CCIDS News
CCIDS' Kathy Son Coordinates
Foster/Surrogate Parent Training
(May 14, 2009) The University of Maine
Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS), in
collaboration with the
Maine Department of Education,
KIDS LEGAL, and
the Maine Parent
Federation, recently delivered a series of workshops for
foster/surrogate parents in Maine. The workshops, “Special Education –
Understanding Your Rights and Getting Results,” were developed to
increase the capacity of foster parents, surrogates, and Department of
Health and Human Services caseworkers to advocate effectively with their
school systems on behalf of children and youth in care.
CCIDS Research Associate Kathy Son
coordinated the workshops and collaborated with Cliff McHatten,
Maine Department of Education Surrogate Parent Program Director, in
training sessions utilizing the Maine Surrogate Parent Handbook. A
surrogate parent is appointed when the natural parents or guardians
cannot be located or the student is a ward of the State of Maine. They
have all the rights of the natural parents for educational matters,
i.e., permission for evaluation of placement, release of information and
request for educational hearing.1 Workshop participants were
guided in an adult-learning activity designed to give them hands-on
exposure to the contents of the Handbook so they could leave the
training session with “use-the-next-day” skills and knowledge to better
advocate for the children in their care.
(Back row, L-R) Kathy Son and Sara Meerse.
(Front row, L-R) Jan Diecchio and Cliff McHatten.
Photo credit: Robbin Pelletier, MPF
Sara Meerse, Directing Attorney of KIDS LEGAL, a statewide project of
Pine Tree Legal Assistance, led sessions on Special Education Law and
Dispute Resolution. Jan Diecchio, Parent Information Training Specialist
at the Maine Parent Federation, provided guidance on effective parent
advocacy approaches.
The Foster/Surrogate Parent workshop series
was developed as part of LEARNS: Maine’s Statewide Systems Change
Initiative for Inclusive Education, a State-University Cooperative
Project between the University of Maine and the Maine Department of
Education.
1 Maine Department of Education,
Special Services, Maine Surrogate Parent Program website (2006). “What
is a Surrogate Parent?”
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