working on children's issues including transition planning. Attached to this memorandum is a listing of DDSOS, county/counties the DDSO serves, the director, the name of the designated individual, and the telephone number where that individual may be reached. In addition, a listing of district superintendents, their geographic area of responsibility, and telephone numbers is also attached. The BOCES District Superintendents and the superintendents of the large five city school districts are requested to identify representatives to coordinate local activities. The representatives of both systems are to use the attachments to contact their local counterpart and begin to form a partnership focused on keeping families of children with developmental disabilities together.

This initiative will facilitate collaboration between the two service systems for a specific purpose, the prevention of out-of-home placement. We strongly encourage you to begin working together to improve access to, and the coordination of, children's services. If you have any questions please contact: Mr. Douglass Bailey, Coordinator of Business and Interagency Agreements, Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities, One Commerce Plaza, Room 1609, Albany, NY 12234, Telephone (518) 473-7213, or Charlene R. LaReau, Director, Decade of the Child, 44 Holland Ave., Albany, NY 12229, Telephone (518) 474-3558.

Attachments

cc: Arthur L. Walton
Lawrence C. Gloeckler
Aletha Baumann, Ph.D.
Charlene R. LaReau

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Editor's note: Attached to the original document were lists of individuals by names, agencies and phone numbers, many of which have changed. To keep this document current, we have replaced the lists with internet addresses to enable customers to access current listings.

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