- Chester County Intermediate Unit
- Services Offered
- Surrogate Parent Program
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The CCIU provides surrogate parent services for children in need of an adult to look after their educational interests. It is important to protect the educational rights of every child, but extremely important for a child with disabilities. The CCIU will assist Local Education Agency’s in providing a surrogate parent who will have legal authority to act on behalf of an IDEA eligible child in the special education process.
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What is a Surrogate Parent?
A surrogate parent is an individual who represents an IDEA-eligible child or thought to be eligible child in matter relating to the identification, assessment, educational placement, and the provisions of FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education).
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Criteria for Requesting a Surrogate Parent
- No parent, as defined in 34 CFR §300.30, can be identified
- The LEA, after reasonable efforts, cannot locate a parent
- The child is a ward if the state under the laws if the State (Pennsylvania does not have a state law definition of “ward of state” so this provision does not apply in Pennsylvania)
OR
- The child is an unaccompanied homeless youth, as defined in section 725(6) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434(a)(6))
