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Education Funding Commission Presentation To Subcommittee Number 3 By Residential Treatment Facilities September 2012. WHO ARE WE?. Georgia facilities which provide comprehensive behavioral health services to children and adolescents Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities ("PRTF")
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Education Funding CommissionPresentationToSubcommittee Number 3By Residential Treatment FacilitiesSeptember 2012
WHO ARE WE? Georgia facilities which provide comprehensive behavioral health services to children and adolescents • Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities ("PRTF") • Room Board and Watchful Oversight ("RBWO")
WHO ARE WE?(Cont.) In addition to behavioral health services, we provide: • Housing • Educational needs • Children receive education in our facilities because they cannot be served in local schools • They receive instruction in nationally accredited schools or programs • Social skills and independent living skills
LOCATED STATEWIDE • There are 20 residential treatment facilities
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 2011-2012 Approved Residential Facilities Served Under O.C.G.A 20-2-133 *These Residential Treatment Facilities are served as “programs”. Dr. John D. Barge, State School Superintendent September 15, 2011 * Page 1 of 1
WHO WE SERVE? • Children in state custody • Department of Human Services (Division of Family and Children Services) • Department of Juvenile Justice • Privately placed children • Annually, facilities serve • RBWO - • PRTF -
AVERAGE LENGTHS OF STAY • Children and adolescents are in PRTF an average of 120 days • RBWO children have an average lengths of stay of ___
TYPES OF CHILDREN • Children who are neglected, unruly, delinquent or have behavioral health issues • Children who have numerous foster care family placements prior to their placement with a facility • Varying ages by facility, up to age 21 for some • Children with numerous learning issues, generally two grades behind their peers
HOW ARE WE CURRENTLY FUNDED? • Through "QBE" with money paid to "LEAs" • Through a non-quality basic education formula grant, "SB 618 grant" • Title I dollars • Private donations
WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS? • Residential treatment facilities are not funded sufficiently to meet educational instruction costs of children • Facilities do not have their own "QBE" weight • Children do not always arrive with an "IEP" • SB 618 grants are not sufficient to fund a the local share of the total cost of education and can be cut at any time • SB 618 grants are not based on actual costs, and formula is not transparent and has changed annually • Student counts occur twice per year and do not capture transient nature of students
OUR IDEAS FOR SOLUTIONS: • Create a new category and appropriate weight in "QBE" to more closely align with these children's needs • Address "IEP" requirement so that a determination of a child's need for placement in a residential treatment facility equates to an IEP • Sufficiently fund SB 618 "grants" program to cover the full local share of the cost of education *DOE proposed moving facilities to the "SED" program budget category, but programs in this category are not eligible for Title I and the level of funding could remain inadeqaute