Pennsylvania Department of Education To Host Webinar on Surrogate Parents and Special Education in the State

Children rely on involved adults to make critical education decisions on their behalf and ensure that school meets their needs. Unfortunately, children in foster care—especially those living in residential facilities such as group homes, residential treatment facilities, and hospitals—often have no adult in their lives to serve this role. 

Earlier this year, Juvenile Law Center and Education Law Center-PA filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Department of Education on behalf of Donna, an 18-year-old student in foster care in Philadelphia who had bounced around between residential placements and hospitalizations and had no adult in her life to make educational decisions for her. We filed the Complaint to ensure that children in foster care who are placed in residential facilities have an active, involved adult representing them in the education process in order to help them achieve success and stability (read more this issue and our complaint here). 

In response to our complaint, the Pennsylvania Department of Education committed to issuing policy guidance and conducting training on this issue.

As part of this commitment, PA DoE is hosting a free webinar on Wednesday, October 2, from 12 - 1 PM. "Surrogate Parents and Special Education in Pennsylvania: An Overview" will explore the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act's surrogate parent requirements, targeting school district superintendents, principals, special education administrators, social workers, guidance counselors, special education teachers, IEP team coordinators, community partners (OCY caseworkers, mental health case managers), and parents. 

Participants will be able to:

• Define legal terminology pertaining to IDEA and surrogate parent requirements and have an understanding of the requirement
• Identify the qualifications needed, as well as the role responsibilities of a surrogate parent
• Establish and implement a process at their LEA to identify, train, and assign surrogate parents

Register now for this webinar >>

In addition, Juvenile Law Center and Education Law Center-PA have developed a training for surrogate parents that can be downloaded and used by school districts, charter schools, Intermediate Units, and other local education agencies to train volunteers to serve as surrogate parents. Download a Powerpoint of this training here.