More intensive training is needed to ensure that the recommendations made by the IEP teams are the best for the child. Plans should be carefully developed to specify appropriate interventions, measurable objectives and clear outcomes. We must also prepare parents, educators and others to develop technically sound IEP's in a collaborative and constructive manner. All of these proposals are driven by the need to provide the best possible mental health care for all children in need of services. This is what Hawaii's families are entitled to, what the courts require of us, and what the state is committed to carrying out.
Parents are rightfully angry at how long the process has taken.
They have been watching their children grow and develop without the services they deserve. However, as the state has begun to provide services, pockets of children have been given an array of services that are clearly not sustainable over the long-term, while still others wait to be brought in the compliance range. This must change. Providing for children with special needs is the law of the land. No more is being asked of us than is being asked of any other state in the country.