Who provides related services?
Providers of related services in the schools typically include (but are not limited to) professionals such as: school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, school health professionals, speech-language pathologists, and occupational and physical therapists. The training and credentialling of these professionals will vary from State to State. IDEA requires that related services are provided by qualified personnel. However, neither the law nor the regulations specify the levels of training that an individual needs in order to be considered “qualified.” It is the State that establishes what constitutes “suitable qualifications for personnel providing special education and related services” [Section 300.136(a)(1)(ii)]. This includes establishing the “highest entry-level academic degree needed for any State-approved or -recognized certification, licensing, registration, or other comparable requirements that apply to a profession or discipline” in which a person is providin
