Category: News

USDE Provides Valuable Info to Help Schools Ensure Disabled Students Receive AT (January 28, 2024)

Schools are responsible for ensuring students, families, and educators know how assistive technology works. In fact, students’ IEP teams should consider how it will be integrated with other therapies and interventions. If teams determine that a student needs assistive technology services, those supports must be stated in their IEP so teachers and related service providers can comply.

So, to that end, the US Department of Education (USDE) has sent a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) to schools nationwide, The DCL clarifies that assistive technology is not the same as accessible technology. Accessible technology can be used to help many different users or have built-in features for individualized supports. Assistive technology is selected to help a student perform a specific task.

The DCL provides examples of AT devices for children with a variety of disabilities and also links to the 2024 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP), which provides guidance and resources from the Office of Educational Technology (OET) and the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). That guidance is to support children with disabilities who need assistive technology (AT) devices and services for meaningful access and engagement in education.

To view the DCL, click here.
To access the USDE press release with links to guidance and resources, click here.
To access resources from the USDE’s IDEA website, click here.

PA Student Services Coalition Continues its Advocacy for Pupil/Student Services (January 27, 2024)

On January 24, 2024, the PA Coalition of Student Services Associations (PCSSA) met via Zoom. Dr. Doug Arnold represented PAPSA at the meeting.

Items discussed at the meeting included a review of the Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) Report at which Adam Oldham represented the PCSSA. Of the recommendations made by the BEFC to the Governor, General Assembly, and the State Board of Education, of note are the need for $5.4 billion dollars to brings PA schools to “adequacy” and the need to invest in student supports. The committee also worked on developing a framework for the delivery of student services in the state. Part of the process includes examining frameworks in place in our neighboring states. PA currently has no framework.

USDE Sends DCL to Schools Urging Gun Storage Awareness (January 26, 2024)

On January 25, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) sent a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) to school principals and district administrators across the country. The purpose of the DCL, signed by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, was “to emphasize a strategy where school principals and district administrators have a unique capacity to help save lives: encouraging safe firearms storage.” Sec. Cardona also urged school officials to “educate the whole school community about the importance of safe firearm storage” by sharing information within the community — including parents and families, parent organizations, and local officials — to help educate people about the importance of “safe firearm storage because doing so has the power to save lives.”

The DCL also included a template letter for school leaders to send to their communities.

To view the DCL, click here.

To access the USDE press release, click here.

To download the template letter for use by school officials to inform the public, click here.

Judge Rules Provision of PA Ed. Law is Unconstitutional (January 26, 2024)

A ruling by a federal judge avers that a PA law’s confidentiality provision that makes it a misdemeanor to disclose the existence of a state complaint or any information about it unless and until discipline is imposed is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. The ruling is a result of the plaintiff, a school board member who is also the parent of disabled children, seeking to publicize a misconduct allegation against the school psychologist who has worked with his sons. The parent also criticized the PA Department of Education’s (PDE) dismissal of his case.

The Educator Discipline Act is a state law that controls how PDE addresses misconduct complaints against school staff.

PDE has yet to decide whether it will appeal the ruling.

For more details on the case, visit 10 Philadelphia by clicking here.

PA Navigate Unveiled: A New Online Tool To Better Connect Pennsylvanians With Food, Housing, Childcare And More (January 23, 2024)

On January 23, 2024, PA Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh, findhelp Founder & CEO Erine Gray, and Community Action Partnership (CAP) Lancaster CEO Vanessa Philbert announced the launch of PA Navigate, an online tool that connects Pennsylvanians with community-based organizations, county and state agencies, and healthcare providers, for referrals to community resources that help them meet their most basic needs like food, shelter, transportation, and more. PA Navigate also allows individuals to refer themselves for services and facilitates greater connection and communication between healthcare providers and organizations that serve shared populations.

PA Navigate’s primary goal is to boost communication between health care and social services to improve follow-through on referrals, as well as to act as a support finder for citizens. 

A person’s overall health and wellness are influenced by far more than just their physical health. Socioeconomic, environmental, and behavioral factors shape our present and long-term health outcomes. The National Academy of Medicine estimates that social determinants of health like income, access to essential resources, education and employment, social supports, and physical environment contribute up to 90 percent of health outcomes. Despite this, health care providers and social service and community-based organizations that can help people experiencing barriers to essential needs and economic stability are not always closely linked.

PA Navigate bridges these systems through a shared platform where health care providers and social services organizations can track client referrals and better understand and assist with a client’s individual needs, helping them access services and supports. The system will also allow health care and service providers to assess an individual’s needs during a physician’s office or emergency department visit, when receiving case management services, or seeking assistance from a community-based organization, among others.

“CAP is thrilled to host the Department of Human Services and Secretary Arkoosh for the launch of PA Navigate, a platform we are looking forward to engaging with in order to positively impact individual and community outcomes around social determinants of health,” said CAP Lancaster CEO Vanessa Philbert. “We believe this platform has the opportunity to bring increased resourcing to individuals living with low incomes here in Lancaster, and we congratulate Pennsylvania for its leadership in this space.” 

The tool also will gather data that can help the Commonwealth and its partners better understand health and social services needs of Pennsylvanians and identify service gaps or opportunities for better support across the state. By looking at critical social determinants of health, including employment, child care, transportation, food security, access to health care, and housing stability, Commonwealth agencies and partners at the county and local level can help Pennsylvanians achieve better long-term health outcomes. 

PA Navigate is a collaborative effort among health information organizations (HIOs) and brings together multiple state agencies, counties, local non-profits and community organizations, health care entities, and social services providers. HIOs participating in the project include ClinicalConnect Health Information Exchange, Central PA Connect Health Information Exchange, HealthShare Exchange, and the Keystone Health Information Exchange. In September 2023, findhelp was chosen as the PA Navigate platform.  

For more information and to find resources in your community, visit pa-navigate.org.