Speak Now! Let Mayor De Blasio know his Policy to “fast-track” Settlements for Tuition Reimbursement is not being Enforced

Dear Clients,

We are in the trenches fighting with you and for you on a daily basis.  Over the weekend I composed the below email message which was sent this morning to three members of the city council.

The email addresses of these three city council members are: 

DDromm@council.nyc.gov       Dgarodnick@council.nyc.gov    Mviverito@council.nyc.gov

Please write to them – and ask for their help and to allow me to address the education committee.  Even if you are part of the lucky group that has been paid in full for 2015-2016, many of your friends have not.  And, we want to prevent this same delay for all cases during the 2016-2017 year. The Mayor needs to hear from you.   We are all in this together.

I am hoping that if there is enough noise that the Mayor will get the message – his re-election is close and he needs to be seen as a man of the people and for the people.  Only the Mayor can put the kind of pressure on the DOE to do their jobs.

Very truly yours,

Regina

-----

Dear Mr. Dromm,

I am writing to you at the suggestion of Daniel Garodnick, who has always been a supporter of parents of children with special needs and whose friendship we value.  I am respectfully requesting an opportunity to address the Education Committee of the City Council as soon as possible.   

My firm represents parents of NYC special education students.   We advocate and litigate for an appropriate education for over 1500 students a year in the NYC area.  I refer you to our website www.skyerlaw.com.   

When a parent believes that the DOE has failed to offer their child a free appropriate public education, often referred to as FAPE, they have the statutory right to remove their child from the public school, unilaterally place the child in a special education private school and sue the City for tuition reimbursement for this placement.  The mechanism for seeking tuition reimbursement is an administrative proceeding which in NYC is known as a Due Process Impartial Hearing.  There are approximately 7000 tuition reimbursement cases against the City every year.  This is a cumbersome and costly process.   We are told, but I have never received formal verification that the average cost to the City for an Impartial Hearing is $50,000 per case.   

In June 2014 Mayor de Blasio in an attempt to reduce this burden of Due Process Impartial Hearings on both parents and the DOE, issued a policy initiative which sought to reduce the number of hearings and to assist parents in receiving their reimbursement in a timely manner.  (see http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/306-14/mayor-de-blasio-speaker-silver-new-steps-help-families-students-disabilities#/0 ) 

As a result of this initiative the DOE is now settling approximately 96% of tuition reimbursement cases on the basis of a ten day notice, rather than the filing of a formal complaint, which would trigger the Due Process Impartial Hearing to begin. Although grateful for the high number of settled cases,  the DOE has failed to adhere to any of the other tenets in Mayor De Blasio’s initiative.  The situation for special education parents has in fact worsened. For the 2015-2016 school year the DOE has stopped complying with the terms of settlements which they have entered into months earlier.  These agreements call for reimbursement payments to parents 30 days after execution.  Parents have relied on these terms of stipulation and are now faces untenable financial burdens.   In my firm alone there are over 800 cases that have not been fully paid where the DOE has agreed to pay these parents months earlier.  Some cases have received partial payments, while others have received no payment.    

Given the course of conduct of the DOE this immediate prior school year, if we were to advise clients not to accept settlements and to proceed to impartial hearings the cost to the City would sky-rocket.  Not only does the city bear all of the administrative costs of the hearing, but when a parent is a prevailing party at a hearing the method of payment is governed by federal law and is paid within 30 days and parents are entitled to an award of reimbursement for their legal fees.   

It is imperative that the City Council be aware of what is happening to their constituents and the potential dangers if the DOE does not adhere to already entered into stipulations.  We ask that your members exert any influence your members may have on rectifying this matter.  

Thank you in advance for your consideration. 

Regina Skyer

Update on Settlements

                                                  A DEMAND FOR PAYMENT NOW

The frustration and outrage we are all experiencing about the delays in the payment of executed stipulations has reached an absolute boiling point in our office and we agree with parents who can no longer tolerate this unjust and unacceptable situation.

Our office has been in contact with every administrator in the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Legal Services demanding immediate payment of these executed stipulations. We have spoken to the general counsel for Scott Stringer, the New York City Comptroller, on several occasions and have pleaded for an immediate resolution to this untenable situation. We have had a direct conversation with the Mayor, apprising him about the financial devastation this has been causing to parents of children with disabilities. Although sympathetic, he did nothing. We have been getting in touch with everyone we know—as far and wide as the New York Times as well as other press organizations—to expose this debacle and we implore all parents, educators, concerned citizens and anyone interested in, or affected by, this gross miscarriage of justice to reach out to their contacts and give voice to the plight and the struggles parents are enduring to receive legally binding payments that are unquestionably due and owing.

          At this very moment, we are writing a letter requesting that the Education Committee of the City Council convene to address and firmly resolve the issue of delayed payments. With the aid and support of New York City Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick, who has worked tirelessly on behalf of the rights of families and children, we will leave no stone unturned in our quest to remedy this fiasco.                        

Guidance Transfers

DOE Policy Change: “Guidance Transfers” are Now an Option

 by Ashley Barad

          Surely, anyone who has tried to seek options for transferring between New York City Schools knows that it is no easy feat. For more than a decade, the Department of Education has restricted transfers for students, granting them only in the case of serious safety risks, medical issues, or even extreme commutes. According to the DOE, limiting school transfers was meant to benefit students, since it would ensure a consistent academic environment for students from year to year.

           However, recent reports show that the barriers placed on school transfers have negative outcomes for students. Several students found themselves unable to switch out of violent schools if they could not prove themselves to be personal victims of violence, and others were forced to remain in specialized high schools whose limited course offerings no longer satisfied their changing interests.

          While there are certainly still restrictions in place, it will now be a little bit easier to switch your child’s school placements. Last Wednesday, the Panel for Educational Policy declared that parents can request a “guidance transfer” if their child “is not progressing or achieving academically or socially.” According to this policy, officials will be able to request and review evidence on a case-by-case basis, and district superintendents will approve transfers requested for academic accommodations.

Click Here to read the full article on Chalkbeat.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk

Join us in Supporting the American Cancer Society!

We at Skyer Law are devoted to making positive change, and we work hard every day to ensure that the students we work with receive the quality education they deserve. On October 16th, we will be taking this passion and directing it towards the Making Strides against Breast Cancer walk in Central Park.

Click Here to support our team, Sky’s the Limit!

Our participation in this event is important to us because it will not only help raise funds for cancer research but will also spark awareness within and beyond our office. By walking among others who support this cause, we will broaden the network of people who actively support breast cancer research and we will provide a support network for those families who have been affected by the disease. We know that the American Cancer Society is the leader in the fight to end breast cancer, and we know that our team will help ACS achieve its goals.

The donations our team raises will enable investment in groundbreaking breast cancer research and provide free information and services for those diagnosed with the disease. More than 3.1 million breast cancer survivors will celebrate another birthday this year!

Early Intervention

Although the majority of our work involves helping children who are 3 and older, we cannot tell you how often we hear heartbreaking stories of parents who did not know they were entitled to FREE EARLY INTERVENTION (“EI”) services.  Or we meet parents who were aware that EI existed, but they were told by EI officials that their clearly struggling child was “ineligible.”   In fact, it shocks us how many of these clients whose parents say they were turned down by EI, are later diagnosed with a myriad of disorders, including Autism.   

As a Parent, you have the right to a comprehensive evaluation of your child - this is called a MULTIDISCIPLINARY EVALUTION (MDE), and is defined below.  And if your child is not deemed eligible, you have the right to fight that determination.  As you would expect, time is of the essence because your child is only eligible for EI services for such a short period of time, so we want to reach as many of you as early on as possible, so that you can successfully navigate the EI process.   

To this end, we are currently working on a sequel to Regina’s popular “How to Survive Turning Five” entitled “How to Survive EI”…. Stay tuned! 

                REFERRING YOUR CHILD IS EASY and takes seconds

So don’t put it off!

Professionals such as doctors can refer your infant or toddler to the EIP, unless you object, when there is a concern about your child’s development. If you have a concern, you can also refer your child to the Early Intervention Program in the county where you live. County contacts can be found online at: www.health.ny.gov/community/ infants_children/early_intervention/county_eip.htm Or, you can call the “Growing Up Healthy” 24-hour Hotline at 1-800-522-5006; in New York City dial 311