With schools across the United States responding to the pandemic in a variety of ways, the interns at the Children’s Advocacy Clinic (CAC) are working hard to figure out not only the impacts of school closures on our own lives but the impacts on our clients’ lives as well. Per Governor Wolf’s order last week, Pennsylvania’s schools are now closed for the rest of the 2019-2020 academic year. As parents across the state are finding ways to entertain their restless children at home and schools are rushing to figure out alternative educational options, we have realized that the closure of schools impacts our clients in a multitude of unexpected ways.
While our clients’ educations may seem irrelevant to our legal representation of them, education law plays an important role in our work at the CAC. Many of our clients find themselves without a parent or guardian who can appropriately handle the responsibilities of making educational decisions for the child. As a result, the court often appoints the CAC to serve not only as a guardian ad litem/legal counsel for the child but also as an educational decision maker (EDM). As EDM, we are responsible for participating in all decisions relating to our clients’ educations, including provision of special education services through the creation and implementation of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). This newer role for the CAC requires us to learn federal and state education laws (especially regarding special education rights), constantly monitor our clients’ educational status and progress, regularly attend meetings with teachers and school administrators, and advocate on behalf of our clients’ unmet educational needs.
When Pennsylvania’s schools closed, the CAC interns began working remotely from multiple states to get updates on our clients’ well-being and access to learning opportunities. Additionally, I began researching the ways our school districts were responding to the closures and how our clients’ lives were being impacted beyond simply their educational development. What I discovered highly concerned me and spurred me to write this post to share the information with others who may likewise not realize the significance of school closures.
Although the U.S. Department of Education has issued guidance to states on continuing education during the pandemic and has provided additional education funding options for states, each state has the responsibility of developing its own specific pandemic response. In Pennsylvania, the Department of Education required each of the state’s 500 school districts to develop an individual plan for providing continuing education for the remainder of the school year. Our clients attend several different school districts throughout central Pennsylvania which means that every district has a unique continuity of education plan that we must review and communicate to our clients and their caregivers.
The biggest problem that we have faced in assisting our clients with transitioning to “learning at home” is that educators/school administration (and, really, society as a whole) make false assumptions about children’s equality of access to the resources needed to participate in remote learning programs. These necessary and lacking resources include electronic devices on which to do assignments and log into email accounts; consistent, reliable internet connections; ability to pick up physical materials; and quiet, distraction-free spaces to complete schoolwork. Our clients in out-of-home placements (especially in shelters, group homes, and residential treatment facilities) also frequently do not have access to an adult who is willing to assist the child in locating and completing assignments, to monitor the completion of required work, to communicate with teachers, and to ensure the child has all the necessary materials. All of these needed but lacking resources reflect the situational inequity our clients face during this pandemic.
Beyond the lack of equal access to necessary resources for remote learning, the school closures have also revealed the insurmountable barrier facing our clients who are entitled to receive special education services to assist in the learning process. The majority of clients for whom we serve as EDM have IEPs which outline specific services and resources that are designed to ensure the children have equal learning opportunities to those of their peers. Although the U.S. Department of Education has specifically stated that children with IEPs must receive their necessary services during remote learning, Pennsylvania’s schools have still not developed plans to provide those services. In addition to the other obstacles our clients must overcome to continue learning during the pandemic, they currently must adjust to attempting to do that learning without the programs designed specifically for their unique educational needs.
Finally, the school closures have had far-reaching ripple effects on our clients’ lives beyond their access to learning opportunities. Our clients rely on their schools for at least one meal per day, for regular peer interaction and social development, for consistent physical activity, for vocational training, for routine access to mandated reporters who are trained to recognize signs of abuse, and for structure and reliable routines/schedules. The closure of secondary educational institutions and vocational schools has also impacted our client demographic as older foster youth who have stayed in care past age 18 now face possible homelessness, food shortages, financial poverty, and loss of employment or job potential.
Our clients in congregate care facilities (shelters, etc.) have lost feasible access to all outside adults in their life including legal counsel, caseworkers, teachers, therapists, and family members and must rely on inconsistent access to methods of telecommunication for interacting with these individuals. These clients also have an increased risk of contracting COVID-19 due to their close proximity to each other 24/7. Our clients in foster homes must now spend every day with their foster families who are often unequipped to handle that child’s specific needs for such extended periods of time. Our clients who remain in their parents’ homes are now at an increased risk of abuse due to the stress and pressures faced by the adults in the home and to the lack of routine oversight from caseworkers and teachers.
Ultimately, regardless of where our clients are currently placed, they all are drastically impacted by the school closures and the inequality of access to remote learning. As the school year continues, we will continue to fight for our clients to have equal educational opportunities to their peers and to receive the special education services to which they are legally entitled.
Resources:
PA Department of Education Coronavirus Responses
ABA List of Education Resources
Image Source: https://whyy.org/articles/schools-across-pa-are-wary-of-offering-online-instruction-during-coronavirus-closures/
