Disabled kids’
services must be faster

A court-appointed monitor says
the state needs to step on the gas
to meet deadlines for the new setup

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

The state must do a lot of catch-up to meet deadlines to improve services for disabled children, says the court-appointed monitor for the new system.

The key departments required to make changes -- Health and Education -- were at least a year behind in their last report, Ivor Groves said in an interview. "I don't think they've made that ground up. But potentially it could be made up."

State mental health, education and other services to children must be improved under the Felix-Waihee consent decree resulting from a lawsuit against the state by parents of disabled children.

Groves said, "If you look at the big picture overall, from a year ago to now, there continues to be movement in the right direction."

At the student level, he said there is more access to services and more kids have been identified who need help. "But it's not yet consistently predictable that kids will get what they need when they need it."

Robert Kenny, administrator of the Felix Complaints Resolution Office, said it has had nearly 200 complaints in 81/2 months from parents, advocates and those delivering services.

He said they're "frustrated by the system. They don't feel the system is responding."

About 82 cases are pending, he said.

Kenny said complaints generally involve identification of students entitled to services, evaluation and placement programs and whether children are receiving "free appropriate public education" as defined under the law.

Kenny's office acts as a neutral, fact-finder to determine merits of complaints and issue decisions with recommended actions.

But, he pointed out, "All of our notices of decisions are not final or binding. State agencies may refuse to accept our decisions, and they have."

Groves said a major step forward was the recent appointment of Linda M. Colburn, former Office of Hawaiian Affairs administrator, as operational manager for the consent decree.

She is to help the Health and Education departments work together more efficiently and make sure any barriers "are brought to the highest level to get them resolved," Groves said.

Attorney Jeffrey Portnoy, the court's special master for the consent decree, recommended the operations manager in March among other recommendations to correct problems, improve services and meet deadlines.

Groves cites progress in development of short-term and long-term strategies to address issues involving recruitment and retention of special education teachers.

The Legislature provided 180 more positions and efforts are under way to fill them from the University of Hawaii and the mainland, he said.

Groves said children's community councils throughout the state are spending a lot of time providing feedback on the system but they aren't fully supported or used.

He said a plan is being implemented to serve autistic children -- many of whom are being sent to mainland facilities -- and those working with them must be trained.

Groves believes there is more interagency communication and cooperation to address children's needs effectively. But again, he said, it's not consistent.

He said a student support system intended to focus on kids' needs in school before they become too severe will be implemented at various sites in the coming year.

A hearing is scheduled in October to make sure problem areas identified in March are being addressed, Groves said.

"It's real important that there be less slippage, fewer failures to meet deadlines and more of the major initiatives moving at the same time. It's a huge change -- really, ultimately, involving thousands of people."