III.

DiscussionQuestions
February3,2015
1.Macy,Marks,&Towle(2014),highlightedaccesstoearlydetectionresourcesasabarrierfor
manyfamiliestoreceiveservices.Researchhasshownfamiliesthatareculturallylinguistically
diverse,withinlowsocioeconomicstatus,inruralsettingsandareuninsuredhavegreater
challengestoaccessingEI/ECSEservices.Howhasthesystemadvanced(orremainedstatus
quo)tomeettheneedsofthedramaticinfluxofundocumentedchildrenintheUS?Doesachild
havetohaveasocialsecuritycardorbirthcertificatetoreceiveservices?Arethereanygood
examplesofcrosssectorcollaborationsthatincorporateholisticmedicine,culturaland/or
religiouspracticesintoearlyinterventionandearlydetectionservices?Whatserviceshavebeen
developedforchildrenandfamiliesinhighlyruralareas,howeffectivehavetheybeen?

ThecurrentstateoflegislationfortheinfluxofundocumentedchildrenisnotsomethingIknow
verymuchabout,butit'sareallyimportantquestion!AsfarasIknow,undocumentedchildren
canbeenrolledinschools,andareeligibletoreceiveservices.Inmanyways,Ithinkthequestion
heremightalsobeoneofaccessibilityandadvocacy(inadditiontoeligibility)?
Idon'tthinkit'stoomuchofageneralizationtospeculatethatsomeonewhocomestothiscountry
withoutdocumentationislikelytohaveleftahomeand/orcountrywithoutthekindofphysicalor
economicsecurityneeded(thinkMaslow'shierarchyofneeds)tosetachildupforsuccessinschool.
Schoolscan(must)provideservicestoeligiblechildrenoncetheyarrive,butIthinkyou'rerightto
suggestthatagooddealofcollaborationwillbeneededtomakethathappen.Whetherornot
there'salanguagebarrier,thecultureof"school"intheUS(andtheimplicitexpectationsthatgo
alongwithit)isuniquelyAmericanandwouldbedifficulttonavigatewithoutinformation,
understanding,support,etc.Iwouldguessthattherearevariousmodelsusedincommunityand
nonprofitorganizationstohelpimmigrantfamilies(whetherdocumentedornot)tonegotiateour
educationalsystem,butIdon'tknowofanyexamples.Thissoundslikeitwouldbeafascinating
topictoresearch.

IV.DiscussionQuestion
February17,2015
1.Boavida,Aguiar,&McWilliams(2014)reportedonaqualitytrainingprograminLisbon,
PortugaltopromotethequalityofIFSPandIEPgoalsandobjectives.CurrentlyinMaryland
IFSPsandIbelieve,IEPslookandsounddifferentdependingonwhatcountytheyarewrittenin.
WhataresomeoftheprosandconsofhavingastreamlinedIFSP/IEPprocessacrosscounties
andstates?Arethereanybenefitstohavingeachcounty,eachorganizationuseadifferent
assessmentwithdifferentoversightrequirements?
InPrinceGeorgesCounty,MD,thecountyhas45daysfromreferraltoassessachildand
establishservices.InalargecountylikePrinceGeorgeswithonlyoneeligibilitycenterfor
infantsandtoddlers,Ihaveseenmanyfamiliessneakinjustunderthedeadlineduetothelimited
numberofcaseworkerandthesignificantnumberofchildren.Whatadaptationscanbemade,if
anytoRBItohelpensureitsuse,evenwhenmanpowerislimited?CouldRBIbeadaptedtoan
online/overthephonequestionnaire?HowdoesRBIincorporateworkingwithchildrenand
familiesfromculturallyandlinguisticallydiversebackgrounds?Thereisnomentionof
student/childinterviewswithRBI,couldthisbeincorporatedifthechildisableandwillingto
participate?

Thisisagreatbunchofphilosophicalquestions.Basedonhowyouposedit,Iwouldsaythatthere
arealotofclear"pros"tohavingacommonIFSP/IEPprocess.Itwouldmakeiteasierforfamilies
tounderstandtheprocessandto(hopefully)receivethesameservicesiftheymove;itwouldmeana
muchlessseverelearningcurveforteachersandadministratorscometotheschoolsystemfrom
otherMDschoolsystems.Inaddressingyourquestionaboutmanpower,itcouldevenallowfor
someoneina(currentlyhypothetical)statelevelpositiontobefamiliarwithacommonIEP/IFSP
process,andtoworkforunderstaffeddistrictsonanasneededbasissothatfamiliesandchildren
haveashorterpathbetweenreferralandservices.
Ithinktherelevant"pros"inourcurrentsystemarethateachcountycantailoritsprocesstosuit
theuniqueneedsofcountyresidents.Forinstance,amorediversecountycandevelopaspecialized
setofproceduresforhelpingELLfamiliesaccessservices.Inalessdiversecounty,theneedsof
ELLfamiliescouldbehandledonacasebycasebasiswithalessspecializedapproach.