The Office of Education provides intensive 12 month educational services and supports to children and young adults ages 3 through 21. The severity or uniqueness of their needs requires a different environment from the public school setting for a period of time. A successful return to school and participation in community life are goals for all OOE students.
These State and federally compliant education programs are designed for students who:
- Exhibit severe cognitive, physical, behavioral and emotional disabilities;
- Exhibit a variety of moderate to severe learning differences;
- Are in need of additional resources to be successful at school; and/or
- Are pregnant/parenting teens (programs are available for infant/toddlers of parenting teens).
Regular and special education programs are individually designed and provided to these students in the least restrictive environment.
Our students are served in:
- Residential facilities within DCF's Child Protection and Permanency and Children's System of Care, as well as the Department of Human Services Division of Mental Health Services;
- 16 DCF Regional Schools, and two hospital based satellite programs operated by the OOE including: TEC (Transitional Education Centers) programs for at-risk youth, TEACH (Teen Education and Child Health) programs for pregnant and parenting teens with licensed day care centers for the infants/toddlers of the parenting teens; and
- A variety of public and private community-based programs.
The OOE also serves students who have no NJ District of Residence as determined by the NJ Department of Education (DOE). These State Responsible students are placed in public, private and State facility school settings according to their individual educational needs.
Educational services include: regular and special education programs, Child Study Team services, related services, educational surrogates, and instructional and assistive technology services.