FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact Cynthia Pellegrino, 732-937-7507
September 09, 2008
BAR FOUNDATION SUPPORTS SPECIAL EDUCATION THROUGH SOCIAL SERVICE PARTNERSHIPS
One of the ways the New Jersey State Bar Foundation (NJSBF) manifests its longtime commitment to connecting New Jersey families with information about special education law and their disabled children's rights to comprehensive services is by co-sponsoring programs and services offered by educational institutions and social service agencies that help lower-income parents secure appropriate accommodations for their children and other vital services to which they are entitled.
Outreach to Special-Needs Children Statewide
For example, the Foundation has awarded generous grants to the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network [SPAN], Inc., towards its "New IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] /New State Code Special Education Training Series" as well as its "Special Education Rights of Children and Youth Involved in DYFS Training Series." SPAN's statewide workshops focus on raising awareness of federally and state-mandated services available to meet the needs of developmentally disabled children and their families and training personnel to assist those in need.
"NJSBF has been a wonderful partner over the years with SPAN," said Diana Autin, executive co-director of SPAN, "and this year has been no exception. Through Foundation funding, we are training parents and professionals to advocate for children, translating vital materials into Spanish, producing a tape-recorded teleconference series that can be accessed anytime, and helping youth with disabilities transition successfully to college and employment. Tens of thousands of children with special needs in New Jersey are living more fulfilling lives because of the training and support that NJSBF-funded SPAN programs have provided."
For the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the Foundation has awarded a grant to the Association for Children of New Jersey to fund a Spanish-language translation of its booklet, A Basic Guide to Special Education, to meet the needs of the Spanish-speaking population. The booklet outlines the steps concerned parents should take to secure the services available for their children, complete with a glossary of terms and sample letters to authorities. As Mary Coogan, the assistant director of the Association for Children of New Jersey puts it, "We have worked with the Bar Foundation on several projects over the years. [NJSBF] produces written materials that are very helpful for the public. The Foundation is a real asset in New Jersey."
NJSBF also worked with Newark's Education Law Center, which advocates on behalf of special-needs children, on a newly available updated reprint of the latter's publication, The Right to Special Education in New Jersey: a Guide for Advocates.
Support for Law Clinics
Besides publications, the Foundation helps provides hands-on assistance to those in need. For the past 16 years NJSBF has helped fund the Rutgers Newark Special Education Clinic, co-sponsored by and located at the Rutgers University School of Law. The clinic conducts workshops for parents as well as case managers, guardians and family court judges. Overseen by a fellow of the New Jersey Bar and two Rutgers law professors, law students represent the parents of at-risk children at school meetings and in federal court proceedings that challenge the appropriateness or implementation of a school's educational plan for indigent children with disabilities.
"The New Jersey State Bar Foundation plays a key role in what we do," said Jennifer N. Rosen Valverde, an associate clinical professor of law at the clinic, who expressed her gratitude for NJSBF's longtime involvement. "Its generous support over the years has helped create a ‘win-win-win' scenario. First, through advocacy, we have secured critically important placements, accommodations and services for lower-income children with disabilities being left behind in their schools. Second, through community education, we have empowered more parents and caretakers to identify their children's disabilities and learning needs, spot deficiencies in how schools approach the problem, identify options for redress, and we have been able to inform professionals about their responsibilities within the special education system. And third, through clinical teaching funded by NJSBF, we are inspiring and training the next generation of special education advocates and improving the quality of special education law practice throughout the state."
Similarly, a Civil Practice Clinic located at the Camden campus of Rutgers University School of Law has benefitted from Foundation funding since the clinic's inception 15 years ago. Thanks to NJSBF, not only was the clinic able to host the Rutgers/LEAP Project providing legal education workshops for parents and legal advice and representation to the LEAP Academy students and their families, it now offers a Children's Rights Clinic, where third-year law students represent children who have been abused or neglected. According to Meredith L. Schalick, a visiting clinical professor of law at Rutgers-Camden, "Those children, who are in great need of legal representation to see that they have a safe and permanent family, usually also have special education needs that have not been identified or addressed. Foundation support ensures that there will be law students working with the children, their parents, guardians, teachers and other professionals to obtain assessments, identify needed services and advocate for implementation and compliance."
Founded in 1958, the New Jersey State Bar Foundation is the educational and philanthropic arm of the New Jersey State Bar Association. The Foundation's mission is to promote public understanding of the law through a free, comprehensive public education program. Among its activities, the Foundation conducts seminars and conflict resolution training, publishes materials, operates a videotape loan library and speakers bureau, and coordinates elementary, middle and high school mock trial competitions.
For more information about the Foundation's grant projects, please contact Cynthia Pellegrino at cpellegrino@njsbf.org or call 732-937-7507. For more information about the Foundation's programs and publications or to order publications, visit the Foundation online at www.njsbf.org or call 1-800-FREE-LAW.
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