SC Bar Creates Manual to Address Issues for Special Needs Children

Parents of special needs children now have a legal resource to turn to for help with issues that may arise when their children become legal adults.

The South Carolina Bar has developed the manual, titled Transitions: Legal Issues for Parents and Caregivers of Special Needs Children Transitioning to Adulthood, for parents seeking guidance on guardianship and conservatorship issues as their children turn age 18.

On Monday, SC Bar president Angus Macaulay presented one of the first copies of the manual to Oak Pointe Elementary School principal Cassandra Paschal during a special ceremony held at the school.

"I know that this handbook is going to change the lives of so many families statewide," Paschal said. "It’s easy to read, it's concise and it leads them in the right direction."

The book is dedicated to the teachers, assistants and therapists on the school’s Green Hall — where the idea for the project emerged, Macaulay said.

The district’s elementary autism program is housed at Oak Pointe with four classrooms on the school’s Green Hall. 

Macaulay said the idea for the manual came after his wife was approached by an assistant at the school who had two children, one of whom was about to turn 18, and needed legal advice.

He said his wife insisted the organization create a resource for parents who need guidance on what to do when their child moves into adulthood.

Columbia attorneys Franchelle C. Millender and Amy Landers May volunteered to write the handbook, which the association said "proposes solutions that are designed to give a transitioning child as many rights and responsibilities as he or she may be able to handle, given specific functional limitations, while establishing any legal authority needed to effectively and efficiently make decisions in the care of the transitioning child."

While the handbook addresses a wide variety of issues, it doesn't take the place of advice and counsel from a competent attorney, the association says.

Macaulay said he hopes the manual will be a very valuable resource for parents and caregivers.

"A lot of times … people don’t have access to lawyers and don’t understand what they need to do. So what we’re trying to do is provide at least the initial stepping stone for parents to figure out (what they need to do when their child turns 18)."

Macaulay said 2,000 copies have been printed for the public and that the association will give every public high school in the state a manual. 

A copy of the manual can also be found online at www.scbar.org/transitions. To receive a free printed copy, email the S.C. Bar Association at scbar-info@scbar.org.