Hello, my name is Ronnie Daniel. I am the executive director of Children First Education Fund. In this video, we’ll explain the types of documents that are acceptable to verify your child’s qualified disability for the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship and why they’re important. What are eligible documents? To verify your students documented disability as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDA, you’ll need one of the following. One, individualized education program or IEP. This is the most common form of documentation. It’s developed by your public school and outlines your students unique learning needs and the services they’re eligible to receive.
Public schools are required by law to provide an IEP for every student within their boundaries. Even if they do not intend to attend public school, it is your right as a parent to request an IEP. Two, an assessment team meeting record or ATMR form. Some schools may choose to complete an ATMR form instead of an IEP for students who are not enrolled in public school. This form is designed specifically for the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship and serves as an alternative verification of your students disability and required educational support. Three, a multidisciplinary team evaluation or MDT. If you’re not going through your public school, you can use the MDT form provided on our website. This evaluation must be completed by a team of qualified professionals. Multidisciplinary means the involvement of two or more qualified and credentialed individuals from two separate disciplines or professions with respect to the evaluation of a child’s disability. The form identifies the different disciplines and types of professionals from each discipline who are acceptable to verify your child’s disability. Please review the form carefully and ensure it is filled out completely. You can find the MDT form and more information on our website’s parent resource center. When to use each form? Your public school may provide either an IEP or an ATMR depending on their process. If your child has been attending public school and already has an lEP or ATMR, you do not need to get another evaluation. You can simply upload the lEP or ATMR document as long as it was completed within the last 3 years. If your student has not been attending public school and you do not have an IEP or your IEP has expired and you choose to not be evaluated through public school services, you may choose to complete the MDT form with independent professionals instead. Any of these three options will satisfy the documentation requirement for your scholarship application. Please note these are the only forms of eligibility documentation we can accept to qualify a student. If you submit any other documentation such as letters from therapists or evaluations from specialists, we may consider them as supporting documents, but they cannot be used on their own to determine eligibility. The qualifying document must be either an IEP, ATMR, or MDT, and it must be valid as of July 1 of the program year. Document expiration and validity. All eligibility documents are valid for 3 years from the date of the most recent evaluation. For IEPs and ATMRS, check the trienal re-evaluation due date listed in the document. That date must be current as of July 1 of the school year you’re applying for. For MDT forms, the date of the professional signatures must also be valid, meaning it must be within 3 years prior to July 1 of the upcoming program year. If your documentation is not current as of July 1, you will need to obtain updated documentation before your application can be approved. Thanks for watching.
Remember, you can find additional information about the program on our website or you can email or call our team directly.
