Special education services provided through Multi-Agency Services are available to any FCPS student through the individualized education program (IEP) process. IEP services are determined based on individual circumstances and may lead to placement in a private, special education school setting. Multi-Agency Services currently manages special education services and/or placements of FCPS students in approximately 45 private day or residential settings. Multi-Agency Services provides the FCPS oversight and monitoring of educational programs of students in treatment facilities across the United States who have been placed by other community services agencies for non-educational reasons. Multi-Agency Services works collaboratively with these agencies to ensure that FAPE is provided for these students who are eligible for special education services. 

All students placed and monitored by Multi-Agency Services participate in the Virginia Assessment Program. Each student takes Standards of Learning assessments (including performance-based assessments, as appropriate) or alternate and/or alternative assessments as appropriate for that student. Ongoing monitoring of student performance and triennial re-evaluations are used to guide educational planning. 

Textbooks and other instructional materials are provided by private day and residential special education schools. Curriculum in these programs is adapted and aligned as much as possible with the FCPS program of studies to ensure academic achievement and success. Multi-Agency Services staff members ensure that students have access to needed materials and equipment, such as assistive technology, as specified in their IEPs. 

Current Focus 

When assisting IEP teams in determining appropriate placements for students who need placement in a private school setting, Multi-Agency Services seeks opportunities to serve students in the least restrictive environment. For such students, this means providing their special education and related services in a setting that allows them to maintain ties to family and their community whenever possible. Placement in a residential school, which sometimes may be in an out of state location, is made only when the needed services cannot be delivered in a day school that could allow the student to maintain daily contact with his or her family and community. Multi-Agency Services collaborates with other community service agencies to plan and arrange services to support families so that they are better able to address the needs of their children when they are in the home or community settings. This wraparound approach can reduce the need for students to be placed in residential schools that remove them from their homes and community and support their ability to benefit from day school placements. 

Future Focus 

In order to preserve ties between students placed in nonpublic settings and their communities, Multi-Agency Services will continue to focus on identifying and developing opportunities to provide appropriate services to students in the least restrictive environment. Multi-Agency Services will seek to maximize the ability to serve students in their local community whenever appropriate and thereby avoid the need for residential placement in distant locations, through close coordination with other community service agencies and consultation with private providers to provide services and supports needed by students and their families. 

When assisting IEP teams in determining appropriate placements for students who require special education in a private school setting, Multi-Agency Services makes every effort to arrange services in the least restrictive environment and to maintain ties between the student, family, and community. A comparison of September 2022 to September 2023 placements reveals that the number of FCPS students in private special education school placements has decreased overall. The need for residential school placements has remained consistent. The table below illustrates the year-to-year comparison of the number of placements in private day schools and residential schools in each group. 

Private Day and Residential School IEP Placements