Are you aware that approximately 8 percent of students in special education in the commonwealth have autism and that it is imperative that these children have early intervention services in order to for those services to be effective?
In the past, the Legislature unfortunately rejected proposed legislation that would have allowed the Public School System to hire non-resident special education teachers and related service providers and also rejected proposed legislation that would have allowed the Public School System to offer the salaries required to hire stateside special education teachers and related service providers. As a result, PSS has been unable to provide adequate special education and related services required and needed by students in the special education program. While parents and families of children with disabilities have been patient and understanding and as a result have not filed for due process or other litigation which would be expensive and further reduce the resources available for PSS, their children are being deprived of the education and services to which they are entitled. For many of these children, their need for special services is urgent and, if not provided while they are still young, may not be effective. Early in your term of office, draft legislation was submitted to you for consideration regarding issues facing persons with mental illness and children with autism. With only four months remaining in your terms of office, we would like to request that you take immediate action to enact the following proposed legislation into law.
REGARDING CHILDREN WITH AUTISM:
H.B. 16-153 To require health insurance coverage of the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders in individuals under 21 years of age.
H.B. 16-154 To establish a special education scholarship program for students pursuing a post-graduate or post-baccalaureate degree in special education.
H.B. 16-155 To provide to the parent of any qualified special education child a scholarship in order that child may receive special education and/or related services that implement the child’s individualized education program.
H.B. 16-156 To establish a comprehensive autism training program in the CNMI.
REGARDING MENTAL HEALTH:
H.B. 16-157 To establish a procedure for determining incompetency of adults with serious disabilities, including but not limited to mental illness and developmental disabilities, while protecting the fundamental right of individuals to determine his own course of medical treatment and to control decisions affecting his own property and personal affairs.
PROPOSED: The Advance Directive and Assisted Outpatient Treatment Act to establish a method for individuals with serious disabilities, including but not limited to mental illness and developmental disabilities, to determine their own course of medical treatment and to control decisions relating to the individual’s mental health care, and to insure the safety of the public by establishing an available treatment system, consistent with constitutional rights of equal protection, due process, and privacy.
PROPOSED: Guardianship Act to provide for appointment of a guardian for incompetent persons while preserving for the incompetent person the right to participate as fully as possible in all decisions that will affect him and the opportunity to exercise those rights that are within his comprehension and judgment.
PROPOSED: The Mental Health Care in the Department of Corrections Act to insure adequate and appropriate mental health care for persons coming within the criminal justice system and in the custody of the Department of Corrections.
WE ALSO URGE ANY MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC WITH AN INTEREST IN ANY OF THIS PROPOSED LEGISLATION TO CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND URGE THEIR IMMEDIATE ACTION BEFORE THEIR TERMS EXPIRE.
JEANNE H. RAYPHAND
Legal Counsel
Northern Marianas Protection
and Advocacy Systems Inc.
