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Special needs schools/programs Los Angeles
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Mon, Dec 24 2018, 10:48 am
Hi we are looking at moving to Los Angeles (likely the Encino or woodland hills area), but have some children with special needs.
Is there a frum school or special education program within a school with licensed special ed teachers, ot, pt, etc. for kids with learning disabilities/adhd/etc?
If we come with an assessment from the Boe in NJ, would that be valid in LA?

If anyone has information or know whom I can talk to, I would appreciate it since this seriously impacts whether we can move or not.
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amother
Amber


 

Post Mon, Dec 24 2018, 11:13 pm
There is no all inclusive school in LA like you describe. Not frum at least. Many kids go to public school with great resources... Some districts are better. Also many kids go to non- public schools, often paid by the state if they are too severe for public school special Ed. The help group is one set of schools, mostly for autism I think.

Assessments don't transfer state to state.
What age? Regional center does some therapies for free... Depends on age and diagnosis.

In terms of frum special needs, contact Etta Israel in LA. Sorry I don't have their contact info. They have a website so Google may help-sorry! They may have recommendations or ideas.

Also friendship circle has programs- Sunday's, vacations, "big siblings" and more. They were trying to do a school but not sure if the first class started in the end.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 4:54 am
Thanks for the info.
Who or what is Etta Israel and does anyone have contact info?
Do any of the schools have a program within the school for sn?
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amother
Chartreuse


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 5:05 am
Also keep in mind that although CA is a "democratic" state that Ronald Reagan was our governor and many of our policies are very right. I.E. social services are not even a fraction of what they are in NY and NJ and many less resources are available. I love LA its just something people from NY and NJ take for granted and could be surprised about when they realize the lack of available services and the cost of those that are there.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 6:16 am
Wow I did assume that actually.
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amother
Amber


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 6:21 am
amother wrote:
Also keep in mind that although CA is a "democratic" state that Ronald Reagan was our governor and many of our policies are very right. I.E. social services are not even a fraction of what they are in NY and NJ and many less resources are available. I love LA its just something people from NY and NJ take for granted and could be surprised about when they realize the lack of available services and the cost of those that are there.


Also our services are spread really thin as we have a huge percentage of illegal immigrants here... Services like regional center are given to kids who qualify for 6 months up to age 3. (Certain disabilities are until 18 or 21, not sure exactly. But the free speech, OT and PT for kids who are "just delayed" are until 3 and after you go to the Public School district). However if you are uninsured (or insurance doesn't have it in your area) you get past the 6 months. So kids who don't qualify for Medicaid (Medi-cal here) and don't have other insurance often are illegal immigrants without social security numbers...
We do have a lot of benefits. They are just spread thin...
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amother
Amber


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 6:26 am
amother wrote:
Thanks for the info.
Who or what is Etta Israel and does anyone have contact info?
Do any of the schools have a program within the school for sn?


Just googled it.
Etta.org
They have run special needs classes inside schools in the past. I don't know if they still have one. I think one of the classes graduated and it didn't restart. They would know.
What kind of special Ed do you want? Like I said before most kids do a non public school or a public school with special Ed. And do friendship circle, some may do private tutoring.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 6:44 am
He needs special learning instruction in diff subjects due to his learning disability. He also needs pt and ot. He also needs specific accommodations for adhd. It's pretty complicated.
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amother
Chartreuse


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 7:32 am
amother wrote:
Also our services are spread really thin as we have a huge percentage of illegal immigrants here... Services like regional center are given to kids who qualify for 6 months up to age 3. (Certain disabilities are until 18 or 21, not sure exactly. But the free speech, OT and PT for kids who are "just delayed" are until 3 and after you go to the Public School district). However if you are uninsured (or insurance doesn't have it in your area) you get past the 6 months. So kids who don't qualify for Medicaid (Medi-cal here) and don't have other insurance often are illegal immigrants without social security numbers...
We do have a lot of benefits. They are just spread thin...


This is partially true, but not entirely. Medicaid in NY is an insurance that almost never impacts your quality of care. It is easy to receive and a competent doctor in almost any field accepts it. That is not the case with Medi-cal in California. Also, Medi-cal has out of pocket costs and is strict regarding renewals. Doctors do not really accept Medi-cal, except for in underpriveledged areas and there are waits (not the case in NY and NJ where people with premium insurances often share doctors with those who have Medicaid/Fidelis). Also, there is almost no mental health care in California, which is one reason why there is a huge homeless problem. There are only two large psychiatric hospitals LA county and few smaller ones, but Ronald Reagan closed the majority of them - with that comes a lack of services available for psychiatric patients and also those with disabilities. Things like Food Stamps and Section 8 are also different than in NY (same goes for HEAP) although I've heard Welfare is easier to obtain in LA. Other right-wing policies are zoning incentives which appear left-wing but in reality just improve zoning ordinances for developers.

This is way too long for small post, but the moral of the story is just don't expect to receive the same amount of services, aid, etc. and to even have access to the same amount of services even if you are willing to pay for them. If you plan ahead IYH you'll get what you need, but realize it is not as easy in NY and NJ. That being said, the quality of what you'll get may potentially be better because there aren't many "back door pretending to be qualified to teach x, y and z" in LA and people who work in that field are appropriately certified. I don't have experience to guide you, but did want to warn you and wish you a lot of hatzlacha.
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imorethanamother




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 9:27 am
amother wrote:
Hi we are looking at moving to Los Angeles (likely the Encino or woodland hills area), but have some children with special needs.
Is there a frum school or special education program within a school with licensed special ed teachers, ot, pt, etc. for kids with learning disabilities/adhd/etc?
If we come with an assessment from the Boe in NJ, would that be valid in LA?

If anyone has information or know whom I can talk to, I would appreciate it since this seriously impacts whether we can move or not.


Please PM me. Depending on severity, I would advise you not to move. It's why I moved away from LA.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 10:41 am
No Medicaid, right now we have insurance from work but it does not cover any sn services.
That is usually covered by the board of ed in Nj. Does the California boe not cover services?


Just sent you a pm.
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amother
Seafoam


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 10:57 am
CA board of Ed covers nothing, unless your child is enrolled and attends public school. Do you research carefully.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 11:06 am
Seafoam, so there is no option to get them to pay for out of district placement? Or to sue the district like ppl do here?
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amother
Seafoam


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 11:11 am
To the best of my knowledge, no. There are legal advocates that you can hire, but the only times I’ve seen the school district successfully sued for services is for serious mental health placement (ie. Out of state therapeutic school) or if the public school that the child is attending cannot meet the needs of the child, and then the district will reimburse for a private special needs school—not a gen ed yeshiva.
Most parents of special needs (ie. ADHD, dyslexia) students will private pay for support that allows the child to be included in a gen ed environment if they want their child to remain in yeshiva.

Can I ask what sort of LD/challenges you’re dealing with?
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amother
Chartreuse


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 11:38 am
amother wrote:
Seafoam, so there is no option to get them to pay for out of district placement? Or to sue the district like ppl do here?


Also keep in mind that while California has high property taxes when compared to the US in general, its taxes are low when compared to areas like Rockland and Bergen counties. (I.e. my friend's $25 million dollar 8,000 sq. ft. home pays less taxes than I do in Monsey for a 3,000 sq. ft. house) and property taxes are also determined differently. It's likely many of the costs for special ed are not covered by a fair share contribution of property taxes and the remainder is subsidized by the State (and CA as a state has low subsidies for any form of aid I.e. section 8, insurance, etc. which are also hard to receive)

There are also less services available publicly in the state of CA than the state of NY or NJ because of its history as a state.
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amother
Chartreuse


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 11:44 am
Again, I want to reiterate I do not have personal experience in your area of question, but I have experience with the state of CA, taxes, etc. In general California is a state where the governmental/municipal attitude is "the least we have to give to citizens, even those who qualify, the better. Cut corners where you can" which throws people off because they'd expect that from a Republic state (however, California had a Republican governor who instituted many laws that are in place today. These laws have been both beneficial and detrimental to ppl in California).
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amother
Chartreuse


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 11:45 am
amother wrote:
To the best of my knowledge, no. There are legal advocates that you can hire, but the only times I’ve seen the school district successfully sued for services is for serious mental health placement (ie. Out of state therapeutic school) or if the public school that the child is attending cannot meet the needs of the child, and then the district will reimburse for a private special needs school—not a gen ed yeshiva.
Most parents of special needs (ie. ADHD, dyslexia) students will private pay for support that allows the child to be included in a gen ed environment if they want their child to remain in yeshiva.

Can I ask what sort of LD/challenges you’re dealing with?


This is what she wrote earlier:

amother wrote:
He needs special learning instruction in diff subjects due to his learning disability. He also needs pt and ot. He also needs specific accommodations for adhd. It's pretty complicated.
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imorethanamother




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 12:23 pm
amother wrote:
Seafoam, so there is no option to get them to pay for out of district placement? Or to sue the district like ppl do here?


No. That doesn't happen in LA. They take the separation between church and state very very seriously here. At best, you can get a NPS (Non-public school), but those are essentially another arm of the school districts, and they're run like a public school, with an eye to cutting costs.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 12:54 pm
Seafoam, what sort of private pay support services are available?
And if we do go the public school route, are you saying that even there the services are limited?
I have 1 child receiving services currently, 2 others who will need (some have gotten in the past).

Eta- I'm talking about Pt/ot, sensory needs as well as actual learning disabilities plus adhd; plus some behavioral issues as well.
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amother
Seafoam


 

Post Tue, Dec 25 2018, 3:32 pm
Same private pay support/therapies available anywhere-you can hire an OT, PT, SLP, BCBA etc. you can also hire a shadow. But again, the district isn’t covering any of it. For OT/PT and SLP, there is always insurance coverage and for behavioral issues where a child has an ASD diagnosis, insurance will often cover services. But the district will not cover any of those unless your child’s enrolled in a public school.

Also keep in mind that even when enrolled in PS, if the OT/PT/ SLP issue is not impeding your child’s academic performance, the district may deny services.

For other types of support (ie reading specialists, ed therapists etc) parents often hire their own and have them work with the child at their private school during school hours. Gets VERY pricey VERY quickly!
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