Requesting & Supporting Educational Surrogate Parents

IDEA requires that the state education agency (NHED) establish a system by which surrogate parents be appointed to students whose parents are unknown or unable to be located, or if the student is in the legal custody of the Department of Children, Youth, & Families (DCYF), and that student is known or suspected to be a child with a disability. Educational surrogate parents are given all the legal rights of natural parents/guardians within the special education process. The intersection of the court system with the special education process can present with nuanced circumstances. This training will cover when and how special education administrators should submit requests for educational surrogate parents, as well as how the school district should support the work of the educational surrogate parents, including but not limited to best practices related to document sharing and communication. If you have questions about this training, please contact Janel LeBlanc at [email protected] for assistance.