SECTION 554.1934. Educational Requirements for Persons under Age 22

(a) A nursing facility that accepts school-age residents, ages 3 through 21, must provide assurances to the Texas Department of Human Services (DHS) that it has:

(1) established a written cooperative agreement with the local independent school district that includes:

(A) general responsibilities of the facility and the school district in delivering appropriate and mutually supportive services to eligible school-age residents;

(B) a provision allowing the school district staff to access, with appropriate consent of the eligible resident or guardian, the facility's resident record and assessment information to avoid unnecessary duplication of services;

(C) a provision allowing the school district staff an opportunity to participate in or provide information for the facility's admission, programmatic, and discharge-planning meetings when the educational needs of an eligible resident are being considered; and

(D) a provision allowing the NF staff to participate in or provide information to the school district's admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee during its deliberations about each eligible school-age resident; and

(2) developed written policies and procedures to ensure that all eligible school-age residents, ages 3 through 21, who have neither successfully graduated from nor completed an approved school program are enrolled in a Texas Education Agency-approved educational program. The facility must:

(A) notify the local education agency (LEA), in writing, within three days of the admittance of an individual between the ages of birth and 22; and

(B) provide the LEA with any of the following information or records available to the facility within 14 working days of a school-age child's admission to the facility:

(i) birth certificate or other document as proof of a child's identity;

(ii) medical history and medical records, including current immunization records;

(iii) social history;

(iv) vision and hearing screening and/or evaluation;

(v) assessment reports, including psychological, educational, related service, and vocational assessments;

(vi) the facility's care plan;

(vii) educational history (at last previous educational placement to facilitate the LEA's efforts to obtain educational records from the previous LEA); and

(viii) any court order which authorizes the placement in the facility.

(C) maintain, as a separate document in the school-age resident's record, a copy of the original Individual Education Plan (IEP) developed by the school district, and any subsequent changes;

(D) document, in the comprehensive care plan, the following:

(i) efforts to resolve differences between the IEP and the comprehensive care plan;

(ii) educational objectives (such as behavior therapy or speech therapy), services, and approaches;

(iii) the resident's adjustment to the educational program;

(iv) changes and modifications to the plan; and

(v) discipline(s) in the facility responsible for follow-through on each educational objective; and

(E) provide to the local ARD committee a description of available space should a child need to be educated at the facility. If the ARD committee decides that the facility is the appropriate educational placement and the space is adequate, the facility must:

(i) provide the space as described, free of any costs, including those incurred for the operation and maintenance of the space; and

(ii) if the space will no longer be available or must be reduced, notify the LEA 30 days in advance with regard to one student and 90 days in advance regarding more than one student.

(b) If a provider desires to provide and administer the provider's own educational program(s), the provider must secure and maintain certification as a nonpublic school from the Texas Education Agency.

(c) In accordance with the Education Code, §29.012, DHS adopts by reference 19 TAC §89.1115 (relating to the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Interagency Coordination of Special Education Services to Students with Disabilities in Residential Facilities).

Source Note: The provisions of this §554.1934 adopted to be effective May 1, 1995, 20 TexReg 2393; amended to be effective June 15, 1997, 22 TexReg 5277; amended to be effective May 1, 2003, 28 TexReg 2619; transferred effective January 15, 2021, as published in the Texas Register December 11, 2020, 45 TexReg 8871