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National Alliance on Mental Illness
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NAMI Strongly Urges Families to Submit Comments on Proposed IDEA Regulations

August 26, 2005

In late June, the U.S. Department of Education issued proposed regulations to implement the changes made to IDEA. We are currently in an open comment period during which individuals and organizations may submit comments to the Department of Education about the proposed IDEA regulations.

The Department of Education is requesting comments on the proposed regulations up until 5:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 6th. You may submit comments to the Department by emailing them between now and September 6th to the following email address: IDEAComments@ed.gov. You must include the term "IDEA-Part B" in the subject line of your email message.

NAMI strongly encourages families to submit comments to the Department of Education about the proposed regulations. NAMI has prepared comments that we hope you will find helpful and which you may use as a guide as you prepare your comments. Whenever possible in your comments, please reference the section of the proposed regulations that your comments relate to.

You may also wish to consider including comments in your email or letter that cover the following topics as they relate to the proposed regulations, all of which promise to help educate the Department of Education about the needs of students with mental illnesses:

  • Your child’s diagnosis and the impact that it has had on his/her academic achievement and functional performance;
  • Your experience in working with the school and the IEP team in developing your child’s IEP;
  • Any inappropriate or concerning disciplinary action taken against your child and the consequences;
  • Whether your child’s teacher(s) or provider(s) had the appropriate qualifications and training to understand how to address the academic and functional needs of your child; and
  • Other appropriate issues, including those that may be referenced in NAMI’s comments and that relate to an experience that you have had in attempting to secure appropriate educational services for your child.

If you have any questions related to submitting comments to The Department of Education on the proposed IDEA regulations, please contact Patricia Braun, Program Coordinator for NAMI’s Child & Adolescent Action Center (patriciab@nami.org).

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