The Foorce

An Individual Education Plan (IEP) Team is a group that meets to understand the needs of a student who may have disabilities and to create a customized plan for that child’s education. In New York, this team must not only include the child’s parent or guardian(s) but also a “parent member” who represents the community of parents of students with disabilities. The parent member contributes knowledge and experience to the IEP-planning process, and helps explain options to families who are new to it.

Parent members participate in IEP team discussions about:

• eligibility for special education services
• educational planning, goal-setting, and
• learning in the least restrictive environment

They help to ensure that the child’s family member(s):

• understand the evaluation and placement processes
• are comfortable with the team’s decisions
• have had their concerns adequately addressed

After training, parent members are paid up to $50 per day of service ($20 for the first 2 hours, $6 per hour after that, for a maximum of $50).

Here’s How

You can be a parent member if you have a child who is classified as having a disability and you are not an employee of the New York City Department of Education. You are also eligible if your child has been declassified within the past five years, or has graduated within the past five years. You will need to pass a security clearance and be fingerprinted, at the expense of the Department of Education.

In the training session, you will learn about:

• regulations pertaining to the special education evaluation and placement processes
• services available in the schools and in the community
• the rights of children and families in the special education evaluation and placement processes