July 1, 2004

Honorable John O. Agwunobi

Secretary

Department of Health

4052 Bald Cypress Way

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1707

Dear Secretary Agwunobi:

We have determined that your State's application for Federal Fiscal Year
(FFY) 2004, under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (Part C), can be conditionally approved. Therefore, I am enclosing
your State's Part C grant award.

The conditional approval is based on our review and acceptance of the
Florida Department of Health's Part C application for FFY 2004,
including:

1.  those portions of the State's existing Part C application on file
    with the Secretary that remain in effect;

2.  the assurance from the Florida Department of Health that the
    statewide system of early intervention services required by Part C
    and its implementing regulations is in effect; and

3.  the letter dated June 11, 2004 from Florida Department of Health to
    the Office of Special Education Programs, in which Florida
    Department of Health assures that it will take steps necessary to
    complete revisions to its application to conform it to the
    requirements of Part C, specifically "Early Steps: Service Delivery
    Policy and Operatives Guide" to address all of the concerns
    identified by OSEP in its June 8, 2004 memo to the State to be
    consistent with 34 CFR Part 303 (including requirements at 34 CFR
    §303.340 through §303.345 that the IFSP participants make
    individualized determinations for early intervention services which
    includes direct services for the child and other services deemed
    needed by the child and family based on the results from appropriate
    evaluations and assessments), and 34 CFR §§303.322 and 303.323 that
    set forth the requirements for evaluations and assessments. The
    State must ensure that the State-wide system of early intervention
    required by Part C of IDEA and its implementing regulations at 34
    CFR Part 303 will be in effect throughout the FFY 2004 grant period.

This year, a number of states have either established systems of
payments or are considering establishing or revising their systems of
payments. Under 34 CFR §303.173(a), each State's Part

C application must include the State's policies and procedures that
identify: (1) how it will pay for early intervention services (under 34
CFR §303.520(a)); (2) any system of payments that the State chooses to
establish (under 34 CFR §303.521(a)); and (3) all funding sources (under
34 CFR §303.522). Although a State is not required under Part C to
access public and private insurance available to a family, if a State
requires parents under Part C to access their public and/or private
insurance, the State must include this information in its Part C
application as well as an assurance, under 34 CFR §303.520(b)(3)(ii),
that the inability of a parent to pay will not result in the denial of
any service under Part C.

States must ensure that all of the functions and early intervention
services under 34 CFR §303.521(b) are carried out at public expense
(i.e., no cost to the family). Additionally, under 34 CFR §303.521(c),
States that provide children with disabilities under age 3 with a free
appropriate public education (FAPE) under State law (i.e., birth-mandate
States) must ensure that no fees are charged for the FAPE services
provided to these children and their families. If a State has a system
of payments under 34 CFR §303.521(a), any parent fees collected (for
co-payments or other fees for services charged and received by the
State's Part C program) are "program income" under 34 CFR §80.25.
Program income is not included as part of total "State and local
expenditures" for purposes of a State's meeting the non-supplanting
requirements under Part C at 20 U.S.C. §1437(b)(5)(B) and 34 CFR
§303.124.

Your State has on file with the Secretary a system of payments under 34
CFR §303.521(a). As noted above, fees for services charged and received
by your State's Part C program are "program income" under 34 CFR §80.25.
This letter authorizes your State to add "program income" to its Part C
FFY 2004 grant such that the amount of program income received by your
State does not need to be deducted from the net allowable costs that can
be charged to the Part C grant (as would ordinarily be required under 34
CFR §80.25(g)(1)). When the State adds program income to the net
allowable costs charged to the Federal Part C grant, under 34 CFR
§80.25(g), all program income funds must be spent on FFY 2004 Part C
grant application purposes.

Section I.C. of the FFY 2004 application for Part C funds requested
updated information about each State's restricted indirect cost rate.
Our records indicate that you are not charging indirect costs to the
Part C program. By accepting Part C grant funds, your agency (as the
Lead Agency designated under Part C) is agreeing not to charge indirect
costs to the Part C program throughout the FFY 2004 grant year.

The enclosed grant award for FFY 2004 is made with the continued
understanding that this Office may, from time to time, require
clarification of information within your application and appendices, if
necessary. These inquiries are needed to allow us to appropriately carry
out our administrative responsibilities related to Part C.

Section 604 of the IDEA provides that "\[a\] State shall not be immune
under the eleventh amendment to the Constitution of the United States
from suit in Federal court for a violation of this Act." Therefore, by
accepting this grant a State is expressly agreeing to a waiver of
Eleventh Amendment immunity as a condition of IDEA funding.

We appreciate your ongoing commitment to the provision of quality early
intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities and
their families.

> Sincerely,
>
> /s/Patricia J. Guard for
>
> Stephanie Smith Lee
>
> Director
>
> Office of Special Education Programs

Enclosure

cc: S. Elizabeth Ford

Monica Rutkowski