Troubled Teens Resources

Schools for troubled teens with emotional and behavioral problems are usually not paid for by the state, and there will be much debate whether tax payers should be expected to pay for such schools if public schools “fail” to provide problem teens with the environment that they can survive in.

However, apparently a Texas judge has ruled that a public school in Texas must do so.

“A recent Dallas court ruling has parents of special education students hopeful that more public schools could be required to pay for private care for their children’s behavioral disorders.

A judge ruled that the Richardson Independent School District had failed to provide an appropriate education, as required by federal disability law, for a student with severe disorders.

The case may be the first of its kind because it deals with a new trend in mental health care – private hospitals that have public charter schools on their campuses. As a result, the district will probably have to reimburse the student’s parents more than $50,000 for her stay at the hospital.
[…]
Experts on both sides of the issue said the ruling should be taken as a sign of a bigger problem: the lack of funding for special education from the state and federal government.

“The school districts are sort of at a loss,” said Angela Lello, public policy director of the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities. “They don’t have what they need to provide the support for students that have challenging behaviors.”

And school districts worry that such rulings will create a heavy toll when they’re already strapped for cash.”

(Source)