SESP Recruitment Partnerships

Let’s work together to support your most vulnerable students.

Our Local Education Agency (LEA) Partnership Program is a collaboration aimed at ensuring that every child in state care or custody receives the special education supports they need to succeed.

We will work with you to identify volunteers within your community to serve as effective Special Education Surrogate Parents (SESPs) for eligible students within your district. Then, we will provide initial and ongoing training and support to your district and volunteers.

Our program and model was launched in response to a February 11, 2014, memorandum from the State Director of Special Education. By partnering with you in recruitment efforts, we hope to identify community volunteers who have already established a good working relationship with your school personnel, are familiar with local educational resources, and are able to be appointed promptly to eligible students in your district.

Trauma Trainings

A key element of this program is training for your school professionals and others on the impact of Developmental Childhood Trauma on learning. Participants come away with a deeper understanding of the neurological impact of trauma, and its impact on learning and challenging classroom behaviors.

About Us

The Recruitment, Training and Support Center (RTSC) for Special Education Surrogate Parents (SESPs) is a project of the Federation for Children with Special Needs, a nonprofit organization. RTSC recruits volunteers from across the state and provides them with the training to be effective educational decision makers for eligible children in the care or custody of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) who do not otherwise have parental representation in the special education process. Through our volunteers, we serve nearly a thousand students in school districts throughout the state of Massachusetts.

For more information, contact RTSC at rtsc@fcsn.org.