Child Find Request

A. Child find.

1. Each local school division shall maintain an active and continuing child find program designed to identify, locate and evaluate those children residing in the jurisdiction who are birth to age 21, inclusive, who are in need of special education and related services, including children who: (34 CFR 300.102 and 34 CFR 300.111)

a. Are highly mobile, such as migrant and homeless children;

b. Are wards of the state;

c. Attend private schools, including children who are home-instructed or home-tutored;

d. Are suspected of being children with disabilities under this chapter and in need of special education, even though they are advancing from grade to grade; and

e. Are under age 18, who are suspected of having a disability who need special education and related services, and who are incarcerated in a regional or local jail in its jurisdiction for 10 or more days.

2. Each local school division shall coordinate child find activities for infants and toddlers (birth to age two, inclusive) with the Part C local interagency coordinating council. (34 CFR 300.124)

3. Each local school division shall locate, identify and evaluate children with disabilities who are enrolled by their parents in private, including religious, elementary schools and secondary schools. (34 CFR 300.131, 34 CFR 300.133, 34 CFR 300.134)

a. The child find process shall be designed to ensure:

(1) The equitable participation of parentally placed private school children; and

(2) An accurate count of those children.

b. The local school division shall undertake activities similar to the activities undertaken for its public school children.

c. The cost of carrying out the child find requirements, including individual evaluation, may not be considered in determining if a local educational agency has met its obligation under 34 CFR 300.133.

d. The child find process shall be completed in a time period comparable to that for students attending public school in the local educational agency.

e. Each local school division in which private, including religious, elementary and secondary schools, are located, shall include parentally placed private school children, including those who reside in a state other than Virginia, or country other than the United States.

(1) If the location of the administration of the private school in which the child attends is different from the school division in which the private school is located, the school division in which the private school is located and which the child attends is responsible for the child find activities.

f. The local school division shall consult with appropriate representatives of private school children with disabilities, as well as home-instructed or home-tutored children with disabilities, and representatives of parents of parentally placed private school children with disabilities, on how to implement the child find and evaluation activities.

B. Public awareness. Each local school division shall, at least annually, conduct a public awareness campaign to:

1. Inform the community of a person's, ages two to 21, inclusive, statutory right to a free appropriate public education and the availability of special education programs and services;

2. Generate referrals; and

3. Explain the nature of disabilities, the early warning signs of disabilities, and the need for services to begin early.