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Child FindThe Hinds County School District is participating in an ongoing effort to identify, locate, and evaluate children through the age of twenty-one who reside in the Hinds County School District who are suspected of having a physical, mental, communicative and/or emotional disability and may be in need of special education and related services under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This Child Find effort includes: homeless children, wards of the state, children parentally placed in private school, and children that are highly mobile and/or migrant. It is not a requirement that a child must have repeated a grade. Children that are advancing from grade to grade are able to be considered through Child Find. Please refer individuals twenty-one years of age or under who may have a disability to Tiffany Lanier, tlanier@hinds.k12.ms.us, who is the Child Find Contact Person for our district. In accordance with federal guidelines, parents must express “concern in writing to a supervisory or administrative personnel of the appropriate educational agency, or a teacher of the child, that the child is in need of special education and related services” [§300.534(b)(1)]. Please note, however, that if the
public agency does not suspect that the child has a disability and denies the request for an initial evaluation, the public agency must provide written notice to the parents…which explains among other things, why the public agency refuses to conduct an initial evaluation and the information that was used as the basis to make that decision (71 Fed. Reg. p.46636).
Parents may challenge such a refusal by requesting a due process hearing.
In cases where the educational agency suspects that the child has a disability, it is the responsibility of the Child Find Contact Person to insure that the Referral-to-Placement process is implemented. The Child Find Contact Person works with Local Survey Committees at each school to implement this process.
Prior to evaluation, a copy of the Procedural Safeguards is given to parents. The Procedural Safeguards, which outline the parents’ and students’ rights, is explained to the parents. After written parental consent for testing is obtained, a nondiscriminatory evaluation is conducted. Students are evaluated by qualified personnel in all areas related to the suspected disability.
Parents participate when a student is ruled eligible for a special education program. Before the student is placed, an Individual Education Program (IEP) is developed for the student and parents’ sign consent for services before services are provided for a special education program. All students receiving special education services are reevaluated at least every three years and their IEP is revised annually.
Please contact Tiffany Lanier, tlanier@hinds.k12.ms.us , Child Find Coordinator, at the following address and telephone number if you know of any individuals who need to be referred: Hinds County School District, 13192 Highway 18 Raymond, Ms (601) 857-7076.
