WRITTEN REGULATIONS AND POLICIES GOVERNING THE EDUCATIONAL PLACEMENTS AND SERVICES PROVIDED FOR HANDICAPPED AMERICAN INDIAN CHILDREN.

Abstract

Since the enactment of Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, 1975, the Office of Special Education (OSE) within the United States Department of Education (USDE) has channeled funds directly into services for handicapped American Indian children. Despite the multiple service providers and the funds available, services provided for handicapped Indian children do not seem to be adequate. Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) studies show that Indian children have a higher than average incidence of handicaps but are not afforded the services necessary to deal with these handicaps. A paucity of information exists about services for Indian youth, and research on the adequacy of services provided by the multiple service agencies appears to be limited. Various service components such as identification, evaluation, placement, and service continuum may be administered by different agencies and complicates systematic accountability in the care of handicapped children. Reservations generally have five main service providers: (1) state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs); (2) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); (3) Health and Human Services (HHS); (4) Indian Health Service (IHS); and (5) Tribal agencies. This study analyzed policies of the five agencies and the legal provisions under which they operate. The study also offers some solutions to the chronic problems in education that are confronted by handicapped Indian children on Arizona Indian Reservations.