Page 19 - Special Education One Sheets

Mental Health Conditions and Child Find

Providing in-school counseling to students with mental health conditions won’t necessarily satisfy a school district’s
obligations to address the student’s needs. For example, OCR found compliance concerns when it provided an anorexic
teen with in-school counseling that focused on calorie intake, but failed to provide her with mental health services or refer
her for an evaluation. (Alameda (CA) Unified Sch. Dist. (OCR Mar. 23, 2016) 116 LRP 24659.)

When a student is admitted to the hospital on a psychiatric hold, child find obligations may be triggered, and the school
district should consider on a case-by-case basis, whether to assess the student. For example, in Student v. Capistrano
Unified Sch. Dist., OAH Case No. 2011040869, the judge determined that a school district did not violate its child find
obligations when it did not offer to assess a student that it knew was psychiatrically hospitalized. OAH agreed with the
District’s expert who testified that a mental health hospitalization, in and of itself, would not have triggered child find, as
the hospitalization does not equal an IDEA disability. Notwithstanding this, the expert acknowledged that had the hospital
discharge summary, which included a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, and difficulty in social, emotional, and
occupational functioning, been provided to school officials, it would have triggered child find. Here, there was no evidence
that the parents shared information concerning the student’s mental health with the school.

Related Services to Address Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Needs
Counseling services are more likely to count as a related service where there is a link between the benefits of the counseling
and the student’s educational performance. (Student v. Ross Valley Sch. Dist., OAH Case No. 2014020175.) Counseling
services may be provided by social workers, psychologists, guidance counselors, or other qualified personnel. (34 C.F.R.
§ 300.34(c)(10).)

A student’s IEP team is responsible for determining whether a child needs social work services and what specific social work
services the child needs to receive FAPE. (71 Fed.Reg. 46575 (Aug. 14, 2006); see generally 34 C.F.R. § 300.34(c)(14).)

Parent counseling and training is a related service that is available to parents. (34 C.F.R. § 300.34 (c)(8).) The purpose of
these services is to provide support and information to parents in order to better equip them to participate in their child’s
educational program. (71 Fed.Reg. 46573 (Aug. 14, 2006).)

DISCLAIMER: As the information contained herein is necessarily general, its application to a particular set of facts and circumstances may vary. For this reason, this document does not
constitute legal advice. We recommend that you consult with your counsel prior to acting on the information contained herein.
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