Homebased Services

When home-based services are being considered, the IEP Team, including the parent, must determine and document why the placement is appropriate based on the student’s IEP and constitutes the student’s least restrictive environment. The Team must specify the special education, related services, supplementary aids and services, accommodations, instructional schedule, service-delivery arrangements, opportunities for participation in the general education curriculum and interaction with nondisabled peers, and procedures for monitoring progress necessary to provide the student a free appropriate public education. The placement must be reviewed at least every 45 days or whenever the student’s needs indicate that a less restrictive placement may be appropriate.

Prior to convening an IEP meeting to consider home-based services, the designated Special Education Specialist must be consulted in accordance with district procedures.

Important distinction: If the home setting is being considered as an interim alternative educational setting following a disciplinary removal, the district should address that situation separately under its disciplinary procedures. In that circumstance, the IEP Team determines the setting when the removal constitutes a disciplinary change of placement, and the student must continue to receive services that enable participation in the general education curriculum and progress toward the student’s IEP goals.

During the IEP meeting, the IEP Team must consider the student’s individual needs and review all components of the IEP that may be affected by a proposed home-based placement. The IEP may not be revised solely to fit the availability or convenience of home-based programming. Services, supports, and placement must be based on the student’s IEP and must be sufficient to provide FAPE. The Team must also document why the student cannot be educated satisfactorily in a less restrictive setting, even with appropriate supplementary aids and services.

The following components must be reviewed and revised, as appropriate:

Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance

The present levels must include current, objective, and measurable information describing how the student’s disability affects involvement and progress in the general education curriculum. The Team should address each area affected by the proposed home-based placement, including academic performance, communication, attendance, health, adaptive functioning, social-emotional functioning, and behavior.

When behavior is a factor in the consideration of home-based services, the social-emotional or behavioral present level must include, as applicable:

• A clearly defined description of the behavior interfering with learning;
• Current baseline and progress-monitoring data, including the frequency, duration, intensity, and conditions under which the behavior occurs;
• A summary of the most recent Functional Behavioral Assessment;
• A summary of the current Behavior Intervention Plan;
• A description of the interventions, supplementary aids, services, and positive behavioral supports previously implemented;
• Data describing the student’s response to those interventions; and
• The educational impact of the behavior on the student’s access, participation, and progress.

The present levels should establish a clear connection among the student’s identified needs, annual goals, services, supports, placement, and progress-monitoring procedures.

Measurable Annual Goals and Short-Term Objectives, When Required

The IEP Team must review each annual goal to determine whether it remains appropriate and can be implemented in the home-based setting. Goals may not be ended or reduced solely because the student is receiving instruction at home. Any revision must be based on the student’s individual needs and supported by current data.

The Team must determine:

• Which goals will continue without revision;
• Which goals require modification because of changes in the student’s needs or service-delivery setting;
• Whether additional goals are necessary to address needs associated with the proposed placement; and
• How progress toward each goal will be measured and reported to the parent.

When behavior impedes the student’s learning or that of others, the IEP Team must consider the use of positive behavioral interventions, supports, and other strategies. A measurable social-emotional or behavioral goal must be included when the student has an identified need in that area that requires specially designed instruction. Goals should not be added solely because home-based services are being considered.

Accommodations, Modifications, Supplementary Aids, and Program Supports

The IEP Team must review all accommodations, modifications, supplementary aids and services, assistive technology, positive behavioral supports, and supports for school personnel. The Team must determine how each support will be implemented during home-based instruction and whether any revisions are required.

The IEP must clearly identify:

• Accommodations and modifications that will continue;
• Any accommodation that must be adapted for individual instruction in the home;
• Materials, technology, equipment, or behavioral supports required;
• Supports or consultation needed by the home-based teacher, related-service provider, parent, or other personnel;
• The person responsible for providing each support; and
• The frequency, location, and duration of the support.

The IEP Team must not assume that an accommodation is unnecessary simply because instruction will occur individually or in the home.

Special Education and Related Services

The services section must identify all special education, related services, supplementary aids and services, and program supports required for the student to participate in the general education curriculum and make progress toward the student’s annual goals.

For each service, the IEP must specify:

• The type of service;
• The amount, frequency, and duration of the service;
• The anticipated beginning and ending dates ( not to exceed 45 school days);
• The location in which the service will be provided;
• Whether the service will be provided individually or in a group;
• The responsible provider; and
• ny consultation or coordination required among providers.

When services are delivered in the student’s home, the location may be identified as Home. The IEP must nevertheless describe the actual amount and nature of the specially designed instruction to be provided. Home-based services may not be limited to the amount of instruction generally offered through a district program when the student requires additional services to receive FAPE.

Related services must be determined individually and may include, as appropriate, counseling, behavioral services, speech-language services, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychological services, nursing services, assistive technology, parent counseling and training, or other services required for the student to benefit from special education.

Participation in the General Education Curriculum

The IEP Team must specify how the student will continue to access grade-level academic standards, instructional materials, coursework, assignments, and educational activities while receiving home-based services.

The Team must address:

• The courses or subjects to be taught;
• The curriculum and instructional materials to be used;
• How assignments will be provided, submitted, graded, and recorded;
• How the student will receive feedback from teachers;
• How academic credit, attendance, and course completion will be documented;
• Access to instructional technology and school platforms; and
• Coordination between the home-based instructor and the student’s general and special education teachers.

Participation With Nondisabled Peers and Nonacademic Activities

Because home-based services significantly limit opportunities for interaction with nondisabled peers, the IEP Team must consider and document the extent to which the student will participate with nondisabled students in academic, nonacademic, and extracurricular activities.

The Team must identify any appropriate opportunities for the student to participate in school-based activities, clubs, assemblies, meals, electives, athletics, community-based instruction, virtual instruction, or other activities. When participation is not appropriate, the IEP must explain why the student’s disability-related needs prevent participation with nondisabled peers. Removal from the regular educational environment is permissible only when education in regular classes cannot be achieved satisfactorily with supplementary aids and services.

Participation in Statewide and Districtwide Assessments

The IEP Team must review the student’s participation in all applicable statewide and districtwide assessments and document the accommodations required. Assessment accommodations must be individually determined and generally should be consistent with accommodations routinely used during instruction and classroom assessment.

• The assessments the student is required to take;
• The accommodations the student requires;
• Whether the accommodations can be appropriately provided in the home or require another testing location;
• Transportation or scheduling arrangements, when needed;
• The personnel responsible for administering the assessment; and
• Any required test-security or administration procedures.

Changes to instructional accommodations do not automatically require identical changes to assessment accommodations. Each assessment accommodation must be allowable, necessary, routinely used, and documented in the IEP.

Progress Monitoring and Reporting to Parents

The IEP must identify how progress toward each annual goal will be measured, how frequently data will be collected, who will collect and analyze the data, and when progress reports will be provided to the parent.

Progress monitoring should include:

• Academic performance;
• Progress toward annual goals;
• Attendance and engagement;
• Social-emotional and behavioral functioning;
• Response to behavioral interventions and supports;
• Participation in assigned instruction and activities; and
• Readiness to return to a less restrictive setting.

The IEP Team should identify the data or criteria that will prompt the Team to reconvene before the scheduled review date.

Behavior Support and the Behavior Intervention Plan

When the student has a Behavior Intervention Plan, the IEP Team must review and revise the plan, as necessary, to ensure that it can be implemented in the home-based setting. The plan should identify:

• The behavior or behaviors being addressed;
• Preventive and antecedent-based strategies;
• Replacement behaviors to be taught;
• Reinforcement procedures;
• Staff and parent responsibilities;
• Crisis or safety procedures, when applicable;
• Data-collection procedures;
• Progress-review intervals; and
• Criteria for determining whether the plan is effective.

The Team must consider whether implementation in the home requires parent counseling and training, staff consultation, environmental supports, or coordination with outside providers. The parent should not be assigned responsibility for providing the specially designed instruction or related services that the district is obligated to provide.

Placement and Least Restrictive Environment

The IEP Team, including the parent and individuals knowledgeable about the student, evaluation data, and placement options, must make the placement decision. The placement must be based on the completed IEP, reviewed at least annually, and determined in conformity with IDEA’s LRE requirements.

The IEP and accompanying documentation must identify:

• The continuum of placement options considered;
• Supplementary aids, services, supports, and less restrictive options considered or attempted;
• The data used in making the placement decision;
• Why education in a less restrictive setting cannot presently be achieved satisfactorily;
• Any potential harmful effect of the home-based placement on the student or on the quality of services required;
• The extent to which the student will not participate with nondisabled peers; and
• Why the proposed placement is appropriate to implement the student’s IEP and provide FAPE.

Duration, Review, and Plan for Returning to a Less Restrictive Setting

The IEP must include an anticipated beginning date and projected duration for home-based services but cannot be longer than 45 days. Home-based placement should not be treated as open-ended or maintained without periodic review.

The Team must establish:

• A date or frequency for reviewing the placement;
• Objective data that will be considered at each review;
• Criteria for determining whether the student is ready to transition to a less restrictive setting;
• Steps, supports, and services necessary for transition or reintegration;
• The persons responsible for implementing the transition plan; and
• Procedures for reconvening the IEP Team when the student’s needs or circumstances change.

The Team must continue to consider whether the student can receive FAPE in a less restrictive environment. The student’s placement must be reviewed at least every 45 days and must remain based on the student’s current IEP. The IEP team will also need to determine a plan for providing any outstanding hours of service, if warranted. The IEP team will also determine continued educational needs and placement, including a plan to transition the student back to the school setting, if appropriate.

Prior Written Notice and Required Documentation

Following the IEP meeting, the district must provide a Prior Written Notice that clearly describes the action proposed or refused, explains why the district proposes or refuses the action, identifies the evaluations, assessments, records, and reports used as a basis for the decision, and describes other options considered and the reasons those options were rejected.

Once the IEP team has determined the appropriate services for the student, the school must secure the homebased teacher(s).

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