Insufficient Due Process Complaint - Now What?

Information provided here pertains to parents who have requested a due process hearing to resolve disagreements about the identification, evaluation and placement of a student or the provision of a free and appropriate public education.

If a parent has filed an insufficient request for a due process hearing, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) will inform the parent of his or her next steps according to the order of settlement below:

• The hearing officer will not dismiss the case.
• The hearing officer will write in plain language what the parents must do to correct the complaint so that it will be sufficient.
• The hearing officer will direct the parents to sources of assistance for writing a sufficient complaint. One of these sources is the Procedural Safeguards and Specialized Services section of the ODE Office for Exceptional Children (see contact information below).

The settlement also details the training that will be provided to all impartial hearing officers (IHOs) and state level review officers (SLROs). This training was provided to the IHOs and SLROs in written form and in person at their annual training in August 2008. Additional training is ongoing. This training will enable IHOs and SLROs to adjust timelines appropriately and to apply the concept of "minimal pleading standard" as it is set forth in current case law

Last Modified: 9/12/2022 12:05:59 PM

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