March Webinar Series

Special Education Resources

Parent Participation

We believe that a child's best advocate is their parent! This is why it is so important for parents to participate in their child's IEP meeting. Even IDEA includes the wording that schools "...shall take steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of a child with a disability are present at each IEP meeting..."

To learn more about parent participation at IEP meetings, click HERE

Special Education Laws and Regulations

To access the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Federal Regulations, Missouri State Plan for Special Education, Procedural Safeguards, Parent's Bill of Rights, and more. Click HERE

MPACT videos and fact sheets are available to help you learn more about the IEP components and evaluation process. Click HERE for access to the fact sheets or HERE for the IEP Components video.

Tools for Life Summits

Join us for the Tools for Life Opportunities One-day event empowering students with unique abilities. Youth, parents, educators, and professionals will come together to collaborate and explore essential topics like education, employment, independent living, and community involvement.

Parents: Discover resources, and strategies to support your child’s transition to adulthood.
Youth: Engage in sessions to build skills and confidence for success in education, work, and independent living.
Educators & Professionals: Gain strategies to guide students and families, while networking with experts and organizations dedicated to youth development.

The Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in

Special Education CADRE

CADRE’s comparison chart. The chart organizes and contrasts resolution options.

If you’ve tried resolving your concerns but still disagree, there are options available under IDEA, such as mediation, written state complaints, and due process complaints and hearings. CADRE offers family-friendly guides, videos, and a comparison chart to help you understand and navigate these processes.

View CADRE’s family guides and companion videos. These resources can support you in making informed decisions for your family.

Missouri Special Education Advisory Panel (SEAP)

The Missouri Special Education Advisory Panel's (SEAP) purpose is to provide policy guidance on special education and related services and to carry out those specific and general functions set forth in state statutes.

The panel shall:

Advise the State Education Agency (SEA) of unmet needs within the State in the education of children with disabilities.
Comment publicly on any rules or regulations proposed by the state regarding the education of children with disabilities.
Advise the SEA in developing evaluations and reporting on data to the US Office of Education under Section 618 of the Act.
Advise the SEA in developing corrective action plans to address findings identified in Federal monitoring reports under Part B of the Act; and
Advise the SEA in developing and implementing policies relating to the coordination of services for children with disabilities.
Advise on the education of eligible students with disabilities who have been convicted as adults and incarcerated in adult prisons.

To learn more about SEAP click on Becoming a SEAP Member Q&A..

The Art of the Military Child

The MCEC call for the Arts is open! Invite military-connected students worldwide — from every branch of the military and all grades (PreK–12) — to share their unique perspectives through diverse forms of creativity, including photography, music, writing, video, and more.

Why Enter?

Inspire the World: Illuminate what it means to be a military-connected child through art.
Win Prizes: Gift card awards and national recognition await our winners.
Shine Brightly: Selected artists will be honored at the MCEC Global Training Summit in Washington, DC this July!

How to Enter:Submissions are open now through April 30, 2025. Encourage your students or children to dream big and create boldly! Enter HERE

McKinney-Vento Homeless Act

The McKinney-Vento Act ensures that children and youth experiencing homelessness can enroll in and attend school without barriers.

Learn more from Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

MPACT offers FREE training on the McKinney Vento Act. To schedule a training opportunity click HERE

Early Childhood Resources

Resources from RAISE

Check out resource guides from RAISE to explain services that help people with disabilities get a job.

Self-Advocate’s Guide to VR-plain language

Self-Advocate’s Guide to VR-easy read

MO Youth Leadership Forum

The Missouri Youth Leadership Forum is a FREE five-day, four-night leadership training and career awareness program for high school students with disabilities.

It provides training in leadership, self-advocacy skills, and career awareness

Download 2025 MO-YLF Flyer

Download 2025 MO-YLF FAQ Sheet

Suicide Crisis Lifeline

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Whether you’re in distress or just want to talk about something on your mind, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org anytime you need help.

If you are worried about someone else, reach out to 988 and a local, trained crisis specialist at one of Missouri’s 988 centers will help you navigate the situation.

The U.S. Department of Education is updating plans for its upcoming civil rights data collection. The effort, which generally takes place every two years, gathers information on enrollment, student access to courses and teachers, discipline, restraint and seclusion and much more.

Findings from the most recent civil rights data collection, which were unveiled last year, show that children with disabilities accounted for a larger percentage of students and they were more likely to experience restraint and seclusion, be suspended or expelled or referred to law enforcement.

Now, the Education Department is looking ahead to its data collection for the 2025-2026 and 2027-2028 school years. The agency is weighing whether to start collecting information on so-called “informal removals,” or situations when schools ask students to leave a program or activity without making any record of the incident or providing written notice. The move comes at the request of disability advocates.

Click HERE to learn more.

Upcoming MPACT Webinars

click on the links below to register

MPACT's Spring Into IEPs

March 4th @ 1-2:30PM

Special Education Law

March 5th @ 1-2:30PM

Understanding the IEP Process

March 6th @ 1-2:30PM

Dispute Resolution

March 7th @ 1:00-2:30PM

The Art of Effective Advocacy

In-Person MPACT Training

Spring Into IEP Season

Thursday March 6, 2025 @ 11am-2:30 pm

Kansas City Public Library: Waldo Branch

201 East 75th St Room A

Kansas City, MO 64114

*Bring Your Child's IEP and other Education Documents

View all upcoming MPACT trainings HERE .

All MPACT trainings are free of charge! If you would like to schedule any MPACT training in your area or for your organization

please click on the link HERE.

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Make A Difference, Join MPACT Today!

MPACT is funded in part or whole by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs Grant No. H328M090020-10. The contents of the website, however, and any documents cited herein do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S Department of Education.