(a) Private placement with financial aid may be sought when an Individual Education Program (IEP) team finds that an eligible child with a disability cannot benefit from the regularly offered free appropriate public educational programs which include regular classes, special classes or special schools. The determination shall be made by the IEP team and by the Department of Education that no school district or other state agency has a suitable free and appropriate program of education for that particular child with a disability. Such private placement shall be in a school or institution approved by the Department of Education in keeping with its oversight responsibilities. Given the nature of these services, such placements shall be exempt from the requirements of Chapter 69 of Title 29.
(b) Before the Department of Education can authorize expenditures for new placements according to this section, the case must be reviewed by the Interagency Collaborative Team (ICT).
(1) The ICT shall consist of:
a. Division Director, Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF);
b. Division Director, Family Services of DSCYF;
c. Division Director, Division of Youth Rehabilitation Services of DSCYF;
d. Division Director, Division of Developmental Disabilities Services of the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS);
e. Division Director, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health of DHSS;
f. Director of the Office of Management and Budget or designee;
g. The Controller General or designee;
h. Director, Exceptional Children’s Group, Department of Education (DOE), who will serve as Chair; and
i. Associate Secretary, Curriculum and Instructional Improvement, DOE.
(2) A director assigned to the ICT may designate staff to represent the director on the ICT only if these designated representatives are empowered to act on behalf of the division director, including commitment of division resources for a full fiscal year.
(3) The ICT shall invite to its meetings:
a. A representative of a responsible school district for the case under consideration;
b. The parents of the child;
c. Other persons the team believes can contribute to their deliberations.
(4) The ICT shall:
a. Review existing assessments of new referrals;
b. Prescribe, if required, additional assessments for new referrals;
c. Review proposed treatment plans of new referrals;
d. Recommend alternatives for treatment plans of new referrals;
e. Coordinate interagency delivery of services;
f. Review, at least annually, current unique alternatives for the appropriateness of treatment plans and transition planning;
g. If appropriate, designate a primary case manager for the purpose of coordination of service agencies;
h. If appropriate, designate agencies to be involved in collaborative monitoring of individual cases.
(5) The ICT will ensure that state costs incurred as the result of a Team recommendation or assessment of a child currently funded from the Unique Alternatives appropriation will be covered from the existing appropriation. New referrals will be assessed in the interagency manner described above. The ICT shall accept and review cases initiated by other agencies, but in all cases the school district of residence must be involved in the review.
(6) Cases reviewed by the ICT will employ Unique Alternatives funding to cover state costs to the extent determined appropriate by the Interagency Collaborative Team. Other agencies may recognize a portion of the responsibility for the treatment of these children if determined appropriate by the Team. Cases involving individuals who are wards of the State shall be fully funded from Unique Alternatives funding. Funds may be transferred upon the approval of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Controller General.
(7) The ICT shall report on its activities to the Governor, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, President Pro Tempore, Speaker of the House and the Controller General by February 15 of each year. The report shall address the status of items addressed in the previous February ICT Annual Report.
(c) Disputes concerning the private placement of a child are subject to the hearing procedures set forth in § 3135 of this title. Subject to the parties’ right to appeal, the decision of the hearing panel appointed by the Secretary of Education is final and binding on all parties and the State Board of Education.
(d) Financial aid shall include tuition for special education and related services as defined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) [20 U.S.C. § 1400, et seq.] to include daily transportation for a private day program and room and board for a residential program. Transportation for a residential program will include, at a minimum, transportation to and from the facility at the start and end of each school term and when the school is officially closed to students. Reimbursement for other trips home or for the parents’ travel costs to accompany the child or to attend conferences at the facility shall be determined on a case-by-case basis.
(e) The Department of Education is authorized to continue utilizing funds appropriated for this section to develop unique educational alternatives, in lieu of private placement, for children who have been found unable to benefit from the regularly offered free, appropriate public educational programs and students in present education programs within this State whose individual education plan requires services not presently available within the present unit funding system. Unique educational alternatives shall be defined and approved by the Department of Education and may include, but not be limited to, related and supportive services. Any placement made pursuant to this subsection shall be considered a special program placement and shall be eligible for inclusion in local school district tuition tax rate setting per § 604(c) of this title.