From 2004 to the present The EPIC Foundation has collaborated with the Hawaii State Department of Education in training and appointing Surrogate Parents to eligible children. Surrogate parents ensure that eligible children receive an education comparable to children without disabilities in all matters pertaining to their identification, evaluation, and educational program placement.
The Surrogate Parent Program was established by the Hawaii State Department of Education to ensure proper representation and services for children with disabilities as mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) and Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (amended by the Rehabilitation From 2004 to the present The EPIC Foundation has collaborated with the Hawaii State Department of Education in training and appointing Surrogate Parents to eligible children. Surrogate parents ensure that eligible children receive an education comparable to children without disabilities in all matters pertaining to their identification, evaluation, and educational program placement.
Eligible Children are those:
- Whose parents cannot be identified.
- Whose parents cannot be located
- Who are wards of the state under the laws of the state
- Those considered to be unaccompanied youth as stated under the Stewart B. McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
- That have no relative willing and able to serve as an educational representative for a student who has reasched the age of majority and lacks decisional capacity to provide informed consent.