From Laura.Allran at ode.state.or.us Mon Jun 15 09:33:33 2009 From: Laura.Allran at ode.state.or.us (ALLRAN Laura) Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:33:33 -0700 Subject: [SE-Dir] OSL&P: Interpreters in Meetings Message-ID: TO: All District and ESD Special Education Directors The message below is being forwarded to you on behalf of: Nancy Latini, PhD Assistant Superintendent Student Learning & Partnerships ______________________________________________ June 15, 2009 RE: Provision of Interpreters for Parents to Participate Fully in Educational Meetings At a meeting of the State Advisory Council on Special Education (SACSE), and through other advocacy organizations, our office has been informed that some districts are engaging interpreters for IEP meetings who may not themselves completely understand the proceedings of the meeting for which they are interpreting. The concern primarily involves parents whose native language is other than English. Specifically, if the interpreter cannot properly communicate the proceedings of the meeting to the parent, it is difficult for the parent to fully understand the proceedings of the IEP or related meeting. While we currently have no direct evidence of this occurring through our dispute resolution system, I am writing to simply call attention to federal and state regulations pertaining to district responsibilities relative to interpreters and IEP meetings. School districts must ensure that parents are actively and meaningfully involved in the IEP and educational processes of their children. For parents who are deaf or whose native language may be other than English, the district provision of able interpreters is a critical component of that goal. Thank you in advance for reviewing the federal and state requirements below and evaluating how your district is doing in complying with these requirements. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Rae Ann Ray at (503)-947-5722. IDEA 34 CFR Sec. 300.322(e) Use of interpreters or other action, as appropriate: The public agency must take whatever action is necessary to ensure that the parent understands the proceedings of the IEP Team meeting, including arranging for an interpreter for parents with deafness or whose native language is other than English. Oregon Administrative Rules 581-015-2190 (3) and (4) Parent Participation - General (3) The school district must take whatever action is necessary to ensure that the parent understands the proceedings at a meeting, including arranging for an interpreter for parents who are deaf or whose native language is other than English. (4) A meeting does not include informal or unscheduled conversations involving school district personnel and conversations on issues such as teaching methodology, lesson plans, or coordination of service provision if those issues are not addressed in the child's IEP. A meeting also does not include preparatory activities that public agency personnel engage in to develop a proposal or response to a parent proposal that will be discussed at a later meeting. If you have any difficulty viewing this, please contact Laura Allran at laura.allran at state.or.us or 503-947-5674. Messages to and from this e-mail address may be made available to the public under Oregon law. ===========End of Message============ ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete the communication and any attachments. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. ********************************************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Heidi.Schulze at ode.state.or.us Tue Jun 23 11:37:13 2009 From: Heidi.Schulze at ode.state.or.us (SCHULZE Heidi) Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:37:13 -0700 Subject: [SE-Dir] OSL&P: Forest Grove Supreme Court Case Message-ID: TO: All District and ESD Special Education Directors The message below is being sent to you on behalf of: Nancy Latini, PhD Assistant Superintendent Student Learning & Partnerships ______________________________________________ June 22, 2009 RE: Forest Grove Supreme Court Case I thought you would be interested in the opinion on the Forest Grove case which is attached. We have all been waiting. The vote was 6-3. If you have any difficulty opening the attached document, please contact Heidi Schulze at heidi.schulze at state.or.us or 503-947-5661. Messages to and from this e-mail address may be made available to the public under Oregon law. ===========Attachment============ Forest Grove v. T.A..pdf ===========End of Message============ ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete the communication and any attachments. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. ********************************************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Forest Grove v. T.A..pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 230323 bytes Desc: Forest Grove v. T.A..pdf URL: From Heidi.Schulze at ode.state.or.us Tue Jun 23 11:38:35 2009 From: Heidi.Schulze at ode.state.or.us (SCHULZE Heidi) Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:38:35 -0700 Subject: [SE-Dir] OSL&P: Update on Extended Assessment Trainings and Related Allocations Message-ID: TO: All District and ESD Special Education Directors The message below is being sent to you on behalf of: Nancy Latini, PhD Assistant Superintendent Student Learning & Partnerships ______________________________________________ June 22, 2009 RE: Update on Extended Assessment Trainings and Related Allocations District and ESD allocations for sub-grants related to Extended Assessment trainings and the assessment of students with disabilities will be disseminated in early fall. Districts and ESDs can expect allocation amounts as in previous years for use with training staff and for assessing students. NOTE: Extended Assessment Training updated information is now posted. In addition, questions regarding training locations, times, dates, and who should attend are now answered and posted at http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=178 . The Department will also send a reminder email with this information in early fall so that district and ESD QAs, QTs and interested individuals can complete planning for building/maintaining Extended Assessment administration capacity in 09-10. You should be aware that no training will be offered at the fall special education conference in Eugene in October. Please direct your Extended Assessment training questions to Brad Lenhardt at Brad.Lenhardt at state.or.us (503)947-5755. Thank you. If you have any difficulty viewing this message, please contact Heidi Schulze at heidi.schulze at state.or.us or 503-947-5661. Messages to and from this e-mail address may be made available to the public under Oregon law. ===========End of Message============ ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete the communication and any attachments. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. ********************************************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Laura.Allran at ode.state.or.us Mon Jun 29 15:40:53 2009 From: Laura.Allran at ode.state.or.us (ALLRAN Laura) Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:40:53 -0700 Subject: [SE-Dir] OSL&P: Medicaid Changes Message-ID: TO: All District and ESD Special Education Directors The message below is being sent to you on behalf of: Nancy Latini, PhD Assistant Superintendent Student Learning & Partnerships ______________________________________________ June 29, 2009 RE: Medicaid Changes I asked Linda Williams if I should immediately share with you the below news release and here is her response: "Yes, this is great news in that it confirms our direction to move forward allowing ESDs to continue to bill Medicaid for Medicaid Administrative Claiming (MAC) activities, and allows schools to continue to bill for transportation services provided to Medicaid eligible children eligible under the IDEA to and from a Medicaid covered service even if the service is provided in an education setting as currently stipulated in the School-Based Health Services rules." - Linda Williams ________________________________________________________________________________ Official CMS News Release June 29, 2009 MEDICAID NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact CMS Media Affairs Office Monday, June 29, 2009 (202) 690-6145 HHS RESCINDS MEDICAID REGULATIONS Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that the administration will rescind all or part of three Medicaid regulations that were previously issued and delay the enforcement of a fourth regulation. Each of these rules, in whole or in part, had been subject to Congressional moratoria set to expire on July 1, 2009. "These regulations, if left in place would have potentially adverse consequences for Medicaid beneficiaries, some of our nation's most vulnerable people," said Secretary Sebelius. "By rescinding these rules, we can expect that children will continue receiving services through their schools, beneficiaries will be able to access all available case management resources to help them better manage their health care, and outpatient hospital and clinic services can continue to be covered in the most efficient manner." "The actions we are taking today are necessary to ensure that the states have the flexibility they need to fully serve Medicaid-eligible individuals," said Secretary Sebelius. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and HHS today are: Rescinding a final rule, published December 28, 2007, that would have eliminated reimbursement for school-based administrative costs and costs of transportation to and from schools. The rescission reflects concern that the rule could limit the Medicaid administrative outreach activities of schools, and that the overall budgetary impact on schools could potentially impact their ability to offer Medicaid services to students. Rescinding a rule, published November 7, 2008, that would have limited the outpatient hospital and clinic service benefit for Medicaid beneficiaries to the scope of services recognized as an outpatient hospital service under Medicare. This rule was rescinded because CMS became aware that coverage beyond that scope could not be easily moved to other benefit categories, resulting in great impact than previously anticipated. Rescinding provisions of an interim final rule published December 4, 2007, which would have restricted beneficiary access to case management services. These provisions appeared to, in practice, restrict beneficiary access to needed covered case management services, and limit state flexibility in determining efficient and effective delivery systems for case management services. Delaying until June 30, 2010, the enforcement of portions of a regulation that clarified limitations on health care related tax programs so that CMS could determine whether states need additional clarification or guidance. CMS may also further review the potential impact of the regulation, and give additional consideration to alternative approaches. ____________________________________________________________________________ Link to Final Federal Register Posting If you have any difficulty opening the above link, please contact Laura Allran at laura.allran at state.or.us or 503-947-5674. Messages to and from this e-mail address may be made available to the public under Oregon law. ===========End of Message============ ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete the communication and any attachments. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. ********************************************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: