Luzerne Intermediate Unit Management Services

Lynn Ann Makar
Director
287-9681
lmakar@liu18.org

IEPplus, Child Count, Student Tracking, ChildAccounting

Kimberly Borland
Data Entry Processor/Management Specialist
287-9681
kborland@liu18.org

The Luzerne Intermediate Unit Department of Management Services is responsible for the following programs:  ACCESS, Child Accounting, Tracking (12-1 Child Count, IEPplus, billings to school districts), and ESPP/EDGR assistance.

ACCESS

• Our intermediate unit earns federal dollars through the partial reimbursement for health-related services and specialized transportation that are currently being provided to special education students as part of their Individualized Education Program (IEP).
• The funds the districts draw down from their account at our Intermediate Unit are used to enhance or expand special education programs.
• The School-Based ACCESS Program (SBAP) is a Pennsylvania Medicaid Reimbursement Program.
• SBAP is a cooperative effort between the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW), the Health Care Financing Agency (HCFA), and PDE's contractor, Leader Services.

Child Accounting

• The Department of Management Services collects, monitors, and maintains attendance, membership, and programmatic data for students to whom we provide Special Education services or who are enrolled in our Alternative Education Program.
• Final membership and attendance data is provided to school districts at the end of each school year.
• Membership data is used by PDE in the calculation of each school district’s Basic Education Funding, Special Education Subsidy, Secondary Vocational Education Subsidy, Tuition for Orphan’s Subsidy allocation, and each school district’s tuition rate.

Child Count

• The Department of Management Services collects, monitors, and maintains data for several thousand special education students (ages 3 years through 21 years) who reside in our region.
• The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) meets its Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) obligation to provide a "Child Count" through the process of collecting individual student records on December 1st of each year from the regional database maintained at each of the twenty-nine intermediate units.
• In addition, PDE collects additional data items it needs to meet its reporting obligations at the State level to respond to legislative inquiries and for managing special education resources at the Bureau of Special Education (BSE).  The BSE publishes school district information on their web site and in printed reports (e.g. Statistical Summary).  The data becomes part of the special education plan approval process, special education compliance monitoring, and Pennsylvania's reports to the Federal government. 

Billings to School Districts:

• The LIU Business Office uses the student data provided to the Department of Management Services by LIU teachers, nurses, and therapists to generate billings to school districts for classroom and itinerant services.  All paperwork (Special Education Tracking forms, attendance cards, student integration schedules, etc.) are kept as source documentation for audit purposes. 

ESPP/EDGR Assistance:

• Provide technical assistance to school districts and vocational-technical schools for ESPP (Elementary/Secondary Professional Personnel Report) and EDGR (Electronic Dropout/Graduate Report).
• Reports are completed by school districts and vocational-technical schools via the ePDE WebPortal during October (EDGR) and November (ESPP) of each school year.

Updated March 25, 2004
Lynn Ann Makar