DYS Corrective Action Plan Lacks Action
August 24, 2007
As previously reported, on Friday, June 8, 2007, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) issued a comprehensive monitoring report on the Division of Youth Services (DYS) and the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment Treatment Center (formerly Alexander Youth Services Center; currently known as AJATC) as a result of a Disability Rights Center investigation involving the physical and educational abuse of an African-American male student at the facility. The ADE required DYS to submit a Corrective Action Plan to which would bring DYS into compliance with IDEA by August 15, 2007. DYS submitted its plan to the ADE on August 10th.
The ADE report found DYS out of compliance in the following areas:
- Child Find
- Due Process
- Protection in Evaluation Procedures
- Procedures for Evaluation of Specific Learning Disabilities
- Individualized Education Programs
- Free Appropriate Public Education
- Least Restrictive Environment
- Confidentiality of Information
- System of Personnel Development
For instance, regarding Child Find, the ADE essentially ordered DYS to develop a written plan of child location, identification activities and a student tracking system. The DYS plan of action regarding Child Find simply states that DYS will secure expert advice; establish an interagency Child Find committee; and have the LEA Supervisor provide an orientation for the committee. The activities DYS listed in its action plan do not explain the method which will be used to locate, identify and evaluate children, which is what the ADE and IDEA require.
Similarly, there is little of substance regarding the proposed changes to Least Restrictive Environment procedures at AJATC. The ADE report required DYS to develop a written plan to ensure that a continuum of services is available to meet the needs of all students with disabilities. DYS' plan to comply with the ADE is to secure expert advice in developing and implementing plans for addressing the identified areas; establishing a committee of appropriate personnel or purchased service providers to review and revise existing plans; and (later on) submit a written plan to ADE for approval. Again, the plan fails to produce what the ADE mandated: a step-by-step plan that shows how the least restrictive environment requirement of the IDEA will be complied with in the future. The DYS plan simply states that a committee will be formed to come up with a plan in the future.
As a whole, the DYS action plan fails in a very basic way: it lacks a plan. As it stands now, the document primarily outlines the steps DYS intends to take to develop a written plan that addresses the areas of noncompliance identified by the ADE. In other words, even though the plan may, at times, address the "who", it fails to provide details regarding "what, where, why, and how," making it similar to a skeleton lacking muscles to propel it.
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