Facilitated IEP team meetings are meetings that include an impartial facilitator from the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County to promote effective communication and assist the IEP team to complete the IEP process. The facilitator takes no position about the contents of the IEP and does not participate in decision-making. Facilitated IEP team meetings can be of benefit when communications between the parents/guardians and school staff members have broken down. Both school staff members and parents/guardians must agree that a facilitator will be used.
Independent facilitators can be expected to:
Talk to parents/guardians and school staff members in advance of the meeting;
Assist the team with establishing an agenda;
Guide the discussion and keep the focus on the student;
Make sure everyone has a chance to speak and be heard;
Help resolve disagreements;
Use communication skills to help parents/guardians and school personnel to work together to make decisions about the program;
Help team members develop and ask clarifying questions about issues that may have occurred in the past;
Help keep the team on task and focused on the agenda topics; and
Remain impartial and not take sides, place blame, impose a decision on the group, nor offer an opinion on the appropriateness of a decision.
A facilitated IEP meeting:
can be requested by the parent/guardian or school;
is different from mediation;
is conducted at no cost to the parent or school system;
requires at least 10 days' notice to locate an independent facilitator who can prepare for and attend the IEP meeting; and
are like any other IEP meeting and require compliance with federal and state special education laws.
For more information on facilitated IEP meetings, parents/guardians may access the MSDE's FAQ for Parents and Public Agency/School Personnel on Facilitated IEP Team Meetings in Maryland. Contact information for participating facilitator agencies may be found at this link.