Q&A
Services for newly arrived immigrant students with disabilities
3:02:34
ยท
156 sec
Council Member Rita Joseph inquires about the DOE's efforts to identify and provide services to newly arrived immigrant students with disabilities. DOE representatives explain their approach and highlight additional support provided.
- DOE directs schools to accept any documentation families arrive with to inform the IEP process
- If no documentation is available, schools should still proceed with the IEP process
- DOE has been providing wheelchairs to over 700 students who arrived without adaptive equipment
- Currently, 6-8 students are awaiting wheelchairs due to supply chain shortages
Rita Joseph
3:02:34
Our students in temporary housing, we've been getting a lot of, families telling us the newly arrival immigrant students living in shelters, they have to wait for an evaluation.
3:02:44
And if they're not if they were identified as having a disability in their prior country, what is New York City Public Schools doing to ensure that the newly arrived immigrant students with, student with disabilities are properly and promptly identified, provided with comp comparable service plans, evaluation, and IEPs?
Christina Foti
3:03:02
Yeah.
3:03:02
No student should have to wait to be evaluated.
3:03:05
And, in terms of a comparable service plan, we are directing our schools to accept whatever documentation a family arrives with, to use that to inform the IEP process.
3:03:16
And if a family does not arrive with any any documentation, they should still proceed with the the, IEP process, and make sure the students are getting whatever they need should they be suspected of having a disability.
3:03:29
Chair, I also want to note that something that is is not necessarily recognized is that a lot of these families have been arriving to to, New York with without adaptive equipment.
3:03:39
So children are arriving without wheelchairs.
3:03:41
And certainly not under the auspices of New York City Public Schools, but via labor of love.
3:03:46
The related service team has been outfitting over 700 students who otherwise are being transported in strollers.
3:03:55
They are outfitting them with wheelchairs, and I just wanna really go on record as as applauding that team that is
Rita Joseph
3:04:01
Is there any students, waiting to get a wheelchair?
3:04:03
How many do you have that's waiting?
Christina Foti
3:04:05
We have our flyers here that we're that we're, again, it's not a public school obligation.
3:04:08
Right?
3:04:09
I
Suzanne Sanchez
3:04:09
know.
3:04:10
We have our flyer and yes.
Rita Joseph
3:04:11
You brought it up.
3:04:11
I'm just asking.
Suzanne Sanchez
3:04:12
Yeah.
3:04:13
There's approximately 6 to 8 students right now awaiting a wheelchair, and that, as you can is a very fluid number, but it's about 6 or 8 right now.
Rita Joseph
3:04:20
Reaching out to partners to make sure we're meeting those needs?
Suzanne Sanchez
3:04:23
We have reached out to every, many, many partners, including health and human service health and hospitals and vendors, and, there are supply chain shortages with wheelchairs.
3:04:34
So, what the team does is they literally go to the family shelter where the family is and do a wheel a physical seating assessment.
3:04:43
And then we see what we have in in our stockpile, and we kinda, as Fotis DC Fotis said, we MacGyver together.
3:04:51
And, and then we also help the family navigate the public health care system because a wheelchair typically in that system takes 8 to 12 months, so we loan them that chair while they're waiting for that process.
3:05:03
And it's a grassroots program that is very, very much needed, and we're eager for any support the council can provide on that.