PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor                               Ch. 16

[(6)] (7) "Public agency" includes the State Department of Education, local
education agencies, and other agencies that are responsible for providing education to
[handicapped] DISABLED children, including the Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene, Mental Hygiene Administration, the Mental Retardation Administration, the
Department of Juvenile Justice, and the Maryland School for the Deaf. For the purpose
of this section the Maryland School for the Blind shall be considered a public agency.

[(7)] (8) "Unavailable" means that a public agency, after reasonable efforts,
cannot discover the physical whereabouts of a child's parent.

[(8)] (9) "Unknown" means that a public agency, after reasonable efforts,
cannot identify the child's parent.

[(9)] (10) "Ward of the State" means a child for whom a State or county
agency or official has been appointed legal guardian, or who has been committed by a
court of competent jurisdiction to the legal custody of a State or county agency or official
with the express authorization that the State or county agency or official make
educational decisions for the child.

(b)     A public agency shall request that the [State Superintendent] LOCAL
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT appoint a parent surrogate to represent a child AT ANY
POINT in the educational decision making process IF IT IS SUSPECTED THAT THE CHILD
MAY BE DISABLED AND if:

(1)     The child is a ward of the State; or

(2)     The parents of the child are unknown or unavailable.

(c)     Any request to the [State Superintendent] LOCAL SCHOOL
SUPERINTENDENT for the appointment of a parent surrogate under subsection (b) shall
include:

(1)     The name, date of birth, sex, legal domicile, and present residence of the
child;

(2)     A statement that the child is eligible for the appointment of a parent
surrogate in accordance with subsection (b) of this section;

(3)     Documentation, as applicable, of the efforts made to identify the parent
if unknown or to locate the parent if unavailable; and

(4)     The name and qualifications of the proposed parent surrogate whom the
public agency considers to be qualified to represent the child in the educational decision
making process.

(d)     (1) The public agency requesting the appointment of a parent surrogate
shall insure that the person proposed:

(i) Has no interest that conflicts with the interests of the child to be
entrusted to that person; and

(ii) Has knowledge and skills that insure adequate representation of
the child.

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