Since the Covid 19 pandemic, the number of requests to public school districts and charter schools for out of home special education placement in a residential treatment center (“RTC”) has considerably increased. Whether the placement is one suggested by an IEP team, or based on a parent demand, deciding to place a student residentially is complicated and places a significant financial burden on a school district. School districts face a challenging task determining whether an RTC placement, one of the most restrictive options on the continuum of services, is what is required to provide a FAPE for a student. The consideration is often accompanied by anguished parents and guardians who do not have the ability to manage care for the child in the home and no other resources are available to address their child’s needs. _x000D_ _x000D_ It is essential for school districts to develop a defensible and appropriate process to assist IEP teams in determining how to support a student to avoid the need for an RTC placement. Equally as important is being aware of the necessary legal considerations when an RTC placement is being considered or has been requested. _x000D_ _x000D_ This presentation will review the robust intervention processes required of school districts to address the depth and plethora of educationally related mental health needs with which our children with disabilities present. The empirical data resulting from robust interventions in turn inform the necessity for a public school to provide an RTC placement to meet its FAPE obligations to the student. Attendees will be provided with a suggested (and defensible) determination process (procedural and substantive), including educationally related mental health assessments, “wrap” services, behavior intervention supports, intensive individual supports, etc._x000D_ _x000D_ The presentation will further cover statutory requirements and recent legal decisions related to residential placement requests. The focus will be on the judicial decisions in each circuit and how these apply to the various standards for determining whether or not a public school district bears responsibility for an RTC as a means of providing a FAPE. From “is the need for an RTC segregable from the learning process” to “is the RTC supportive of the student’s education” to “are the medical, social, or emotional problems intertwined with educational problems”, and finally to “is the placement primarily to aid the student to benefit from special education”, courts have struggled to articulate a meaningful standard. The standards themselves are not instructive or able to be easily applied. They are ambiguous and always lend themselves to arguments for and against RTC placement to provide a FAPE. However, examination of the factual patterns of various judicial decisions and how these amorphous standards are applied in specific circumstances leads to more fruitful analyses, more likely defensible IEP decisions, and importantly, programs and services which appropriately address needs of students with disabilities.
