Navigating Maryland’s Resources for Children with Disabilities

Caring for a child or family member with a disability or special needs means having to regularly face unique challenges and make difficult decisions. There’s no guidebook for exactly what to do. The State of Maryland, however, provides critical resources that can help guide parents through an individual’s childhood and beyond.

One of the first and most important milestones in someone’s life is the start of their educational journey, which will span their childhood and beyond. For parents of a child with a disability, the choice of when, where and how to educate them is a complex and potentially confusing decision—but the help of national and state organizations can make it easier.

Perhaps the largest and most influential organization that affects a student is the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). MSDE is a Maryland agency that “offers a continuum of support and, most importantly, focuses on equipping school districts with the tools they need to offer a rigorous education aligned to grade-level standards,” says Raven Hill, executive associate of MSDE’s Early Intervention and Special Education Services.

For families with a disabled child entering school, MSDE offers several avenues to help further the student’s education and knowledge. While certain supports are disability-specific, such as the Autism Waiver that Hill says provides “therapeutic services and support to eligible children and youth with autism,” most of MSDE’s initiatives are offered to all students with any kind of disability.

One of the most significant ways specialized education programs have expanded and strengthened since their inception in the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) is the expansion of focus to not just the individual’s current state, but to their entire life. Services that help support and shape a child’s knowledge and life skills from birth on are a part of what is called an “early  intervention” system.

In recent years, MSDE has placed a heavy focus on the role of early intervention and its effects on student outcomes and has found promising results: “Approximately two-thirds of students who receive early intervention services in the state of Maryland through an Individualized Family Support Plan (IFSP) do not require the interventions of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) once they are in third grade,” says Hill.

This evidence has significantly expanded the presence of IEPs while also aiming attention toward the early life of a child with a disability. MSDE even took it a step further by creating a whole new system that provides critical guidance and support when families need it.

Additionally, the system makes medical care for families with a disabled child even easier with its new referral system. “As a state, we understand the vital role that early intervention plays in student success—as such, we have made the referral process more streamlined through the Maryland Infants and Toddlers Portal, which allows any member of a child’s care team to make a referral for support online or through a call to their local Infants and Toddlers program.”

While these supports are focused on early childhood, MSDE provides fantastic resources to school-aged children with disabilities as well. “For our school-aged students, we are also strengthening the supports needed to ensure that students with disabilities continue to be educated in their least restrictive environment,” Hill explains. “This includes an increased focus on Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, a banning of seclusion in public schools and building teacher capacity to educate students with the most significant cognitive disabilities inside of the general education classroom.”

One of the initiatives helping to close the educational gap between students with and without a disability is the Maryland Elevates Grant Program. The mission of this program is to “narrow the school readiness gap,” according to MSDE.

Maryland Elevates centers its strategies to help families reach this goal into five priority areas:

• Early Childhood for Children with Developmental Delays and Disabilities

• Secondary Transition for Youth with Disabilities

• Access, Equity, Progress

• Innovative Supports for Youth with Sensory Impairments

• Families as Informed Partners in Special Education

areas span an individual’s entire educational career and also provide support after they graduate to help them live independently.

Outside of school, MSDE also provides technical assistance, support and guidance to families through its network of Patty Centers, formerly named Family Support Centers.

Among the Patty Center’s many initiatives to support disabled individuals and their families is its goal to “increase parental involvement in the early intervention and special education decision-making process,” as well as to “increase collaborative relationships through information and training,” according to its website. Patty Centers offer various services to help accomplish these goals, including home visits for home services, parent and adult education, quality infant/toddler care and more.

Parenting a child with disabilities or caring for a school-aged individual often comes with many questions and few answers, but with the resources offered by MSDE and the state as a whole, you can relax knowing you have people on your side. For more information about disability support services for children in school, visit marylandpublicschools.org.