Dear Special Education Local Plan Area Directors, County and District Superintendents, and Interested Parties:

2023 Request for Applications for the Special Education Resource Leads

The California Department of Education (CDE) Special Education Division (SED) and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence are pleased to announce the availability of the Request for Application (RFA) for the Special Education Resource Leads for special education-related professional development and technical assistance. An amount of $12 million dollars is allocated to coordinate and support this professional development for special education local plan areas (SELPAs) across the state.

No more than ten (10) Special Education Resource Leads will be selected and will join a statewide leadership team, which includes the CDE, and the State Board of Education (SBE). The Special Education Resource Leads will work collaboratively with the Statewide System of Support (SSOS), other county offices of education (COE)s, SELPAs, districts, charter schools, and external partners such as family support organizations to build the capacity of the system at the local and regional levels to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

Specifically, this RFA looks to fill the following five areas specified below:

• Capacity Builder
• Individualized Education Program (IEP) Best Practices
• Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedures and practices
• Universal Design for Learning
• English Language Learners

Application for Special Education Resource Leads

Individual applicants must be a COE, SELPA, or an appropriate partnership, or consortia of COEs and/or SELPAs. Applications for the Special Education Resource Leads must also apply with one or more family support organizations that provide support for families of pupils with disabilities. All applicants must provide statewide representation and meet these requirements:

Interested applicants are required to submit an application to the CDE SED by email at SpecialEducationLeads@cde.ca.gov by 5 p.m. on January 31, 2023. An application will not be accepted unless the form is submitted and received by the CDE on time.

All applicants must submit a complete application, including all required components, to the CDE SED by email. Incomplete, late, or incorrectly formatted applications will not be scored or considered for approval.

A technical assistance webinar regarding the Special Education Resource Leads RFA will take place on January 5, 2023. If you would like to register for the webinar, please email SpecialEducationLeads@cde.ca.gov by January 3, 2023.

If you have any questions regarding this RFA, please contact the SED by email at SpecialEducationLeads@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Heather Calomese, Director
Special Education Division