ED Publishes Proposed Rulemaking for IDEA Part C

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) officially released its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the IDEA Part C Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Grant program. The proposed regulations would implement Part C of the IDEA, as amended by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004.

Taking the same approach as with the Part B regulations, ED essentially incorporates most of the statute’s requirements, restructuring the regulations and adding clarifications where deemed necessary. The full set of proposed rulemaking is more extensive than the current Part C regulations, which do not incorporate as much of the law.

Because a major goal of the 2004 reauthorization was to create a “seamless system of services” for individuals with disabilities, beginning at birth with the Part C program through age 21 with the Part B program, the NPRM incorporates some applicable Part B regulations in order to align the two programs. For example, the purchase, optimization, maintenance or replacement of cochlear implants would not be Part C covered services. To implement the law’s new flexibility allowing States to continue Part C services through preschool age, the definition of “infant or toddler with a disability” could include, at the State’s discretion, children with disabilities, ages three or older who are eligible for Part B preschool services and who previously received Part C services.

Among the proposed clarifying rules not specifically in the law, the list of “qualified personnel” would include, as special educators, teachers of infants and toddlers with hearing impairments (including deafness) and teachers of the visually impaired (including blindness). ED clearly intends to include teachers of the hearing impaired as special educators in the final regulations, but it requests comment on whether it is necessary to classify teachers of the visually impaired as special educators. The proposed regulations would require all States (not just those in which the State educational agency is not the Part C lead agency) to establish an inter- or intra-agency agreement between the Part C and Part B programs on the logistics of notice, conferences, IFSP content, and transition steps and services. Regarding child referral procedures, the proposed regulations would relax the current two-working day timeframe by requiring that the referral “be as soon as possible.” In addition, the NPRM would allow Part C eligibility to be established based on a qualified personnel’s use of “their informed clinical opinion to assess a child’s present level of functioning,” even when other instruments fail to establish eligibility.

The Department will hold public meetings to consider comments on the proposed rulemaking, although a schedule for dates and locations is yet to be published. Comments on the proposed rulemaking are due on July 23, 2007.

Resources:
The NPRM may be accessed at http://frwebgate3.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=89281819835+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve
Author: CPN