Attorney speaks on special-needs law
BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer

ABERDEEN — Parents of children with developmental disabilities heard some expert advice on legal issues related to the education of their children at a Nov. 10 meeting.

Hillary Freeman, of Hinkle, Fingles and Prior, Lawrenceville, was the guest speaker at a Nov. 10 workshop at the Cambridge Park Elementary School that provided an overview of special-education law."

Parents don't understand the entire process a lot of the time," said Anissa Esposito, co-chair of Parents of Special People, the group that invited Freeman to make the presentation.

"It can be confusing dealing with different people from the school. Parents have questions like 'When can I request an evaluation for my child?' or 'Is something wrong with my child?' "

Esposito said a student's evaluation can be a challenging process.

"It can be daunting for parents if they don't understand how a child is evaluated and what happens when they are recommended for special education," Esposito said. "The best way is for a parent to be educated about everything, including the law."

Freeman, who told the parents that she grew up with a brother who is autistic and lives in a residential facility, covered a litany of legal topics specifically pertaining to people with disabilities.

These included requests for an IEP, or an individual education plan/program; seeking out government assistance with funding for certain programs; and estate planning for parents who will leave behind a child with special needs.

One of the first things Freeman discussed was working with a child's school district to identify whether a child needs special education or not.

"Parents can most certainly be part of the process," Freeman said during her presentation. "If a child is struggling with their progress in school, the first step for a parent is to write a letter to the child study team requesting an evaluation."

Freeman went on to explain the evaluation process and emphasized that parents are allowed to be present for evaluation planning and eligibility determination meetings.

Freeman explained that once the child's disability is identified, the IEP process begins.

"An IEP is intended to meet the needs of the child, given his or her ability," Freeman said. "Parents are part of the IEP team — it is a collaborative effort, and I encourage parents to ask questions at these meetings."

As for health care, Freeman covered a wide array of possible alternatives to privately funding the medical care and education of a child with special needs and advised that parents should look into registering their special-needs child with the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), which is part of the Department of Human Services.

"Registering with DDD can provide for adult services and therapy outside of school," Freeman said. "I advise everyone here to apply as soon as possible with DDD. In order to be eligible, the child must have a developmental disability that accrued by the age of 22."

Some attendees said that their experience with DDD had been lackluster but that registering with the division opened other opportunities for their children.

"I always advise clients to make copies of all paperwork they send DDD and then follow up with letters," Freeman said. "If you are rejected and turned down, do not give up."

Freeman also explained how getting involved with a state agency can help with eligibility for Medicaid and can help in situations where residential placement is needed for the child.

"You will be assigned a case worker, and their knowledge is valuable," she said. "They can help you find resources for your child."

Freeman began the section on guardianship and estate planning with a basic piece of advice for parents and grandparents.

"Children with special needs should not be beneficiaries of any type of policy or wills, and they should own no stocks or bonds, because the value of such things could deem them ineligible for government assistance," she said. "In the state of New Jersey, when you die, your assets are given to your spouse, and if your spouse is deceased or you do not have one, then it would go to a parent, and if a parent is no longer living, it would then go to your children."

Freeman explained that leaving financial assets to children with special needs can jeopardize government assistance and that a special-needs trust is the way to go.

"I compare a special-needs trust to a babysitter," Freeman said. "When you leave your children in the care of a babysitter, you leave instructions on how to manage the children. When you die, you can leave instructions for appointed trustees on how to manage money for your [special-needs] child."

Freeman stressed that inheritance money should not be given directly to special needs children and that it should be directed for use to enhance services and to fill in the gaps where the government does not provide, such as a house, a car or a vacation.

"Don't put money in siblings' names, because that money is then subject to divorce, mismanagement or lawsuits," Freeman said. "As for how much to put into the trust, that depends on the child's severity."

E

sposito said it is important for parents

of special-needs children to learn about estate planning and trusts.

"Trusts and estate planning are very important," she said. "As a parent, you want to be able to develop a plan for your child to reach his or her full potential."

Freeman said after the presentation that she has been practicing special-education law for the past three years and practiced medical malpractice law prior to that.

"I want people to walk out of here with the idea of being proactive with adult services, because there are so many wait lists, and I can't stress enough the importance of trust funds and estate planning," she said.

"My advice to parents would be to keep on going to meetings and parent support groups, talk to doctors, talk to other parents and continue to communicate with them, because that is where your education and support are going to come from."

There were approximately two dozen people in attendance, and many of them are no strangers to special education, Esposito said.

"It is nice to see the mix we have here tonight," Esposito said. "We had some members of the child study team, several Board of Education members, parents from other school districts such as Marlboro and Holmdel, the supervisor of special services for the district, and two child psychologists."

According to the organization's literature, Parents of Special People is a parentrun nonprofit organization that strives to offer parents and families of children with disabilities guidance and support when dealing with their children's special-educational needs in the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District.

As an independent entity, Parents of Special People meets on a regular basis in the conference room at Aberdeen Town Hall and hosts speakers from multiple disciplines to educate the families of district students.

For more information about Parents of Special People, visit the Web site at www.pospmatab.com.