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DINF Web Posted on December 15, 1997


Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1995

Principle VI

Strengthen Early Intervention to Help Ensure that Every Child Starts School Ready to Learn

Under our proposals:

  • infants and toddlers who are at risk of developmental delay will be more likely to receive services under the Part H comprehensive system for early intervention because States will be able to provide at-risk infants and toddlers with service coordination without having to provide a full array of Part H services;

  • less variation may exist from State to State in the definition of "developmental delay" as a result of the recommendations of a panel of experts convened to propose a definition of the term; and

  • coordination of preschool programs with the IDEA school-aged programs is improved.

Children grow and develop most rapidly in the early years of life, setting the foundation for later social, emotional, and intellectual competence. Learning begins at birth and involves a constant interaction between the child, the family, the community, and the environment.

A child with a disability, or at risk of developing a disability, is often more limited in his or her ability to interact with the world around him. However, through early intervention and preschool services, problems or potential risks can be identified and the family's ability to minimize and manage the child's special needs can be strengthened. Early intervention has clear benefits for children and for families: it not only assists the child to participate fully in his or her family and community, but it also can prevent further developmental limitations and secondary disability (see Guralnick, M. J., & Bennett, F. C., 1987).

Recognizing the importance of starting early, IDEA has long supported preschool programs for children with disabilities. Today, about 500,000 children with disabilities ages 3 through 5 are served by preschool programs supported by IDEA. In 1986, Congress expanded support for early intervention by creating the Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Program, authorized under Part H, which promotes a comprehensive approach to meeting the needs of infants and toddlers with disabilities. Today, about 150,000 infants and toddlers aged birth through 2 and their families are receiving early intervention services under Part H.

The IDEA preschool program is authorized under Part B. Under our proposal, we would retain separate funding for preschool grants. The programs would benefit from many of the improvements we are suggesting in Part B, including the setting of goals and performance indicators for children ages 3 through 5 by the States, and reduction of unnecessary paperwork. For example, States would only have to submit a single application for pre-school and school-aged programs for children with disabilities instead of two, as is currently the practice. Moreover, States would be permitted to combine administrative funds available under the two Part B programs in order to improve program implementation and improve transitions from preschool to school.

The Part H program provides States with the opportunity to expand and improve early intervention services to infants and toddlers, from birth through age three, and their families. Under Part H, each State designs an interagency system of services reflecting the unique characteristics of that State to meet the developmental needs of infants and toddlers with disabilities. In a typical State, more than half-a-dozen State agencies participate in the financing and delivery of early intervention services under the Part H umbrella (Clifford, 1991; Clifford, Bernier, & Harbin, 1993). Families are integrally involved in the design and implementation of each child's services.

Increasingly, research is showing the developmental and financial benefits of empowering families and children through early intervention. Children with developmental delays who receive early intervention are showing increased social competence when they enter preschool, as compared to those who do not receive early child and family supports (Casto, G., & Mastropieri, M. A., 1986; Shonkoff, J. P., Hauser-Cram, P., & Upshur, C., 1990). In addition, States are reporting positive benefit-cost ratios and future savings for every dollar spent in early intervention because fewer future services are needed, including institutional services (Barnett & Escobar, 1990).

While States have made tremendous progress in implementing their Statewide systems under Part H, there remain at least two major challenges. The first challenge is to ensure that all infants and toddlers with disabilities are receiving services (Harbin, Gallagher, & Terry, 1991). Under current law, States must serve infants and toddlers who have diagnosed physical or mental conditions that have a high likelihood of resulting in delay; and infants and toddlers who experience a delay in one or more developmental domains. States also may provide services to infants and toddlers at risk of developing delays.

In implementing Part H, each State has created its own definition of developmental delay. Therefore, great variation in eligibility exists across the country. Infants and toddlers with significant developmental delays are not eligible under some State definitions for the benefits of Part H services. As a result, children with more mild disabilities, who could benefit from services, may go unserved until they begin school. Many parents and professionals have expressed concern that this situation may lead to under-identifying infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families who could clearly benefit.

The second challenge is to support the prevention of developmental delays by expanding the inclusion of at-risk infants and toddlers within the Part H comprehensive system of services. Currently, States have the option to define and serve infants and toddlers at-risk of developmental delay as part of their eligible population. However, if they choose to serve at-risk infants and toddlers, the State must provide them with a full array of early intervention services. That is, each eligible at-risk infant and toddler is entitled to every early intervention service which he or she needs. Because the States have no flexibility in deciding which services they will make available to the population of at-risk infants and toddlers, few States have chosen to serve at-risk children under the Part H program.

While research has demonstrated that infants and toddlers whose delays are less significant make substantial gains from early intervention (Ramey, Bryant, Wasik, Sparling, Fendt, & LaVange, 1992), experience suggests that the full array of services offered under Part H may be more than is necessary for meaningful intervention. Service coordination and referral to other public or community-based programs historically serving this population, such as Head Start, Maternal and Child Health, and other public and private programs, can offer children at risk of disability and their families significant benefits.

Our Proposals To Improve Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

  • Streamline and better coordinate administration of the preschool programs with IDEA school-aged programs by reducing application and data-reporting requirements and permitting flexibility in use of administrative funds under the two Part B programs.

  • Require the Federal Interagency Coordinating Council (FICC) to convene a panel of experts to develop recommendations to the Secretary of Education for a national definition of the term "developmental delay." After receiving the panel's recommendations, the Secretary could propose a definition of "developmental delay" or provide guidance to the States on this issue.

  • Permit States to serve infants and toddlers at risk of developmental delay with less than the full array of services, so long as they provide at least service coordination. If, at any point, a child is determined to be a child with a disability under the State's definition, the child and family would have access to the full range of services. In order to ensure that infants and toddlers who meet the State definition of disability or developmental delay receive the full array of services to which they are entitled, every six months the State would review the child's development to determine whether his or her status had changed from "at-risk" to "disabled" or "developmentally delayed."


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