APPSSRE: New contract will worsen special ed services crisis.

APPSSRE warned that the figures on pending services come from the very agency cited for noncompliance, and that the same entity is reporting its compliance, which could imply a conflict of interest. (Facebook via Appssre)

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rican Association of Health and Education-Related Service Providers (APPSSRE by its initials in Spanish) this week denounced the Provisional Remedy Program contract finally submitted by the Department of Education as being incomplete, maintaining previously objected-to clauses, and deepening a pattern of improper control over a program created precisely as a response to the public system’s own shortcomings.

Three days after the Education Department established that the provider renewal process would begin on May 4, unanswered communications persist, essential information is missing, and the process is being driven without sufficient transparency, the advocacy organization said.

“The Department demands participation and renewal while leaving essential questions unanswered,” the APPSSRE said. “Under these circumstances, there can be no talk of a real or responsible renewal.”

The Provisional Remedy Program, which arose from the class-action lawsuit Rosa Lydia Vélez v. The Department of Education, is a mechanism to guarantee access to private services when the public system fails to provide them. It was not designed to become an operational extension of the state, nor to transfer responsibilities inherent to the Department of Education itself to the private provider, the organization noted.

According to data from the 2024-25 school year compliance report, some 69,000 services are pending.

“These are not just numbers,” the APPSSRE said. “They represent thousands of students waiting for therapies, evaluations, and services essential to their development, well-being, and integrity, while their constitutional right to an education -- and, in turn, their right to a free and appropriate public education, as recognized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and applicable state laws -- is being undermined. Behind each pending service is a child or young person being denied not only a resource, but also the dignified treatment they deserve.”

APPSSRE further warned that the figures on pending services come from the very agency cited for noncompliance, and that the same entity is reporting its compliance, which could imply a conflict of interest. The Association suggests that external and independent entities should validate this process. In this context, 69,000 pending services is a significant and, most likely, conservative figure, it said.

The APPSSRE identified a sustained pattern of obstruction by the Department of Education, including: imposing expiration dates on approval letters that interrupt services, failing to generate and issue Provisional Remedy letters for services not provided, closing new providers for years, fees that do not reflect the actual market, and arbitrarily and inconsistently applying 1.5% withholdings.

“It is important to emphasize that fees paid for services do not only represent direct payment to the specialist providing the therapy. They sustain entire clinical operations, including administrative and clinical staff, infrastructure, materials, utilities, and continuity of services,” the APPSSRE said. “A fee that does not reflect the actual market is not just a matter of compensation; it is a direct threat to the provider’s operational viability and, therefore, to the availability of services for students.”