Caring Connections: IEP Enhancement Program James Teufel Southern Illinois University Carbondale Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development Kate Renshaw Williamson County Special Education District

What is an IEP?  The initials IEP stand for Individualized Education Program  Students who receive special education or related services  Develop a coordinated plan to help students with disabilities  Tailor a plan to a student’s particular needs and assets

U.S. Dept. of Education 10 Step IEP Process (steps 1-5) 1)identify a student who may need 2)evaluate the student 3)make an eligibility decisions 4)student is eligible for services 5)IEP meeting is scheduled

U.S. Dept. of Education 10 Step IEP Process (steps 6-10) 6) hold IEP meeting and write IEP 7) provide services 8) measure progress and report to parent(s) or guardian(s) 9) review IEP 10) reevaluate student– at least every three years

Caring Connections enhancements to the IEP process  Add a IEP navigator/advocate to work with the parent(s) or guardian(s) to improve knowledge and comfort related to the IEP process Building off of the health navigator model  Add a child and adolescent psychiatrist to the IEP team Especially important given the medicinal component of behavior change

Caring Connections and HIT (Health Information Technology)  The Caring Connections program follows a four step HIT model Planning (years 1-2) Infrastructure Development (years 1-2) Testing (year 2) Rollout (year 3)

Planning  Decided that the IEP navigator/advocate should be a social worker or equivalent within WCSED  Generated lists of appropriate HIT equipment and placement  Identified child and adolescent psychiatrist

Infrastructure Development  Ordered equipment Purchased by Shawnee Health Service but will be purchased by WCSED at the conclusion of HRSA funding  Installed equipment in 6 schools or administrative buildings in Williamson County Videoconferencing equipment Elementary, middle, and high schools as well as the WCSED Administrative Building

Testing  Tested and trained appropriate staff in the use of HIT equipment  Piloted the equipment with seven families in step nine of the IEP process  Families were identified based on their IEP step and need by WCSED staff

Lessons Learned from the Testing Phase  IEP navigator must remain vigilant to empower parent(s)/guardian(s) to speak during the meetings  Child and adolescent psychiatrist must make the meeting a priority  A liaison who has frequent contact with the child and adolescent psychiatrist is useful

Lessons Learned from the Testing Phase  A pre-existing relationship between the student and child and adolescent psychiatrist is useful Adds additional contextual understanding of the student’s behavior to psychiatrist’s decision making  In the cases that a pre-existing relationship does not exist, important questions could be uncovered for further discussion with the prescribing primary care physician

Lessons Learned from the Testing Phase  Student’s medications often could or should be modified  Options of behavioral, social, and/or occupational programs should be given to parent(s) or guardian(s) Simply pointing out problems is not enough  Highlighting social assets and contributions is important

Rollout  Full implementation of the program will occur in year three  15 to 25 students will participate Some of these students will be follow- ups from the pilot  Behavioral changes will be assess quantitatively  Parental and guardian comfort will be evaluated qualitatively

Sustainability  WCSED purchase of the equipment and existing IT support infrastructure assures the use of the HIT equipment for the future  The equipment will ease the coordination of student disability services beyond the psychiatric IEP process

Challenges  In the last five years the number of child and adolescent psychiatrist serving the Illinois Delta Region has fluctuated from one to three  The state of Illinois has major budgetary problems Health and social service programs have been cut or delayed

Questions Thank you for your time and attention For additional information regarding this project, please contact the Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development