October 15, 2004
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
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JOHN L WINN
Commissioner of Education
F. PHILIP HANDY,
Chairman
T. WILLARD FAIR,
Vice Chairman
Members
LINDA J. EADS, ED.D.
CHARLES PATRICK GARCÍA
JULIA L. JOHNSON
WILLIAM L. PROCTOR, PH.D.
LINDA K. TAYLOR
MEMORANDUM #04-64
TO:
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Exceptional Student Education Directors
Student Services Directors
FROM:
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Bambi J. Lockman
SUBJECT:
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Counseling as a Related Service for Students with Disabilities
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
correspondence received July 1, 2004, regarding findings of noncompliance related to the provision of
counseling services to students with disabilities. Specifically, through its monitoring of Florida’s
implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Office of Special
Education Programs (OSEP) found that school districts in Florida failed to provide counseling as a related
service to students with disabilities who need that service to benefit from special education, in accordance
with the requirements of Title 34, Sections 300.24(b) and 300.300, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
The purpose of this memorandum is to clarify the nature and need to provide counseling services as a
related service for students who exhibit emotional or behavior disorders and to document those services
on the student’s individual educational plan (IEP).
Memo #04-64
October 15, 2004
Page Two
mental health support as a condition of their eligibility for this program. These services include
but are not limited to individual or group counseling, parent counseling or education, and
consultation with mental health, medical, or other professionals.
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In accordance with 34 CFR 300.550, to the maximum extent appropriate, students with
disabilities must be educated with students who are nondisabled. If the provision of counseling
for a given student with a disability will facilitate the placement of the student in a less restrictive
setting, it would be considered educationally relevant and should be provided as a related service
and documented on the IEP.
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In accordance with 34 CFR 300.347, the IEP of a student with a disability must be developed to
include special education and related services that enable the student to be involved in and
progress in the general curriculum and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic
activities. Academic engaged time is a factor that has been shown to predict and facilitate
academic progress. If the provision of counseling for a given student with a disability will
enhance academic engaged time for the student, it would be considered educationally relevant
and should be provided as a related service and documented on the IEP.
Counseling as a related service may be provided by persons other than school district employees, if
qualified, through contractual arrangements, community partnerships, or other arrangements, in which the
district does not assume primary fiscal responsibility. This is done with the understanding that, should the
need for counseling continue and the external fiscal resources discontinue, the district would assume
responsibility for providing the related service as long as the related service was deemed necessary by the
IEP team.
For additional information regarding counseling as a related service, please contact Lee Clark, Program
Specialist for Students with Emotional Handicaps, at 850-245-0478 or via e-mail at lee.clark@fldoe.org;
or Denise Bishop, Consultant for School Psychologists, at 850-922-3727 or via e-mail at
Bishop@tempest.coedu.usf.edu.
BL/lcr
cc:
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Sue Ross, DCF
District School Superintendents
SEDNET Contacts
Program Contacts for Students with Emotional Disabilities
Coordinators of School Psychology
Coordinators of Guidance Services
Coordinators of School Social Work
State Advisory Committee
Assistant Superintendents for Instruction
