Website – Parent and Student Resources

Parent Agency Resources

ARC Minnesota

Special Olympics

Courage Center – Golden Valley
-Camp Courage

Vocational Rehabilitation – Amy Jacobson

Friendship Club

MN Department of Education
1500 Hwy 36 West?Roseville, MN 55113?Phone: (651)582-8222?Fax: (651)582-8498?http://education.state.mn.us/
MN Department of Education Special Education
Phone: (651)582-8218?Fax: (651)582-8729
http://education.state.mn.us/mde/Learning_Support/Special_Education/index.html
MN Life College
The Mission of Minnesota Life College is to help young adults with learning disabilities achieve personal and financial self-sufficiency.

7501 Logan Ave. S #2A
Richfield, MN 55423
612-869-4008
http://www.minnesotalifecollege.com/
MN Relay Service
Learn all about the program that provides telecommunications assistance directly to Minnesota's deaf, hard-of-hearing, speech or mobility impaired citizens. Information on how to participate in these programs. ??24-hour service?(800)627-3529?Customer Relations: (800)676-3777?http://www.state.mn.us/cgi-bin/portal/mn/jsp/content.do?id=-536881376&agency=Commerce

MN State Council on Disabilities
The Minnesota State Council on Disability (MSCOD) is an agency that collaborates, advocates, advises and provides information to expand opportunities, increase the quality of life and empower all persons with disabilities. Services are provided to individuals with disabilities and their families, the Governor and Legislature, government and private agencies, employers and the general public. ??121 East 7th Place, #107?St. Paul, MN 55101?Phone: (651)296-6785 or (800)945-8913 Fax: (651)296-5936?Council.disabilities@state.mn.us ?http://www.disability.state.mn.us

Pacer Center, Inc. (Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights)
The mission of PACER Center is to expand opportunities and enhance the quality of life of children and young adults with disabilities and their families, based on the concept of parents helping parents.

8161 Normandale Blvd.?Minneapolis, MN 55437-1044?View Map?Phone: (952)952-838-9000 or (800)537-2237?Fax: (952)838-0199?pacer@pacer.org ?http://www.pacer.org/

Parent Websites
Copied from http://www.nlsec.k12.mn.us

CAST - technology for people with disabilities
http://www.cast.org

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for designing curricula that enable all individuals to gain knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm for learning. UDL provides rich supports for learning and reduces barriers to the curriculum while maintaining high achievement standards for all.
Council for Exceptional Children
http://www.cec.sped.org

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted.
Disability Minnesota Home
http://www.mndisability.gov/public/

The purpose of this website is to provide a single entry point to over 100 Minnesota state agency programs, products, and services that are devoted to the range of disability issues. We also provide access to laws, statutes, and regulations in pertinent disability-related areas.
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)
http://www.eric.ed.gov

ERIC provides free access to more than 1.2 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials and, if available, includes links to full text. ERIC is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
Family Center on Technology and Disability
http://www.fctd.info

The Family Center is a resource designed to support organizations and programs that work with families of children and youth with disabilities. We offer a range of information and services on the subject of assistive technologies.
FAPE - Families and Advocates Partnership for education
http://www.fape.org

The Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE) project is a partnership that aims to improve the educational outcomes for children with disabilities.
IRIS Center Online Resources
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/resources.html

Special Education Resources for Inclusion, Scientifically-Validated and Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies. Inluding an online dictionary.
Look at Me Grow! Don't Miss Anything
http://www.lookatmegrow.org

It is important that families are aware of the events and services available for all young children including prekindergarteners who are developmentally delayed or at-risk for developmental delay. There are many great resources on this website, including developmental milestones.
MN Children with Special Needs (MCSHN)
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/fh/mcshn/mcshn.html

Minnesota Children with Special Health Needs (MCSHN) provides statewide leadership through partnerships with key stakeholders including families, children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN), providers, public health and other state and/or community organizations for the purpose of improving the access and quality of, health care and other service systems that are designed to meet the needs of CYSHCN and their families.
MN Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders
http://www.mnccbd.org

The Minnesota Council for Children with Behavior Disorders is an organization of professionals dedicated to providing services to children and youth with behavioral disorders.
MN Department of Education
http://education.state.mn.us/mde/index.html

The Minnesota Department of Education strives to be an innovative education agency serving a wide range of customers: approximately 850,000 K-12 students and their families; 118,000 young children participating in a variety of early learning programs including Head Start and ECFE; 82,000 adult learners participating in adult education programs including GED and citizenship programs; Minnesota's 339 school districts and over 52,000 licensed teachers.
MN Department of Education - Special Education
http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Learning_Support/Special_Education/index.html
MN Division of Compliance and Assistance
http://education.state.mn.us/mde/Accountability_Programs/Compliance_and_Assistance/index.html
MN Legislative Reference Library Law and Legislation
http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/links/legal.htm
MNSIC (MN System of Interagency Coordination)
http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Learning_Support/Special_Education/Birth_to_Age_21_Programs_Services/MN_State_Interagency_Coord_MnSIC/index.html

The purpose of the Minnesota State Interagency Coordination (MnSIC) system planning initiative is to assist local school board and county boards to establish a coordinated service system for children with disabilities, ages 3 - 21, and their families.
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
http://www.nichcy.org

NICHCY stands for the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. We serve the nation as a central source of information on:
disabilities in infants, toddlers, children, and youth,
IDEA, which is the law authorizing special education,
No Child Left Behind (as it relates to children with disabilities), and
research-based information on effective educational practices.
Office of Special Education Programs (OSERS)
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/index.html?src=mr

The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is dedicated to improving results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21 by providing leadership and financial support to assist states and local districts.
Online resources for American's with Disabilities (DisabilityInfo.gov)
http://www.disabilityinfo.gov

DisabilityInfo.gov is the federal government's one-stop Web site for people with disabilities, their families, employers, veterans and service members, workforce professionals and many others.
PACER - Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights
http://www.pacer.org

The mission of PACER Center is to expand opportunities and enhance the quality of life of children and young adults with disabilities and their families, based on the concept of parents helping parents.
Project C3 - Connecting Youth to Communities and Careers
http://www.c3online.org/

Project C3: Connecting Youth to Communities and Careers is a partnership among several Minnesota state agencies and PACER Center, a nonprofit agency serving Minnesota families of children and youth with disabilities.
Surrogate Parent Program and Training - by PACER
http://www.pacer.org/surrogate/index.asp

PACER's surrogate parent project reaches out to surrogate parents, potential surrogate parents, and foster parents from across the state to assist their advocacy efforts.
US Department of Education - No Child Left Behind
http://ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml

Updates, policies, success stories on NCLB.

Guardianship Basics

A guardian is someone who is chosen -- either by a court or by being named in a legal document such as a will -- to make decisions for someone (generally referred to as the "ward") who cannot make decisions for him or herself.
The types of decisions that a guardian might make include::
Giving consent to medical care or treatment;
Purchasing or arranging for purchase of such necessities as food, clothes, cars, household items, and other personal items;
Arranging for education; and
Managing finances and bank accounts.?When Guardians are Appointed?A guardianship requires that someone act on behalf of and protect the ward during the period of time when the ward is incapable of acting for him/herself. A court appoints a guardian when a potential ward is incapacitated and cannot make decisions for him or herself because of a mental or physical disability, disease, or addiction to alcohol or other drugs. When a minor has no adult or other family member to make certain decisions on the minor's behalf until they reach the age of majority, a court can be asked to appoint a guardian for the minor.?Selection of a Guardian?The selection of a guardian is an extremely important task. People with ties to the ward are preferred as possible guardians by courts. These include:
A person designated by the ward -- by legal document or otherwise -- to handle his or her affairs, before the period of incapacity occurred;
A spouse
Parent(s) or another relative; or
A state employee or private person familiar with the ward and the incapacity at issue.
Whoever is chosen by the court must be willing and able to perform the duties at hand, and to represent the best interests of the ward. In selecting the guardian, the court considers the prospective guardian's character, history, physical capacity, and other relevant attributes. A potential guardian's limited education or financial resources are not disqualifying conditions in and of themselves.?The guardianship statutes of each state detail the specific duties, responsibilities, and powers of the guardian. These statutes should be examined in order to determine the standards that apply to each situation.?Removal of a Guardian?A guardian may be removed if a court determines that the ward no longer needs the services of the guardian. Also, a guardian may be removed when he or she has not provided adequate care for the ward or when it is determined that the guardian is guilty of neglect. Neglect can include using the ward's money or property for the guardian's own benefit and not obeying court orders. Upon court order, the guardian will be removed and a new guardian (or temporary guardian) will be substituted in place of the original guardian.

http://family.findlaw.com/