Title V Implementing Guidelines:

SECTION IIIA

56026. Support Services.

Support services are those specialized services available to students with disabilities defined in Sections 56002 of this chapter, which are in addition to the regular services provided to all students. Such services enable students to participate in regular activities, programs and classes offered by the college. They may include, but need not be limited to:

(a) Basic fixed cost administrative services, associated with the ongoing administration and operation of the DSPS program.

These services include:

1. Access to and arrangements for adaptive educational equipment, materials and supplies required by students with disabilities;
2. Job placement and development services related to transition to employment;
3. Liaison with campus and/or community agencies, including referral to campus or community agencies and follow-up services;
4. Registration assistance relating to on- or off-campus college registration, including priority enrollment assistance, application for financial aid and related college services;
5. Special parking, including on-campus parking registration or while an application for the State handicapped placard or license plate is pending provision of a temporary parking permit;
6. Supplemental specialized orientation to acquaint students with environmental aspects of the college and community;

(b) Continuing variable cost services which fluctuate with changes in the number of students or the unit load of the students.

These services include, but are not limited to:

1. Test-taking facilitation, including arrangement, proctoring and modification of tests and test administration for students with disabilities;
2. Assessment, including both individual and group assessment not otherwise provided by the college to determine functional educational and vocational levels, or to verify specific disabilities;
3. Counseling, including specialized academic, vocational, personal, and peer counseling services specifically for students with disabilities, not duplicated by ongoing general counseling services available to all students;
4. Interpreter services, including manual and oral interpreting for hearing-impaired students;
5. Mobility assistance (on-campus), including manual or motorized transportation to and from college courses and related educational activities;
6. Notetaker services, to provide assistance to students with disabilities in the classroom;
7. Reader services, including the coordination and provision of services for students with disabilities in the instructional setting;
8. Speech services provided by a licensed epoch/ language pathologist for students with verified speech disabilities;
9. Transcription services, including but not limited to, the provision of braille and print materials;
10. Transportation assistance (off-campus), only if not otherwise provided by the college to all students, where public accessible transportation is unavailable or is deemed inadequate by the Chancellor's Office;
11. Specialized tutoring services not otherwise provided by the college;
12. Outreach activities designed to recruit potential students with disabilities to the college;
13. Accommodations for participation in co-curricular activities directly related to the student's enrollment in state-funded educational courses or programs; and
14. Repair of adaptive equipment donated to the DSPS program or purchased with funds provided under this subchapter.

(c) One-time variable costs for purchase of DSPS equipment, such as adapted educational equipment, materials, supplies, and transportation vehicles.

A college will elect to offer services based on the population of students with disabilities served. All services addressed in Section 56026 are discretionary notwithstanding State and Federal law. The college can determine which services are best provided by the DSPS office or by other departments on the campus. Support services may be provided anywhere, on- or off-campus, by persons who may or may not be employed exclusively by the DSPS program. However, certain conditions must be satisfied:

1. the services to be provided to a student must be described in his/her Student Educational Contract in the manner prescribed in Section 56022;
2. the professional staff who provide counseling or instruction to students with disabilities must meet minimum qualifications set forth in Section 53414;
3. all staff, whether professional or paraprofessional, must be accountable to the DSPS Coordinator with respect to reporting requirements and compliance with DSPS regulations. This does not mean that all staff serving students with disabilities must be supervised by the DSPS Coordinator, but she/he must have the administrative authority necessary to ensure that all services are properly coordinated and that all regulatory requirements are satisfied; and
4. the college must comply with the comparable services requirement described in the guidelines accompanying Section 56066, when it is implemented by the Chancellor's Office.

The college should file an addendum to the campus DSPS Program Plan listing any additions or elimination of services. Certain services requiring further discussion are listed below:

(a)(5) Special Parking ­ The provision of special parking is coordinated with the college campus security and facilities offices responsible for parking policies and procedures. While the Vehicle Code does allow Districts to set local parking policies and fees, these policies are superseded by state law if there is a conflict. Parking on campus should include: free visitor parking; adequate disabled student and staff parking with spaces configured according to Title 24 of the Building Code; no charge for persons (staff, students, or visitors) with the state issued Disabled Person plate or placard at spaces with parking meters. Colleges are allowed to charge students with disabilities parking fees equal to those charged non-disabled students.

 

(b)(2) Assessment­ Assessment is the process by which educational functional limitations, academic readiness and vocational levels are determined for a student with a particular disability. This assessment process can take the form of reviewing documentation from referring agencies, by giving different assessment batteries to the student, interviewing the student, etc. The assessment process can be either given individually or in group settings. Title 5 regulations prohibit provision of services or instruction that duplicate those otherwise available to all students. Therefore, assessment conducted by the DSPS program must not replace or supplant existing general college assessment services.

 

This subsection also gives the DSPS program the ability to verify specific disabilities if an appropriate licensed professional is a member of the DSPS staff.

 

(b)(5) Mobility Assistance ­ Personal attendant care is not a service to be provided by the college according to Section 504 and AB 803. However, physical assistance directly related to participation in an instructional activity (e.g., changing clothes for adaptive physical education class) is allowable and can be funded through the DSPS program.

 

(b)(6) Notetaker Services ­ This includes services for writing, notetaking, and manual manipulation for classroom and related academic activities.

 

(b)(7) Reader Service ­This includes the coordination and provision of access to information required for participation in academic courses, if this access is unavailable in other suitable modes. Under the provisions of the Cooperative Agreement between the Department of Rehabilitation and the state Chancellor's Office, students who are clients of the Department of Rehabilitation (DR) should receive reader services from the Department (see Chancellor's Office Resource Handbook). Reader services for students who are not clients of DR should be provided by the college, unless the college funding has been exhausted. The determination of the most suitable mode of support (tape vs. reader) should be made by DSPS credentialed staff with input from the student.

 

(b)(8) Speech Services ­ This service should supplement instructional activities of the student and may be provided in conjunction with participation in educational offerings of the college. Speech therapy is not a service to be funded by DSPS.

 

(b)(10) Transportation Assistance (off-campus) ­ Off-campus accessible transportation must be provided if the college provides transportation for non-disabled students. This is a college responsibility, not a DSPS responsibility. In this case, accessible transportation should be provided to students with disabilities, but only the additional cost of the service required due to the students' disabilities (aides, lifts, etc.) should be funded through the DSPS program. This requirement includes transportation for field trips and other activities where transportation is provided for all students. In some cases, the college may-provide off-campus transportation to students with disabilities only. In such cases the full cost of providing this service to students with disabilities may be covered by DSPS funds if the college determines, and the state Chancellor's Office agrees, that accessible public transportation is unavailable or inadequate. However, this does not relieve the college of its obligation under AB 803 (Government Code Section 11135 et. seq.) to provide program and physical accessibility for students with disabilities and staff by ensuring that facilities can be reached by accessible public transit where public transit does exist.

 

(b)(11) Tutoring Services ­ Under Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, students with disabilities must have access to general college services. The DSPS program may offer specialized tutoring services; but the services must be disability-related tutoring rather than general tutoring available through the Learning Center, EOPS, or other sources. DSPS funds are intended to provide additional specialized support that allows students with disabilities to more fully access and benefit from the general offerings and services of the college.

 

In addition, Title 5 regulations prohibit provision of services or instruction that duplicate those otherwise available to all students. Therefore, DSPS tutoring services must not replace or supplant existing general college tutoring services.

 

Colleges should only establish separate special programs, classes, or services when regular services or instruction, combined with the provision of support services, cannot meet the educational needs of students with disabilities.

 

(b)(13) Co-curricular Activities ­ If the co-curricular activity is a part of a requirement of a course in which the student is enrolled the accommodation provided to the student with a disability, may be funded by DSPS funds. If the co-curricular activity is not a course-requirement to the individual student, i.e. graduation, college plays, sports, etc., it is the responsibility of the college to provide the accommodation. The college may use the DSPS office as a resource for information on the accommodation, but not as a source of funding for the accommodation.

Documentation

To demonstrate compliance with Title 5, Section 56026, the college should maintain records of the services provided to students with disabilities, including numbers of hours, pay rate, names of providers, and the identification of the disability and educational limitations requiring the service. In regard to the provision of special off-campus transportation in cases where the college does not provide transportation to non disabled students, the college must verify and document the inadequacy of accessible transportation in the community and submit this documentation to the state Chancellor's Office for a determination of whether off-campus transportation can be funded through the DSPS program.

Sacramento City College
3835 Freeport Boulevard · Sacramento, California 95822
This page was last updated: Tuesday, August 31, 2004 at 2:01:34 PM