PLACEMENT CHANGES:

Care & Treatment

Definition

Children’s “day treatment” is a site-based mental health program, consisting of psychotherapy and skills training services for children and youth who have emotional and behavioral challenges that make it difficult for them to succeed in their school setting. Day treatment is intended to stabilize a child’s mental health status and improve independent living and socialization skills.

Children attend day treatment Monday through Friday each week. Part of each school day is devoted to mental health treatment provided by mental health professionals, and the remaining three to four hours of each school day are for academic instruction provided by teacher(s) licensed by the State of Minnesota. Children do not “graduate” from day treatment; students enter day treatment with a goal to return to a less-restrictive setting as soon as possible.

Who Makes the Placement Decision?

School Districts do not have the authority to recommend care and treatment. Medical, therapeutic, and/or social service authorities make the recommendation for Care and Treatments.

Considerations and Next Steps

Each student’s district of residence is responsible to provide the education services for each of its students who attend day treatment. There are several ways a school district may ensure the provision of educational services for children in day treatment. Minnesota Automated Reporting Student System (MARSS) Procedure 27 provides details about reporting students in day treatment and the procedures resident school districts may follow to educate students who attend day treatment.

Regardless of a student’s educational placement, IEP teams need to determine how special education services will be delivered. Students may access special education services virtually, in person, or a combination of virtual and in-person (e.g., speech virtual but reading and DAPE in person), based on the method that best meets their needs. 

Questions to consider prior to and during the meeting:

• Was the student enrolled in distance learning or homeschool last school year? 

  • If yes, did they make progress on their IEP goals? 

  • If yes, did they pass their classes? (secondary)

  • If no, how did the student do during any remote learning time periods last year? 

• Is the student able to meaningfully participate in services virtually?

• ​​Secondary Students: Is the student on track to graduate? 

Service delivery decisions need to be made on an individual basis and based on the data available. Some services may need to be provided in-person within a mainstream building or alternate, neutral location. 

For any in-person services, try to group students as much as possible to maximize available resources and prevent the student from  having big gaps in their day. 

Amendment Paperwork

Complete amendment paperwork in alignment with procedure.

LRE Statement in IEP

The LRE, regardless of setting, always has the same three considerations: 

1. Where instruction will take place: Specialized instruction can be provided in a variety of formats, including online

2. What the student will be missing: The specific classes and activities that the student will not participate in so that they may receive their specialized instruction

3. Why this is the student’s LRE: The explanation needs to be more specific than, “Because his skills are discrepant from peers, Johnny will receive…" Thorough rationales explain the features of specialized instruction that (1) are necessary for the student and (2) cannot be reasonably offered in a less restrictive setting.

SpEd Forms action: Under LRE, check 'Altered School Day'

Example statement: "Josh receives out-patient therapy with TSA services in Pine City 5 days per week during the morning (8:00-11:00 am). He attends Pine City Junior High for lunch, math instruction, English, and Advisement (social/behavioral skills intervention, on-task/organizational skills instruction, and a weekly check-in)."