View FilePOLICY LETTER: February 9, 2007 to Houston, Texas Independent School District Staff Member Carolyn Guess MS Word
Dated February 9, 2007Carolyn GuessHouston Independent School DistrictHattie Mae White Educational Support Center4400 West 18th StreetHouston, Texas 77092-8501Dear Ms. Guess:This is in response to your February 7, 2007 letter to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), regarding the parental consent requirements relating to accessing public benefits or insurance in 34 CFR 300.154(d)(2)(iv)(A) of the final regulations for Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Part B). In your letter, you point out potential effects on local educational agencies (LEAs) if they are required to obtain a separate consent from the parent each time access to Medicaid or other public benefits or insurance is sought to pay for required special education and related services provided to Medicaid-eligible children, and request that we provide the same information to you that we provided to Dr. Margaret Smith in our January23, 2007 letter. We believe that permitting a public agency to obtain parent consent for a specified amount of services for a specified period of time would be sufficient to enable parents to make an informed decision as to whether to consent before a public agency can access their or their child's public benefits or other public insurance. This consent may be obtained one time for the specific services, and duration of services identified in a child's individualized education program (IEP), and an LEA would not be required to obtain a separate consent each time a Medicaid agency or other public insurer or public program is billed for the provision of required services. For example, if it is known that a child is to receive three hours per week of occupational therapy (OT) for 36 weeks, parents could be asked to give consent to the public agency's billing of the I hope that this information is helpful. If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Dr. Deborah Morrow, at 202-245-7456.Sincerely,/s/Alexa Posny, Ph.D.DirectorOffice of Special Education Programscc: Christopher P. Borreca David DunnPage PAGE 2 Carolyn Guess