# Hawaii - Enclosure B

# Special Conditions

# 1. Basis for Requiring Special Conditions

Pursuant to 34 CFR §80.12, the Office of Special Education Programs
(OSEP) is imposing Special Conditions on Hawaii's Federal Fiscal Year
(FFY) 2006 grant award under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (Part C), to ensure correction of the following three
longstanding areas of noncompliance identified in OSEP's June 5, 2002
Monitoring Report (2002 Monitoring Report). Under these Special
Conditions, the Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) must ensure:

a.  That all infants and toddlers receive a comprehensive evaluation and
    assessment in all five developmental areas on a timely basis under
    34 CFR §§303.321(e)(2) and 303.322 (timely comprehensive
    evaluation);

b.  Timely transition planning under 34 CFR §§303.148 and 303.344(h)
    including: (a) developing transition plans for children receiving
    Part C services as required by 34 CFR §§303.148(b)(4) and
    303.344(h); (b) notifying local educational agencies (LEAs) where
    the child resides that children receiving Part C services are
    approaching the age of transition as required by 34 CFR
    §303.148(b)(1) (LEA notification); and (c) for children potentially
    eligible under Part B of IDEA, conducting timely transition
    conferences at least 90 days prior to the child's third birthday,
    with the approval of the family, as required by 34 CFR
    §303.148(b)(2)(i) (timely transition planning); and

c.  Correction of noncompliance identified through monitoring as
    required under 34 CFR §303.501 (monitoring and correction).

### Background

OSEP's April 1, 2003 letter accepted the State's Improvement Plan to
ensure correction of the three findings identified above and directed
the State to provide a final progress report with data demonstrating
correction by April 1, 2004. OSEP's July 6, 2005 Part C FFY 2005 grant
award imposed special conditions regarding the above-identified three
areas of noncompliance and directed the State to provide a final
progress report with data demonstrating compliance with these three
requirements by April 1, 2006. On April 14, and June 7, 2006, Hawaii
submitted data indicating continued noncompliance with the three areas
listed above.

Specifically, HDOH's April 14, and June 7, 2006 submissions indicated
the following data and information for its early intervention programs
that provide Part C services in Hawaii, including the three major
programs: Early Intervention Services (EIS), Healthy Start (HS), and
Public Health Nursing Branch (PHNB).

a.  [Timely Comprehensive Evaluation]{.underline}: Regarding the timely
    comprehensive evaluation finding, HDOH data indicated widely ranging
    compliance Statewide from 72% to 94% for the period from July 2005
    through April 2006, with two of the three major programs reporting
    in the most recent quarter at 50% or 57%.

b.  [Timely Transition]{.underline} Planning: Regarding the timely
    transition plan finding, HDOH reported that:

> 1\. Statewide compliance ranged from 52% to 93% for the period July
> 2005 through April 2006 for transition planning under 34 CFR
> §§303.148(b)(4) and 303.344(h) with two of the three major programs
> reporting 74% and 81% in the most recent quarter;
>
> 2\. Statewide compliance ranged from 17% to 59% for the period October
> 2005 through April 2006 for LEA notification under 34 CFR
> §303.148(b)(1); and
>
> 3\. Statewide compliance ranged from 21% to 53% for the period July
> 2005 through April 2006 for timely transition conferences under 34 CFR
> §303.148(b)(2)(i).

c.  [Monitoring and correction]{.underline}: Regarding the monitoring
    and correction finding, HDOH as the lead agency provided data
    indicating that, while HDOH has a monitoring and data system that
    can identify noncompliance with Part C requirements, it has not been
    able to demonstrate timely correction. Specifically, HDOH reported
    that it identified fifteen areas of noncompliance by five local
    early intervention service programs, but did not provide correction
    data.

Thus, based on this data and the information in HDOH's April 14, and
June 7, 2006 submissions, these special conditions are imposed to
ensure: (a) the timely comprehensive evaluation of, and timely
transition planning for, infants and toddlers with disabilities and
their families in Hawaii; and (b) that HDOH monitors and corrects
State-identified noncompliance with Part C requirements in all agencies
and programs that provide Part C services in Hawaii.

2.  **Nature of special conditions**

> Pursuant to these [Special Conditions]{.underline}, the State must
> provide two Progress Reports, the first with the FFY 2005 Annual
> Performance Report (APR) that it will submit by February 1, 2007[^1],
> and the second by June 1, 2007.
>
> a\. [Timely Comprehensive Evaluation]{.underline}: Regarding the
> timely comprehensive evaluation
>
> 1\. In the first Progress Report, due February 1, 2007 with its FFY
> 2005 APR, the State must provide data, by early intervention service
> program, showing: (a) the number of referrals received to the Part C
> system between July 1, 2006 and Decenber 31, 2006; (b) the number and
> percentage of those infants and toddlers for whom the initial
> comprehensive evaluations and assessments were conducted within 45
> days from referral; (c) the number and percentage of those infants and
> toddlers for whom the initial evaluations and assessments were not
> conducted within 45 days from referral (and for these children, the
> number of children for whom delays were due to documented family
> circumstances or other explanations as to why the delays occurred);
> and (d) the corrective actions HDOH required of each early
> intervention service program found in noncompliance, including HDOH's
> analysis of the factors that have contributed to the delays and
> strategies HDOH has implemented to address those factors.
>
> 2\. By June 1, 2007, updated data identified in a.1. above for the
> period January 1, 2007 through April 30, 2007.

b\. [Timely transition planning]{.underline}: Regarding the timely
transition plan finding, HDOH must report: by February 1, 2007 monthly
data for the period July 1, 2006 through December 31, 2006 and by June
1, 2007 monthly data for the period January 1, 2007 through April 30,
2007. This monthly data, disaggregated by the three major programs: EIS,
PHNB, and HS (which data is already being collected by HDOH) must report
on the percentage of eligible children receiving Part C services for
whom:

> 1\. Transition plans were developed in the IFSP by the child's third
> birthday as required by 34 CFR §§303.148(b)(4) and 303.344(h):
>
> 2\. LEA notification occurred as required by 34 CFR §303.148(b)(1);
> and
>
> 3\. Timely transition conferences were conducted at least 90 days
> prior to the child's third birthday for children potentially eligible
> under Part B and with the family's approval as required by 34 CFR
> §303.148(b)(2)(i).
>
> For each program with noncompliance for each transition area above,
> HDOH must report in both its February 1, 2007 and June 1, 2007
> reports: (a) its analysis of the causes for the noncompliance; and (b)
> the corrective actions required by HDOH (including data required by
> Hawaii to demonstrate correction) to ensure correction as soon as
> possible, but no later than one year from the date of identification.
>
> c\. [Monitoring and correction]{.underline}: Regarding the monitoring
> and correction finding, the State must submit:
>
> 1\. By February 1, 2007 with its FFY 2005 APR: (a) a list, by each
> local early intervention service program, of all findings of
> noncompliance through December 31, 2006 that HDOH has identified
> since, or reported in, the FFY 2003 APR and whether the finding has
> been corrected; and (b) for any findings of noncompliance that remain
> uncorrected, a description of the actions that the State has taken,
> including enforcement actions, to ensure correction of the finding(s)
> (this should include the results of the State's analysis of factors
> that have contributed to any continuing noncompliance, and of the
> strategies that the State has implemented to address those
> factors);and
>
> 2\. By June 1, 2007, an updated list and description identified in
> c.1. above for the period January 1, 2007 through May 31, 2007.

3\. **Evidence Necessary for Conditions To Be Removed**

The Department will remove the special conditions if, at any time prior
to the expiration of the grant year, Hawaii provides documentation,
satisfactory to the Department, that it has fully met the requirements
and conditions set forth above, which require Hawaii to submit data
demonstrating compliance with each of the three areas that are the
subject of the special conditions under Part C.

4\. **Method of Requesting Reconsideration**

The State can write to the Office of Special Education Programs
Director, Alexa Posny, at the address below, if it wishes the Department
to reconsider any aspect of these [Special Conditions]{.underline}. The
request must describe in detail the changes to the [Special
Conditions]{.underline} sought by the State and the reasons for those
requested changes.

5\. **Submission of Reports**

> All reports that are required to be submitted by Hawaii to the
> Department under the [Special Conditions]{.underline} should be
> submitted to:

U.S. Department of Education\
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

Attn.: David Steele

> 400 Maryland Ave, SW
>
> Washington, DC 20202-2550

[^1]: In addition to the specific reporting requirements set forth with
    this enclosure, the State must also, as part of its FFY 2005 APR,
    due by February 1, 2007, provide the required data for Indicator 12C
    for the reporting period of July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2006.