Private placement out of MCPS or other counties?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone speak to the likelihood of private placement for kids with the following profiles and then also whether schools like Ivymount, Shepard Pratt, KTS would accept kids like this and have spots available:

Child 1: Age 14, ASD diagnosis, verbal, below grade level in reading - has history of suicide attempt, elopement and violent outbursts against teachers/staff (maybe 4 incidents in the past 12 months). Has gone through inpatient hospital treatment and some residential placements. Child's behavior has been significantly improved in last 6 months.

Child 2: Age 10, ASD diagnosis, verbal, on grade level in most subjects. Has history of behavioral outbursts including hitting teachers and elopement. Does very well in small, supportive environment.


This family is considering a move to MD and I'm helping them gather information and resources. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide based on your experience.

[Anonymous]

You’d have to go through the iep process and get approved. It’s not quick and often you’d need to hire an attorney. No guarantee MCPS will pay.

[Anonymous]

You're going to need to tell them to get a local advocate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're going to need to tell them to get a local advocate.

Thanks, I kind of figured that. Could they hire and work with someone prior to the move to get a sense of whether want they want/need is possible?

Do folks on this board have advocates to recommend? Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Do the kids currently have a strong IEP that shows that their needs cannot be served in a gen ed setting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're going to need to tell them to get a local advocate.

Thanks, I kind of figured that. Could they hire and work with someone prior to the move to get a sense of whether want they want/need is possible?

Do folks on this board have advocates to recommend? Thank you.

Absolutely they can hire someone ahead of time. The local folks know that certain schools absolutely won't budge on aggressive behaviors, which ones will, etc. If you search this board there are a ton of recommendations.

We liked Amy Mounce https://amyeducationalconsulting.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the kids currently have a strong IEP that shows that their needs cannot be served in a gen ed setting?

Yes what does current IEP say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the kids currently have a strong IEP that shows that their needs cannot be served in a gen ed setting?

They do have strong IEPs but their current (red) state and county currently has a moratorium on sending kids outside of the public district because of a huge budget deficit so they essentially say that all kids can be served in public programs which is patently untrue. Seems ripe for a lawsuit to me but I'm no expert.

[Anonymous]

My kid with your first profile did not get private placement. But MCPS has some excellent non mainstream alternatives and was highly successful and able to graduate. He did have to move away from his home school for the non mainstream placement.

The likelihood of entering MCPS and getting anything but a regular mainstream program with supports seems highly unlikely to me based on my experience. It takes some time. If they have updated testing, that will help.

[Anonymous]

Rica would be a good fit for the 14 year old and is better than many private placements.

[Anonymous]

You can hire an advocate ahead of time but mcps is not going to do anything until you move here and transfer or establish an iep. It could take six months to get through the iep process and longer for a private placement. You are not guaranteed a private placement.

[Anonymous]

The aggression is usually the sticking point. My aggressive kid was rejected from all 3 of the schools you listed.

Placement for the 10yr might be easier as MCPS has less specialized programs that can support this profile at his age.

For the 14 yr old, I would consider RICA. They have both a day and residential program and kids move between settings. The day program is only available to residents of Montgomery County.

RICA uses MCPS for its curriculum and classes are small enough that the teachers can differentiate the learning. A class might has kids below, on, and above grade level with all kids learning about the Spanish American war but each kid having different assignment requirements.

RICA is a medical admission and if the clinical staff do not feel they can meet the students needs they won’t be admitted. They currently do not have an elem school for the 10yr old but there is a 6th grade. There is space but for some reason CIEP has not been sending over referrals.

RICA offers full wrap around therapeutic support. Med mgmt, therapy, and education are all provided. Some families don’t like having to use the RICA clinical staff but as a parent I love not having to drive to after school appts.

There are dedicated staff to assisting with behavior issues so teachers just teach. They don’t manage accelerating behaviors. There are tension reduction rooms which a student can ask to go to if they need some quiet, private time. In general classes are small. My son has had classes as small as 2 students and as large as 12.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful for the family to have both kids in the same school, on the same schedule! Even though RICA is an MCPS school, it is still considered a non public placement and an advocate would be helpful to get in front of CIEP. But ultimately, for all of the schools listed, the school decides if they can serve the student. CIEP can make the referrals but the schools do not have to admit. Once I got the ok from CIEP, it still took 9mo to have butt in seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The aggression is usually the sticking point. My aggressive kid was rejected from all 3 of the schools you listed.

Placement for the 10yr might be easier as MCPS has less specialized programs that can support this profile at his age.

For the 14 yr old, I would consider RICA. They have both a day and residential program and kids move between settings. The day program is only available to residents of Montgomery County.

RICA uses MCPS for its curriculum and classes are small enough that the teachers can differentiate the learning. A class might has kids below, on, and above grade level with all kids learning about the Spanish American war but each kid having different assignment requirements.

RICA is a medical admission and if the clinical staff do not feel they can meet the students needs they won’t be admitted. They currently do not have an elem school for the 10yr old but there is a 6th grade. There is space but for some reason CIEP has not been sending over referrals.

RICA offers full wrap around therapeutic support. Med mgmt, therapy, and education are all provided. Some families don’t like having to use the RICA clinical staff but as a parent I love not having to drive to after school appts.

There are dedicated staff to assisting with behavior issues so teachers just teach. They don’t manage accelerating behaviors. There are tension reduction rooms which a student can ask to go to if they need some quiet, private time. In general classes are small. My son has had classes as small as 2 students and as large as 12.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful for the family to have both kids in the same school, on the same schedule! Even though RICA is an MCPS school, it is still considered a non public placement and an advocate would be helpful to get in front of CIEP. But ultimately, for all of the schools listed, the school decides if they can serve the student. CIEP can make the referrals but the schools do not have to admit. Once I got the ok from CIEP, it still took 9mo to have butt in seat.

This is extraordinarily helpful - thank you!

[Anonymous]

OP here - does anyone have knowledge of other MD counties? PG, Howard, Frederick, Anne Arundel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - does anyone have knowledge of other MD counties? PG, Howard, Frederick, Anne Arundel?

It’s going to be the same anywhere. No school district is going to place your kids in these schools instantly when you move because you think it’s best. They are easily $80-120k a year plus transportation. You’ll have to move, enroll the kids, get the iep and work through the process.