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When Choosing
a Residential School In MA -
The Importance of Appropriate Licensing
By Andrea Watson,
Project Coordinator PFRR, Attorney Tim Sindelar, PFRR Advisory Board
Member
[Andrea Watson is
Project Coordinator, parent and founder of Parents
for Residential Reform - A Project of The Federation for
Children with Special Needs, Boston, MA, 617-236-7210 x 145,
or 800-672-7084, Fax: 617-572-2094, pfrr@fcsn.org,
and Tim Sindelar is with Hilton and Moos in Cambridge,
MA]
When families place their
child in group care, either in a residential school or group home,
they are placing the life of their child in others' hands. Safety,
as well as appropriate service delivery, should be their highest priority.
Appropriate licensing is crucial when choosing a residential placement.
The Office for Child Care Services (OCCS) should license all
residential placements, even if they're 766 approved. This ensures
that these facilities meet the same standardized objectives and criteria
that other facilities that serve children, especially children with
special needs, must meet. Even though Parents for Residential Reform
(PFRR) would like to see an increase in these standards, an OCCS-licensed
program at least meets minimum qualifications to serve this population
of children. Programs without OCCS licensing may not be appropriate.
OCCS sets standards on restraint, medication, staff qualifications,
staff to student ratio, intake, service planning, nutrition planning,
equipment, education services, behavior management, clothing, room
assignments, grooming/hygiene, money, visiting, mail, telephones, runaways,
transportation, building safety, physical plant and equipment, physical
facility/architectural barriers, living units, access to records, criminal
background checks for employees and much more. OCCS staff monitors
the programs, provides information to parents and others, and investigates
complaints.
A residential school should be 766 approved. This means the program
meets the Massachusetts
Department of Education (DOE) standards to provide special
education services to children on an IEP (Individualized Education
Program), follows the curriculum frameworks, provides access to the
general curriculum and also complies with standards for health, welfare,
and safety. This approval is granted through Program Quality Assurance
Services (PQA) at DOE. PFRR is now posting the most recent DOE
progress reports about 766-approved residential schools on their website.
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