{"id":9374,"date":"2013-03-14T10:00:44","date_gmt":"2013-03-14T14:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=9374"},"modified":"2017-04-14T11:04:51","modified_gmt":"2017-04-14T15:04:51","slug":"want-systemic-change-use-the-state-complaint-provisions-under-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/want-systemic-change-use-the-state-complaint-provisions-under-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Want Systemic Change? Use the State Complaint Provisions Under IDEA"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"Want%20Systemic%20Change%3F%20Use%20the%20State%20Complaint%20Provisions%20Under%20IDEA\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p><strong>From Jim Comstock-Galagan<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Using State Administrative Complaint Provisions under IDEA to Create Systemic Change<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Jim shares regulatory requirements for state complaints, resources and references, and effective strategies to use when you file a state complaint.<\/p>\n<p>State complaints cover a broad range of violations of IDEA and must contain statement that LEA violated IDEA (Part B) and all the facts re complaint.<\/p>\n<p>Can be used to resolve any matter related to violations of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>FAPE<\/li>\n<li>child find<\/li>\n<li>related services<\/li>\n<li>ESY (regression and recoupment)<\/li>\n<li>Identification<\/li>\n<li>Lack of progress<\/li>\n<li>Evaluation<\/li>\n<li>Educational placement<\/li>\n<li>&#8230;..<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Every state must have procedures for filing complaints &#8211; regulations only, not in the statute.<\/p>\n<p>A State Complaint may be filed by any individual (organization, individual, out-of-state individual (no longer in the\u00a0 district), grandparent).<\/p>\n<p>Complaint can be filed against public agency including SEA, LEA, nonprofit public charter school, or a political subdivision of state providing education services (juvenile correctional facility).<\/p>\n<p>SEA remains responsible for complying with all procedural and remediation steps required in the federal regulations (34 C.F.R. 300).<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>The Scope of State Complaints<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The SEA&#8217;s state complaint procedures <em>must<\/em> address both procedural and substantive IDEA violations.<\/p>\n<p>In a complaint, the district\u00a0 <strong>must<\/strong> have the data to support their decisions in cases.<\/p>\n<p>OSEP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/idea\/comment\/46579-46629.reg.101-230.esy.lre.etc.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Commentary to 2004 IDEA Regulations<\/span><\/a>, 71 Fed. Register 46601 (8\\14\\2006).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>State Complaints can address both <em>individual<\/em> and <em>systemic<\/em> issues.<\/li>\n<li>In 2000, OSEP stated \u201cthe state complaint procedures are available for resolving<em> any<\/em> complaint&#8230;including complaints that raise systemic issues.\u201d See <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/policy\/speced\/guid\/idea\/letters\/2000-3\/osep0020.71700safeguards.3q2001.doc\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">OSEP Letter to Chief State School Officers, July 17, 2000<\/span><\/a> Page 4.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0In 2001, OSEP stated that \u201c\u2026an SEA is required to resolve any complaint \u2026including a systemic complaint alleging a public agency [LEA] has failed to provide FAPE to <em>a group<\/em> of children with disabilities.\u201d See <a href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/policy\/speced\/guid\/idea\/letters\/2001-3\/nann092101gensupv.doc\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">OSEP Letter to Nann, September 21, 2001<\/span><\/a> Page 2.<\/li>\n<li>In 2008, OSEP stated that \u201cstates are responsible for resolving any complaint, including complaints containing allegations of <em>a statewide, systemic<\/em> nature\u2026\u201d See <a href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/policy\/speced\/guid\/idea\/letters\/2008-3\/zimring070108complaintres3q2008.doc\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">OSEP Letter to Jonathan Zimring, July 1, 2008<\/span><\/a> Page 1.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the commentary to the 2004 IDEA Regulations, OSEP emphasized the broad scope of State Complaint procedures:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe that the broad scope of the State complaint procedures is critical to each State\u2019s exercise of its general supervision responsibilities. &#8230;We believe placing limits on the State complaint system\u2026would diminish the SEA\u2019s ability to ensure its LEAs are in compliance with Part B of the Act\u2026and may result in an increase in the number of due process complaints filed and the number of due process hearings held.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OSEP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/idea\/comment\/46579-46629.reg.101-230.esy.lre.etc.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Commentary to 2004 IDEA Regulations<\/span><\/a> 71 Fed. Register 46601 (8\\14\\2006).<\/p>\n<p>You should review the timelines and extended timelines for filing systemic complaints.<\/p>\n<p>Jim also emphasizes important factors in the investigation process re on-site investigation (including OSEP requirements for SEAs), ability to submit additional information, proposal from the public agency to resolve, and mediation.<\/p>\n<p>Reference: Jefferson Parish Complaint.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.splcenter.org\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/www.splcenter.org<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The SEA must issue a written decision that addresses each allegation, including findings of fact and conclusions, and reasons for its final decision.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>The Scope of\u00a0 State Complaint Remedies<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Individual\/Systemic Corrective Action Compensatory education<\/li>\n<li>Monetary reimbursement<\/li>\n<li>Appropriate future provision of services for all students with disabilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>34 C.F.R. \u00a7 300.151 (b), 152(a)(5); 71 Fed. Register 46602 (8\/14\/2006); <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CDIQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.ed.gov%2Fpolicy%2Fspeced%2Fguid%2Fidea%2Fletters%2F2008-4%2Fcopenhaver103108correction-noncompliance4q2008.doc&amp;ei=ktkrUa75CdDE0AHSlYC4CQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNGZXyLO6g9GmOVTkM95H_nHGC8GUQ&amp;bvm=bv.42768644,d.dmQ\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Letter to Copenhaver, 10\/31\/2008<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Proving Your Complaint<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Do your research and include in the complaint:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>statistical data<\/li>\n<li>legal research and detailed discussion of previous IDEA violations<\/li>\n<li>affidavits that support your your facts and claims<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"border: 1px solid black; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; float: left;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/ISEA\/images\/2012\/jim.complaints.300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"158\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jim Comstock-Galagan<\/strong> is the former Executive Director of the <span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sdlcenter.org\/\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Southern Disability Law Center (SDLC)<\/span><\/a><\/span>, New Orleans, LA and a faculty member at W&amp;M Law School<span style=\"color: #000080;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/ISEA\/isea.2012.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Institute of Special Education Advocacy (ISEA)<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Jim Comstock-Galagan Using State Administrative Complaint Provisions under IDEA to Create Systemic Change Jim shares regulatory requirements for state complaints, resources and references, and effective strategies to use when <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/want-systemic-change-use-the-state-complaint-provisions-under-idea\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1369],"tags":[1048,1293,1003,585,812,1047],"class_list":["post-9374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-idea-2004","category-state-complaints","tag-administrative-complaint-provisions-idea","tag-idea-2004","tag-jim-comstock-galagan","tag-state-complaint-procedures","tag-state-complaints","tag-systemic-change"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9374"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21737,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9374\/revisions\/21737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}