IDEA

The reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was signed into law on Dec. 3, 2004, by President George W. Bush. The provisions of the Act became effective on July 1, 2005, with the exception of some of the elements pertaining to the definition of a “highly qualified teacher” that took effect upon the signing of the Act.The final regulations were published on August 14, 2006.

Below is a series of documents, prepared by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) in the U.S. Department of Education that covers a variety of high-interest topics and brings together the regulatory requirements related to those topics to support constituents in preparing to implement the new regulations.

These series of document addresses significant changes from preexisting regulations to the final regulatory requirements regarding the identification of specific learning disabilities.

Discipline
Changes in Evaluations and Reevaluations
Early Intervening Services
Children with Disabilities Enrolled by their Parents in Private School
Highly Qualified Teachers
Procedural Safeguards Regarding Mediation
Procedural Safeguards Regarding Surrogates, Notice and Consent
Individual Education Program (IEP) 
Monitoring, Technical Assistants and Enforcement 
Resolution Meetings and Due Process Hearings
IEP Team and Changes to the IEP
Statewide and Districtwide Assessments
State Funding
National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)

September 2011

Early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities (birth-3) have been a part of IDEA since 1986. This section of the law is commonly known as Part C of IDEA.**

__________________________________________

Regulations for Part C | New in 2011!

On September 28, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education published final regulations for the Part C program. Find the new regs at: http://idea.ed.gov/part-c/search/new

It’s been a long time since new regulations for the Infant and Toddlers program have been published—1999, to be exact. Yes, you read that right. That was the last time that full and detailed regulations for Part C were finalized.

So you can understand the excitement in the field to have shiny new regulations. We’re all trying to read our way through them and understand what’s the same and what’s different. So—stay tuned. We’ll be posting summaries and analyses of the new regulations as they emerge.

What’s Changed? | OSEP’s Non-Regulatory Summary

Published in November 2011, this guidance from the horse’s mouth (the Office of Special Education Programs) provides parents, early intervention service (EIS) providers, State lead agencies, and other interested parties with detailed information about the some of the changes made to the Part C regulations of IDEA. The guidance summarizes where changes have been made to the following topics:

  • family engagement;
  • child find/evaluations/assessments/eligibility/initial IFSP;
  • IFSP development, implementation, and review;
  • transition from Part C to other programs (including services under Part B); and
  • coordination with Head Start/Early Head Start, early education, and child care programs.

Find OSEP’s summary and non-regulatory guidance at: http://tinyurl.com/chuk2cj

Model IFSP Form | Also new in 2011!

When the Part C regulations were published in the Federal Register on September 28, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education also published a Model IFSP Form to help States develop their own forms for the Individualized Family Service Plan. The Part C regulations specify the procedures that State Lead Agencies and early intervention service providers must follow to develop, review, and revise an IFSP for each child. The Model IFSP Form sets out the IFSP content that those regulations require. Find the Model IFSP Form at: http://nichcy.org/wp-content/uploads/docs/model.ifsp.form.pdf

How To Find Early Intervention Services in Your Community

To find out more about how to access services for infants and toddlers with disabilities or developmental delays, please visit the section of our site called “Babies and Toddlers” at: http://www.nichcy.org/babies/.

In Oklahoma, click on the following link: http://www.ok.gov/abletech/Financing_Activities/OK_Funding_for_AT/public/soonerstart.html.  SoonerStart is Oklahoma’s early intervention program established under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The SoonerStart program provides case management, evaluation, AT devices and services, and intervention for eligible infants, toddlers, and their families. SoonerStart is a joint effort of the Oklahoma Departments of: Education, Health, Human Services, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Health Care Authority and the Commission on Children and Youth. Its lead agency is the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

** Many years ago, this part of the law was called Part H, just to really confuse you! But you might also hear or read that term used to describe IDEA’s Infants and Toddlers Program, so….we mention it.

Part C Training Materials

The Oklahoma Parents Center is pleased to connect you with Building the Legacy for Our Youngest Children with Disabilities. This module is part of a training package on the Part C regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as amended in 2004. This training curriculum provides a detailed discussion of the Part C regulations as published in the Federal Register on September 28, 2011. The information in these modules is not a substitute for the requirements reflected in the IDEA statute and Part C regulations.

Guidance on the 2011 regulations

The first module of the Part C training curriculum has been launched! The Basics of Early Intervention leads off the curriculum on the 2011 Part C regulations of IDEA. It gives you an authoritative training resource that welcomes newcomers and stakeholders alike to early intervention and explains its eight basic steps, important acronyms to know, and key definitions. Slideshows, handouts for participants, and detailed trainer guides are available to download and share, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY), http://nichcy.org/laws/idea/legacy/partc.