While many families have been struggling to work from home, stay healthy, and provide opportunities for their children, young children who may be eligible for early intervention services are not being referred to agencies providing Part C services. Referrals have declined due to a decrease in visits to pediatricians and fewer children in early care settings. Parents may have been unaware of the more subtle indicators of delay or reduced muscle tone given the chaos of pandemic issues for work, social activities, fewer play dates with age peers, and COVID anxiety.
States are being encouraged to increase their efforts to implement “child find” activities to identify, and evaluate all infants and toddlers who may be eligible for early intervention services. This will require increased efforts as families may still be working from home and options for child care remain more limited. Pediatricians nationwide are being encouraged to reach out to patients for routine well baby care and developmental assessments.
Any children, who were referred prior to the pandemic and services were disrupted by the pandemic, may be eligible for compensatory services. Referral sources are required to refer a child within seven days of when the child is suspected of having a disability. If the child is determined eligible, the initial child and family assessment must conducted and the individualized family service plan (IFSP) meeting held within 45 days. Higher priority is to be given to those children referred prior to the pandemic and if the child is over three, the EIS system must coordinate with the Part B Preschool program to meet their child find requirements. If parents have declined services during the pandemic, the State Lead Agency is encourage to recontact parents and encourage the parent to re-engage. If the child is over the age of three, information about the Part B Preschool program should be provided.
As parents and local early intervention systems become more comfortable with in-person evaluations and services, a return to a more typical model of service delivery. Getting past a backlog of referrals and evaluations may require additional temporary staff to ensure timelines and delivery of services in a more timely manner.
Check out this article from Disability Scoop: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2021/11/01/ed-department-reminds-states-of-early-intervention-obligations-under-idea/29574/
Early Intervention Services and Special Education for Parents and Grandparents 