| (a) Parties. The state agencies named in this subsection are
parties to this memorandum of understanding (MOU) and will be collectively
referred to as the "parties." The term "Health and Human Service (HHS) agencies"
will refer to all parties except the Texas Education Agency, Texas Juvenile
Probation Commission, and Texas Youth Commission.
(1) Texas Education Agency (TEA);
(2) Texas Department of Human Services (TDHS);
(3) Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation
(TDMHMR);
(4) Texas Department of Health (TDH);
(5) Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
(PRS);
(6) Texas Interagency Council on Early Childhood Intervention
(ECI);
(7) Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (TCADA);
(8) Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC); and
(9) Texas Youth Commission (TYC).
(b) Purpose. In accordance with Texas Education Code (TEC),§29.012(d),
the purpose of this MOU is to:
(1) establish the respective responsibilities of school districts
and of residential facilities (RFs) for the provision of a free appropriate
public education (FAPE), as required by the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA)(20 USC §1400 et seq.) and its subsequent amendments,
including each requirement for children with disabilities who reside in those
facilities;
(2) coordinate regulatory and planning functions of the parties;
(3) establish criteria for determining when a public school
will provide educational services;
(4) provide for appropriate educational space when education
services will be provided at the residential facility;
(5) establish measures designed to ensure the safety of students
and teachers; and
(6) provide for binding arbitration consistent with Texas Government
Code, Chapter 2009, and Civil Practice and Remedies Code, §154.027.
(c) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in
this MOU, shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise.
(1) Consistent with TEC, §5.001(8), "residential facility"
(RF) means:
(A) a facility operated by a state agency or political subdivision,
including a child placement agency, that provides 24-hour custody or care
of a person 22 years of age or younger, if the person resides in the facility
for detention, treatment, foster care, or any non-educational purpose; and
(B) any person or entity that contracts with or is funded,
licensed, certified, or regulated by a state agency or political subdivision
to provide custody or care for a person under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
RFs include, but are not limited to:
(i) child care facilities or institutions;
(ii) independent foster group homes providing basic, therapeutic
or rehabilitative services;
(iii) independent foster family homes providing basic, therapeutic
or rehabilitative services;
(iv) agency foster family/group homes verified by a child placing
agency licensed by PRS;
(v) intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded
(ICFs-MR);
(vi) psychiatric treatment centers;
(vii) therapeutic camps or ranches;
(viii) residential treatment centers licensed by PRS;
(ix) nursing facilities;
(x) TYC halfway houses and contract facilities;
(xi) emergency shelters;
(xii) hospitals;
(xiii) juvenile pre-adjudication detention facilities;
(xiv) juvenile post-adjudication secure correctional facilities;
(xv) residential facilities funded and/or licensed by TCADA;
(xvi) settings other than the student's natural or adoptive
home in which residential services are provided in programs authorized by
the Social Security Act, §1915(c); and
(xvii) state hospitals, state schools, and state centers operated
by TDMHMR.
(2) "Student with a disability" means an individual who is
eligible to receive special education and related services in accordance with
IDEA and its implementing regulations, Code of Federal Regulations, Title
34, §§300.1 et seq., and state laws and rules, including, without
limitation, TEC, Chapter 29, and Chapter 89 of this title (relating to Adaptations
for Special Populations).
(3) Consistent with 20 USC §1401(8), "free appropriate
public education" (FAPE) means special education and related services that:
(A) are provided at public expense, under public supervision
and direction, and without charge;
(B) meet the standards of TEA;
(C) include preschool, elementary, or secondary school education;
and
(D) are provided in conformity with the student's individualized
education program (IEP).
(4) Consistent with 20 U. S. C. §1401(15), "local educational
agency" (LEA) means any public authority, institution, or agency having administrative
control and direction of a public elementary or secondary school, including
a public charter school that is established as an LEA under state law.
(d) Terms of MOU. The parties agree to the following terms:
(1) The responsibilities of LEAs and RFs related to the provision
of a FAPE to students with disabilities who reside in RFs are established
as follows.
(A) LEAs must provide or ensure the provision of a FAPE to
students with disabilities residing in RFs in accordance with IDEA, applicable
federal regulations, and state laws and rules.
(i) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection,
an LEA must provide or ensure the provision of a FAPE for a student with a
disability residing in an RF located in the geographical area served by that
LEA.
(ii) If an LEA places a student with a disability in an RF
for educational purposes, the placing LEA must provide or ensure the provision
of a FAPE to the student.
(B) Not later than the third day after the date a person 22
years of age or younger is placed in an RF, the RF must provide notification
in accordance with TEC, §29.012(a), as follows:
(i) if the person placed in the RF is three years of age or
older, the RF must notify the LEA in which the RF is located, unless the RF
is an open-enrollment charter school or the RF has been designated as an LEA
(e.g., TYC correctional facilities, Texas School for the Deaf, the University
of Texas Medical Branch); or
(ii) if the person placed in the RF is younger than three years
of age, the RF must notify a local early childhood intervention program in
the area in which the RF is located.
(2) Regulatory and planning functions of the parties are coordinated
as follows.
(A) The parties will require LEAs and RFs to:
(i) share, within a reasonable period of time and to the extent
permitted by applicable statutes and regulations, all appropriate records
and relevant information relating to a student with a disability. This subsection
does not authorize the LEA to modify requirements for admission and enrollment
into an LEA as set forth in TEC, Chapter 25. The records and information to
be shared may include, but are not limited to:
(I) birth certificate or other identifying document that proves
the student's age;
(II) medical history and medical records, including current
immunization records and a history of infectious disease (e.g., Hepatitis
B, tuberculosis), including a description of any behavioral characteristics
related to the transmission of such disease;
(III) social history;
(IV) vision and hearing screening and evaluation;
(V) evaluation reports, including psychological, educational,
related service, assistive technology and vocational evaluations, and behavioral
assessments;
(VI) treatment plan of care or service;
(VII) educational history (e.g., previous educational placement
information);
(VIII) any relevant court orders (e.g., orders related to placement
in an RF, guardianship or conservatorship, or court-ordered services);
(IX) information regarding a student's movement from an RF
to a subsequent residence, including but not limited to the date the student
left the RF and the location of the student's subsequent residence; and
Cont'd... |
