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Child Find:

The Philadelphia School District

Jesse Sweet

Saint Joseph’s University

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The Philadelphia School District website has little to no information specifically using the

words “Child Find.” They do however have an Early Intervention Brochure briefly explaining how

the early identification and evaluation process for Early Intervention is conducted and

administered. This document can be found through the Early Interventions tab under Specialized

Services. Another document that is available to educate parents is the Special Education Guide for

Families. This document, while still general, goes into further detail about the programs offered,

the process of requesting an initial evaluation, understanding the parameters of and what an

Individualized Education Plan is (including important timelines), an explanation of

accommodations versus interventions, the professionals who would be potentially working with

students, and definitions of commonly used terminology. The document encompasses a wide range

of FAQs and possible questions families may have and who to contact if their questions were not

answered within the brochure. Although this document does not describe what Child Find is or the

legality and responsibilities the district has to adhere to that law, it does try to offer valuable insight

to families about the process and services.

Under the law, schools have the responsibility of identify, locating, and evaluating students

who are suspected of possible disabilities so that they can be evaluated, and if found eligible, a

plan detailing the specialized instruction can be developed. Within the Philadelphia School district,

we as special educators are required to have all of our Early Intervention IEPs completed,

outstanding IEPs written and finalized, and children identified by December 1st in order to satisfy

Child Count. Child count is the number of eligible students we have within our school and directly

correlates to the Child Find law under IDEA. We also monitor students just on the cusp through
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the Response to Intervention and Instruction (RTII) process bi-weekly. Students who are identified

as struggling and fall under the RTII umbrella, participate in a computer-based intervention daily,

as well as, receive pull out services with a Reading Specialist targeting areas of need. This helps

close the gap between students who need extra support and those in need of an evaluation for a

possible disability. Note, that participation and completion of RTII is not necessary in order for

parents, school personnel, or family members to request an evaluation.

In conclusion, the entire process of Child Find is not perfect in anyway. It has a great idea

to keep districts accountable for early identification of students who are in dire need of supports,

however, as a Special Educator you see many students fall through the cracks due to semantics or

other outstanding issues. An example of what I mean is when a student cannot be evaluated

because of missing vision and hearing tests, necessary hearing aids or glasses being provided in

order for students to access curriculum and have the opportunity to make adequate progress.