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Current News in Special Education
Voter
Registration
2012
In This Issue
Voter Registration and IEPs Birth Certificates Voter ID Dates to Remember Social Security Replacement CardEducation Services Department 400 North Third Street, P.O. Box 1724
Harrisburg, PA 17105-1724 (800) 944-7732
Voter Registration and IEPs
This is the time of year when we think about elections. A tie‐in for special education is how the transition plan developed for special education students should include a voter registration option. Students should be given the oppor‐ tunity to register to vote as part of the IEP planning process. Parents and the student have the right to accept the offer, defer the offer or refuse the offer. The IEP, on the transition pages, should reflect what if any actions will be taken within that year related to voter registration for students turning 18 or older. We recommend that students and parents who accept the offer be given a voter registration form for completion. Public school employees should never make recommendations for political party affiliation. This does not mean that staff cannot assist students in correctly filling out the information such as name and address. Remember that homeless students can register to vote even if their permanent address has been taken away. They are able to list the current shelter they have available. The process for voting has become more complicated this year as Pennsylva‐ nia has a new Voter ID law. Registered voters will have to bring a legal photo ID with them to be able to vote on November 6 and in future elections. We have included some useful information to help with the process for you to review, share with families, or make a part of your lessons.Special
Edition
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Type of Identification Required
-Identification issued by the United States Government that includes your name, a photograph, and an expiration date that is not expired.* - Identification issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that in-cludes your name, a photograph, and an expiration date that is not ex-pired (unless issued by the Department of Transportation, in which case the expiration of the identification cannot be more than 12 months old).
- Identification issued by a municipality of this Commonwealth to an employee of that municipality that includes your name, a photograph, and an expiration date that has not passed.
- Identification issued by an accredited Pennsylvania public or private
institution of higher learning that includes your name, a photograph,
and an expiration date that has not passed.
- Identification issued by a Pennsylvania care facility that includes your name, a photograph, and an expiration date that has not passed.
*In the case of a document from an agency of the armed forces of the United States or its reserve components, including the Pennsylvania
Na-tional Guard, which establishes the voter as a current member or a vet-eran of the United States Armed Forces or National Guard and does not
designate a specific date on which the document expires, the document must include a notation indicating that the expiration is indefinite.
(PA Department of Transportation)
Birth Certificates
A person requesting a copy of a birth certificate must be a person named on the birth certificate who is 18 years of age or older. The list of acceptable requestors expands to legal representative, husband/wife, parent/step‐parent (step‐parent must submit marriage record supporting the relationship), brother/sister/ half‐ brother/half‐sister, son/daughter/stepson/stepdaughter (requires marriage record supporting the position), grandparent/great grandparent, grand‐ child/great grandchild, or person who has power of attorney for the person named on birth certificate or immediate family member listed above. There is a $10 fee for each certified copy. Check or money order should be made payable to “Vital Records.” This fee is waived for individuals who served or are currently serving in the Armed Forces or their dependents. Pennsylvania Birth Certificates can be obtained through an online order and re‐ quested by mail or in person at six locations across the state in the Division of Vital Records (listed here).Page 3
If you use Twitter, you can receive updates on special education when new information be-comes available. Infor-mation will be sent as it is received rather than on a daily or weekly schedule. You can sign on to follow at
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1910 West 26th Street Scranton State Office Bldg Room 112 Erie, PA 16508‐1148 100 Lackawanna Ave. 814‐871‐4261 Scranton, PA 18503‐7928 570‐963‐4595 Forum Place 411 7th Ave. 555 Walnut Street, First Floor Suite 360 Harrisburg, PA 17101‐1914 Pittsburgh, PA 15219‐1973 717‐772‐3480 412‐565‐5113
Room 401 Central Building 110 North 8th Street 101 South Mercer Street Suite 108 New Castle, PA 16101 Philadelphia, PA 19107‐2412 724‐656‐3100 215‐560‐3054
Voter ID
Pennsylvania citizens may request a birth certificate to help meet requirements of the Voter ID law, in which case the birth certificate will be issued free of charge. In order to receive a certificate, each person must complete a Voter ID birth certificate application form (included in this newsletter) and mail it to one of the public offices or you can apply in person at one of the public offices dur‐ ing normal business hours. Non‐Driver Photo Identification Students seeking a non‐driver photo identification can have the $13.50 fee waived for individuals completing the Oath/Affirmation Voter ID form (also pro‐ vided in this newsletter). All identification documentation is still required to ob‐ tain an Identification Card as follows: Step 1 To obtain a Pennsylvania Photo Identification card, an individual needs to visit a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Driver License Center with a completed Application for an Initial Photo Identification Card; form DL‐54A, (copy provided within this newsletter) and the following: Social Security Card AND One of the following: 9 Certificate of U.S. Citizenship 9 Certificate of Naturalization 9 Valid U.S. Passport 9 *Birth Certificate with a raised seal PLUS 9 Two proofs of **residency such as lease agreements, current utility bills, mortgage documents, W‐2 forms, tax records (visit the PA De‐ partment of Transportation website for other possible options for these two proofs of residency).Page 4
Many current updates and other helpful in-formation on Special Education can be found on the PSEA website. Go to: www.psea.org
Teaching and Learning > Special & Gifted Education The Driver License Center will accept applications for certified copies of birth certificates and will forward them to the Department of Health, but this will re‐ quire the student to return to the Driver License Center a second time with all of the proof to have his/her photo taken and receive a card.
Dates to Remember
10.9.2012 General Election Registration Deadline
10.30.2012 Last day to apply for Civilian Absentee
Ballot
11.2.2012 Last day for County Board of Elections
to receive voted civilian absentee ballots
11.6.2012 General Election
Social Security Replacement Card
Attached you will find the application for a replacement card from social securi‐ ty. The application process is free. Having the card is one of the required docu‐ ments that must be provided to the Penn Dot Center to be able to have a Photo ID processed. PA Bureau of Special Education BECs“Voter Registration As Part of Transition to Adult Life”
found at:
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/special_education/7465
SOCIAL SECURITY
ADMINISTRATION
Application for
a
Social Security Card
Applying for
aSocial Security
Card
is
free!
USE THIS APPLICATION TO:
Apply for an original Social Security card Apply for a replacement Social Security card
Change or correct information on your Social Security number record
IMPORTANT: You MUST provide a properly completed application and the required evidence before we can process your application. We can only accept original documents or documents certified by the custodian of the original record. Notarized copies or photocopies which have not been certified by the custodian of the record are not acceptable. We will return any documents submitted with your application. For assistance call us at 1-800-772-1213 or visit our website at www.socialsecuritv.gov.
Original Social Security Card
To apply for an original card, you must provide at least two documents to prove age, identity, and U.S.
citizenship or current lawful, work-authorized immigration status. If you are not a U.S. citizen and do not
have DHS work authorization, you must prove that you have a valid non-work reason for requesting a
card. See page 2 for an explanation of acceptable documents.
NOTE: If you are age 12 or older and have never received a Social Security number, you must apply in person.
Replacement Social Security Card
To apply for a replacement card, you must provide one document to prove your identity. If you were born outside the U.S., you must also provide documents to prove your U.S. citizenship or current, lawful, work-authorized status. See page 2 for an explanation of acceptable documents.
Changing Information on Your Social Security Record
To change the information on your Social Security number record (i.e., a name or citizenship change, or
corrected date of birth) you must provide documents to prove your identity, support the requested change, and establish the reason for the change. For example, you may provide a birth certificate to show your correct date of birth. A document supporting a name change must be recent and identify you by both your old and new names. If the name change event occurred over two years ago or if the name change
document does not have enough information to prove your identity, you must also provide documents to prove your identity in your prior name andfor in some cases your new legal name. If you were born outside the U.S. you must provide a document to prove your U.S. citizenship or current lawful, work-authorized status. See page 2 for an explanation of acceptable documents.
LIMITS ON REPLACEMENT SOCIAL SECURITY CARDS
Public Law 108-458 limits the number of replacement Social Security cards you may receive to 3 per
calendar year and 10 in a lifetime. Cards issued to reflect changes to your legal name or changes to a work
authorization legend do not count toward these limits. We may also grant exceptions to these limits if you provide evidence from an ofFicial source to establish that a Social Security card is required.
IF
YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONSIf you have any questions about this form or about the evidence documents you must provide, please visit our website at www.socialsecuritv.aov for additional information as well as locations of our offices and Social Security Card Centers. You may also call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213. You can also find your nearest office or Card Center in your local phone book.