Lawsuit Says State Denied Special Education to Children in Psychiatric Facilities

Legal A id of Nor th Car olina , Inc. Adm inistr ative Office 313 West Martin Street y Raleigh, North Carolina 27601 Phone 919.856.2564 y Fax 919.856.2120 Serving low -income clients in all 1 00 counties of North Carolina George R. Hausen, Jr., Esq. www.legalaidnc.org Executive Director For Immediate Release August 9, 2012 Media Contacts Lewis Pitts, Managing Attorney, Advocates for Children’s Services, Legal Aid of North Carolina, (919) 271-2897, [email protected] Sean Driscoll, Director of Public Relations, Legal Aid of North Carolina, (919) 856-2132, [email protected] Lawsuit Says State Illegally Denied Special Education Services To Children in Private Psychiatric Facilities RALEIGH, N.C. – Advocates for Children’s Services, a project of Legal Aid of North Carolina, today filed a lawsuit against state education officials for failing to provide special education services to a 13- year-old child with disabilities who has been confined to a psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) since December 2011. The lawsuit was filed in Wake County Superior Court against the chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Education, William Harrison, and the state superintendent in the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI), June Atkinson. The child, identified in the lawsuit by his initials, “E.S.,” is African American and from a low-income family in Raleigh. The Wake County Public School System identified his disabilities in 2004 and developed for him an Individualized Education Program, a legally mandated plan to meet the unique educational needs of students with disabilities. In December 2011, following an order from the Wake County juvenile court, E.S. was placed in The Keys of Carolina, a PRTF located in Charlotte and licensed by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). During his seven-month, involuntary commitment at the facility, the state has failed to implement an Individualized Education Program for E.S. and provide him with special education services, violating his right to a free, appropriate public education. “Our client is one of hundreds of young people who are shipped to private residential facilities each year and then forgotten by the state,” says Jason Langberg, Equal Justice Works Fellow with Advocates for Children’s Services. “We hope this case sends a clear message to the State Board of Education, DPI, and other agencies: There are no throw-away children.” Under state law, the State Board of Education and DPI are ultimately responsib le for ensuring that all students with disabilities receive necessary special education and related services, including those students placed in private residential facilities by state action, such as a juvenile court order. DPI can meet this obligation by delegating responsibility to local school districts or by entering into interagency agreements that clarify each agency’s role in providing services. In December 2011, DPI and DHHS

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Lawsuit Says State Denied Special Education to Children in Psychiatric Facilities