Throughout history, one driving force that has brought the world together is the desire to see our children succeed. While the actual mechanisms we’ve used to help have varied, sometimes in less than effective ways, we as a society are always learning and improving for those who come after.

One relatively recent development comes from the Department of Education and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It’s called a 504 plan, and it can be the tool your child needs to succeed in school.

DISCLAIMER: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered medical or psychological advice. The information presented here is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any mental health condition or replace professional therapeutic care. Every individual’s experience with trauma and mental health is unique. Please consult with a qualified mental health professional, therapist, or healthcare provider to determine the most appropriate treatment approach for your specific situation. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or emergency, please contact your local emergency services or crisis hotline immediately.

What is a 504 Plan?

A 504 plan is a set of accommodations and tools that a parent and their child’s school agree upon to help give their child the assistance they need to succeed. It’s something a little less serious than an IEP or “Special Ed” classes held separately, but it’s something more than just sending your child to school to cope without aid.

504 plans offer a wide range of accommodations. These can be very simple, such as moving the child’s seat in class to be closer to their teacher so they can hear and focus better. Or, they can be more complex, such as offering aromatherapy in the classroom, allowing fidget toys, or allowing the use of a weighted blanket for calming.

The name 504 comes from the source of the plan, which is Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It says this:

“No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 705 (20) of this title, shall, solely by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service.”

It opens up the door for reasonable accommodations for students to allow them to partake in and succeed in their classes.

There are some key points that are worth knowing about 504 plans.

504 plans are not backed by funding. Unfortunately, our schools are not granted additional funding from the government to implement 504 plan accommodations, which means more extreme accommodations need to be requested with the knowledge that they could be a significant burden on the school. Fortunately, this is not often a real problem, since most accommodations are simple.

504 plans are part of the standard curriculum. That means your child will participate in standard classes along with the rest of their peers. For special, separate education or a special ed curriculum, an IEP is necessary.

504 plans provide accommodations, not modifications. An accommodation is the removal of a barrier between the child and their learning. A modification is a change to what the child learns.

504 accommodations aren’t limited to the classroom. The accommodations apply to the entire school environment, which includes extracurricular activities, field trips, and school-sponsored events, as well as typical classroom learning.

504 plans do not guarantee academic success. It’s still up to the parent, child, and educator to work together to facilitate learning. 504 plans simply ease the barriers that could obstruct learning, but the learning still needs to happen for success in school. To learn more about how Detroit area schools handle student mental health, including tools like 504 plans, our resources can help guide you.

What Students Qualify for a 504 Plan?

Students who qualify for 504 plans:

• Have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, including the act of learning itself.
• Has a record of such an impairment, or
• Is regarded as having such an impairment.

Anxiety is one of the common reasons for a 504 in children today, but it’s not the only one. Other mental health concerns, like ADHD, are also common. Beyond that, physical issues that can affect cognition, like AIDS, qualify, and even allergies can if they meet certain criteria.

Note that a student does not need to be failing or at risk of failing in class to qualify for a 504. Conversely, just because they perform well academically does not mean they are ineligible for accommodation.

What Goes Into a 504 Plan?

A 504 plan is a legally-binding agreement between the parents or guardians of a child and their school. As such, it needs to be clear and well-defined. They are generally short and concise, since overly verbose language doesn’t help anyone.

Generally, a 504 plan will include a description of a disability-related concern, relevant information such as an evaluation or medical information, and the basis for eligibility for the plan. It will also include how the issue (anxiety, in this case) affects the child’s life activities.

There are two critical pieces of information in the plan, as well. One is the names of the school personnel responsible for implementing and ensuring the accommodations are met. If there are multiple accommodations, each one can have a different person responsible. The other relevant information is, of course, each specific accommodation, aid, or service the child will receive.

Generic requests for aid, with a lack of any individual responsible, will tend to fall flat and won’t be specific enough to help.

What might go into a 504 plan for anxiety?

Your specific 504 plan for your child with anxiety will be customized to their needs, but it’s useful to have some idea of what kinds of accommodations might be available. Detroit resources for parents of anxious children can also help you understand what support looks like outside the classroom.

Here are some ideas.

• The addition of deep breathing exercises as part of daily routines.
• Creating a calming corner in the classroom for students to use when anxiety rises.
• Using aromatherapy in the classroom (avoiding using scents that could trigger other students).
• Creating nonverbal signs, like a cue card, for a student to use when they need assistance.
• Adding education in the classroom for how to cope with feelings of anxiety.
• Allowing the use of fidget toys to distract from anxiety.
• Organizing time for meetings with guidance counselors to address anxiety.
• Arranging curriculum to have extended transitions between activities.
• Passing over the child for reading aloud or board work in class.
• Choosing seating away from peers that trigger anxiety, or in proximity to those who ease it.

Again, anxiety is not the only valid reason to have a 504 plan, and accommodations are not unusual in today’s classrooms. These are just some ideas of what kinds of accommodations can be available for students in a modern class. If you’re also wondering whether your child may need additional support, learn about the signs your teen needs a psychiatrist. This page has more ideas, as well as sample examples of what a 504 plan can look like.

How to Apply for a 504 Plan

If your child has anxiety and it is affecting their ability to learn and succeed in school, it’s probably a good idea to explore the possibility of a 504 plan. How do you go about doing so?

The first step is simply to request an evaluation. Reach out to your school and talk to the administration. There will be someone on staff who may be working under a generic title, or may be called a 504 coordinator, or something similar. Regardless of their title, someone in the school office will be able to point you in the right direction.

At this point, your student will be evaluated. This evaluation involves gathering information about the student, including academic records, observations from teachers, observations from parents, observations from staff, existing psychological evaluations and statements from therapists or other providers, and any other relevant information.

This evaluation requires your consent to perform, so you will need at least that much permission to initiate the process.

The goal of this evaluation is to figure out what the student needs. In some cases, a 504 plan will be recommended. In other cases, the severity of the situation may be uncovered, and an IEP may be recommended.

Many parents actually go into this process requesting an IEP. When the evaluation is performed, the severity of the student’s disability is not bad enough to qualify for an IEP, and the school will often recommend a 504 plan instead.

In some cases, the school may wish to perform additional assessments. These can be educational evaluations, psychological assessments, or even medical assessments, depending on the particular disability. For anxiety, it’s most likely going to be a psychological evaluation, if any is necessary.

Throughout this process, you and the school will be working together to figure out what the appropriate course of action will be. This typically takes place on a 30-day timeline. If the student is deemed eligible for a 504 plan, the 504 coordinator or team will determine what accommodations will be not doable within the school, and most effective for the student.

At this point, you will be invited to discuss the 504 plan with the school administration, to talk about eligibility, accommodations, and more. If an agreement is made, both parties sign it, and accommodations are put into place.

A 504 plan is reviewed annually to adjust accommodations according to the student’s changing needs. Every three years, a full re-evaluation is performed.

Additional Questions About 504 Plans

You might have some other questions about 504 plans that we haven’t covered, and they’re worth discussing.

Does my child need an IEP as well as a 504 plan?

No. If your child qualifies for an IEP, any accommodations they would need under a 504 plan will be covered by the IEP. A 504 plan would be extraneous and unnecessary.

If your child does not qualify for an IEP, a 504 plan is the next best option. You can learn more about our child and adolescent services to see how we support families navigating these decisions.

If 504 plans are governed by the Department of Education, what happens if the Department goes away?

The current federal government has chosen to dismantle the Department of Education as much as possible. Since the Department of Education oversees 504 plans (and IEPs), what happens to your plan if the department is removed?

There’s some good news here. Section 504 is actually older than the Department of Education, and will potentially outlive it. If the Department of Education is successfully removed, oversight of civil rights in schools will revert to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Since 504 plans are agreements between you and a local school, and are often administered locally or by the state, changes to federal oversight won’t affect your plan unless you need to escalate a violation, which is unlikely. Effectively, nothing will change.

How long does a 504 plan last?

504 plans are required by law from any educational institution that accepts federal funding. That means they can start as early as kindergarten, and can carry all the way through college, assuming the student is going to a publicly-funded school for college.

Once a student reaches college age, typically, they will be left in charge of their own 504, instead of you managing it for them. That means they’ll need to talk to their school’s disability office and to their professors about the accommodations, as necessary. It’s also worth knowing your rights in teen mental health care as your child approaches this transition.

How to Help Your Student Succeed in School

A 504 plan is a good step in the right direction for accommodations in school, but there’s only so much help those accommodations can provide. It’s still important to work with your child to address the underlying causes of anxiety, especially when it’s a significant enough burden that it affects their ability to learn and succeed in academics and in life.

The best option for most students is some form of therapy. CBT and DBT are very common and growing more common every year, especially among children and young adults. Here at the Behavioral Medical Center - Troy, our clinical staff are very experienced in working with children with anxiety, and we offer a variety of options for therapy, counseling, medication, and anything else you’ll need. We’re happy to help work with you for assessments and to provide evidence for a 504 plan, as necessary.

To get started, you can fill out our new patient intake form here on our website, or call our office at 248.528.9000. We’re proud to serve the greater Detroit community, and we look forward to serving you, too.