YouthBuild Child Find Policy

  
YouthBuild Columbus Community School has joined with school districts across the state of Ohio to identify, locate, and evaluate all children from birth through 21 years of age who may have disabilities. Disability, in this instance, means such conditions as hearing impairments, specific learning disabilities, emotionally disturbed, multiple disabilities, mental retardation, other health impairments, physical impairments, autism, and traumatic brain injury.
YouthBuild supports federal and state mandates requiring the provision of a free and appropriate education regardless of a child’s disability. However, before school districts can serve children, they must be located. Many children with disabilities are not visible because they do not function in the mainstream of the community, such as children who are homeless and children of migrant families. Also, many unidentified children with disabilities are preschoolers. Parents may not be aware that their child has a disability or that there are programs and services available to them.
 
In keeping with the law, YouthBuild will ask for information about the child, asking such question as: what is the problem? What has already been done about the problem? What background information is available? This information may be collected in several ways including interviews, observations, screening, and testing. This information may be obtained from parents and the student, or from other agencies that have information about the student. This information will be used to decide whether the child has a disability and needs special services.
 
All information collected will be held in strict confidence and released to others only with parent permission or as allowed by law. For example, YouthBuild will send records on request to a school district or other educational agency in which a student intends to enroll. The parents may have a copy of those records upon request.
 
The school district will keep a record of all persons who review confidential records with the exception of authorized school employees, or other education agency personnel. The school will also maintain a list of those employees who may have access to records.
 
YouthBuild will inform the parents when personally identifiable information collected, maintained, or used is no longer needed to provide educational services to the child. All personal identifiable data will be kept for at least five years or longer if required for audit purposes or otherwise required by law.
 
Parents and students have rights in this process.  Parents have the right to:

• Review their child’s records
• Refuse permission to release information (except as required by, or permitted by law to be released)
• Request that information they believe to be inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of their child’s privacy or their rights be changed. The school has a process to resolve disagreements about information requested.

 
The school has appointed one person to ensure that information about students is kept confidential. Contact your school district Board of Education office for this person’s name. YouthBuild’s policies and procedures for special education are available. Contact the school principal.
 
YouthBuild operates a child information management system (CIMS) that assures a practical method of identifying which children are currently receiving special education services and which children are not. Certain data regarding children are maintained within this system.
 
YouthBuild is interested in meeting the needs of children with disabilities. If you have or know of a child who may have disability, contact the school for more information and assistance.