The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is the state lead agency for Part C of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and must administer the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) program. The ESIT program provides early intervention services to all eligible children with disabilities from birth to three years of age. Early intervention services include services such as occupational or physical therapy; speech-language pathology; psychological, health, vision, social work; and other services.
To be eligible, a child must have a 25 percent delay or show a 1.5 standard deviation below his or her age in one or more of the developmental areas. A child may also be eligible if he or she has a physical or mental condition that is known to cause a delay in development.
Funding for ESIT must be appropriated to DCYF based on a certain formula for children ages birth to three who are eligible for and receiving early intervention services. A child is receiving early intervention services if the child has received services within a month prior to the monthly count day. The monthly count day is the first business day of the month.
For the purposes of ESIT funding, a child is receiving early intervention services if the child has received services within the same month as the monthly count day instead of the month prior. The monthly count day is changed from the first business day of the month to the last business day of the month.
No public hearing was held.
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