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Welcome to the Child Find Training-To-Go video: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Overview.
Hi, my name is Diane and today I will be your guide in this video.
In this video, you will learn about the laws and regulations of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act also known as IDEA.
IDEA is a special education law that ensures that children with disabilities or developmental delays receive specifically defined services identified to meet their unique needs.
In Minnesota, these services are usually provided by the child's local school district. Today we will learn how IDEA defines responsibilities for all early care and education professionals.
IDEA requires providers of early care and education to refer young children about whom they have developmental concerns.
Child care providers, medical professionals, social workers, and others all have a critical role to share concerns with families and make referrals through Help Me Grow.
IDEA strives to ensure that individuals with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education.
Additionally, IDEA protects the rights of students with disabilities and their parents, giving parents a voice in each decision made about their child's education and the services their child receives.
Although IDEA is a federal law, each state sets its own policies to carry out the requirements of the law.
Each state implements its own programs to provide appropriate services to children and their families.
IDEA has multiple parts. Part C enhances the capacity of state and local agencies and service providers to identify, evaluate and meet the needs of infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
Part B is specific to children with disabilities age three through 21.
Congress established Part C of IDEA for many reasons, including to: enhance the development of infants and toddlers with disabilities,
Enhance the capacity of families to meet the needs of their child, and to reduce future educational costs to our society by minimizing later need for special education.
Part B includes a special section, Section 619, which directs states to provide special education services for children found to have developmental delays or disabilities from their third birthday through five years of age.
Through early intervention and early childhood special education, children birth through five receive services based on their individual needs.
Needs may be identified in one or more of the following domains:
Physical Development (reaching, rolling, crawling and walking), Cognitive Development (thinking, learning, solving problems), Language Development (talking, listening and understanding),
Social Emotional Development (playing, feeling secure and happy), Adaptive Skills (eating, dressing).
IDEA includes requirements to appropriately identify young children with disabilities,
Develop an individualized written plan with the parents to meet each child's unique needs and to provide services in settings that are natural for the child or include typical peers.
Let's briefly go through these requirements and see how it relates to the work of early care and education professionals.
We will begin with identification, which is sometimes referred to as child find.
Each state must have a comprehensive child find system that ensures that all children with disabilities who may be eligible for Early Intervention or Early Childhood Special Education services are identified, located and evaluated.
You, as early care and education professionals, play an important role in the referral of young children to local school districts who are responsible to determine eligibility.
An important component of Minnesota's child find system is Help Me Grow.
Help Me Grow is the child find initiative that informs parents and others who are involved in the lives of young children about typical development, how to notice concerns and what to do when concerns are identified.
Once a referral is made, a team from the local school district, in partnership with parents, implements a process that will determine eligibility for early childhood special education services.
Child care providers may be asked to participate in this process.
Your observations and documentation of a child's strengths and concerns provide important information that can be used throughout the identification process.
The first step in the process may be screening. Screening includes the use of a tool to decide whether or not an evaluation is needed.
Evaluation determines whether or not the child is eligible for Early Intervention or Early Childhood Special Education services.
Assessment continues throughout a child's period of eligibility to identify the initial and any emerging needs of the child.
The IFSP and IEP are formal program plans stating how, where and when services will be delivered through special education. For infants and toddlers, the IFSP documents the parent's concerns, priorities and resources.
For preschoolers, an IEP documents the child's educational needs and goals.
Both IFSPs and IEPs identify the services and the settings in which those services will be provided.
Child care providers may be invited to participate as a member of an IFSP or IEP team because they have important information about a child's development and first-hand knowledge of the child's daily routines.
You, as a child care provider, can be a partner in the intervention process, supporting parents to enhance the development of their child.
Part of the program planning process is to determine the most appropriate educational placement, or where the child's services will best be delivered, in order to benefit the child.
Both natural environments and least restrictive environments are the places and opportunities where the child learns, plays and interacts with others within daily routines.
So what is the difference between natural environments and least restrictive environments? Let me explain.
Natural environment refers to settings that are natural or typical for a same aged infant or toddler without a disability.
Natural environments include home or community-based settings.
IDEA requires that students from age three through 21 are educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE).
For most preschool children, the LRE is a setting that includes peers without disabilities such as a child care center, a school or community-based preschool classroom or Head Start.
A primary referral source is anyone who interacts with infants, toddlers and young children and notices a concern about a child's development.
Primary referral sources include parents and other family members, physicians, medical personnel, early care and education professionals, local public health and social service agency staff.
A primary referral source with concerns about the development of an infant, toddler or preschooler should make a referral for that child through Help Me Grow or their local school district.
Primary referral sources should not base the need for a referral on the severity of the delay or whether or not the child may or may not be found eligible for services.
With written consent from the parents, the team from the local school district will screen and evaluate the child to establish eligibility.
We will spend more time later on how to share developmental concerns with families so they understand why a referral might be warranted.
IDEA is about making sure that all children have an opportunity to receive the supports they need to learn and grow.
For infants, toddlers and preschool children with disabilities, high quality early intervention services provided in natural or least restrictive environments can change their developmental path.
Your role as an early care and education professional and primary referral source ensures that children and families are connected to these critical services.
Now, let's see how much you have learned so far. What are the two important purposes of IDEA? Take a moment to think about your answer.
One of the primary goals of IDEA is to ensure that individuals with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education.
A second primary goal is to protect the rights of students with disabilities and the rights of their parents, making sure that parents have a voice in decisions made about their child's education and the services their child receives.
Let's move onto the next question.
What is the child find initiative that informs parents and others who are involved in the lives of young children about typical development, how to notice concerns and what to do when concerns are identified?
Take a moment to think about your answer.
The answer to this question is Help Me Grow.
Now that you have learned about IDEA, you will understand the importance of these laws and regulations and how much your role as an early care and educational professional is valued.
With these laws and regulations, we can determine the best path for a child's future both for the child and their family. Thank you for watching this video.
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