June 6, 2008

Honorable E. Mitchell Roob, Jr.

Secretary

Indiana Family and Social Services Administration

402 W. Washington Street

PO Box 7083

Indianapolis, Indiana 46207-7083

Dear Secretary Roob:

Thank you for the timely submission of Indiana's FFY 2006 Annual
Performance Report (APR) and revised State Performance Plan (SPP) under
Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as
amended in 2004. We also acknowledge the revisions to Indiana's APR
received on April 14, 2008. We appreciate the State's efforts in
preparing these documents.

The Department has determined that, under IDEA sections 616(d) and 642,
Indiana needs assistance in meeting the requirements of Part C of the
IDEA. The Department's determination is based on the totality of the
State's data and information including the State's FFY 2006 APR and
revised SPP, other State-reported data, and other publicly available
information. See the enclosure entitled "How the Department Made
Determinations under Sections 616(d) and 642 of the IDEA in 2008" for
further details.

The specific factor affecting OSEP's determination of needs assistance
for Indiana is that for Indicator 9, the State reported 85.7%
compliance, with progress from 72% with the requirements for timely
correcting noncompliance. For this reason, we were unable to determine
that your State met requirements under IDEA sections 616(d) and 642.
OSEP notes that the State reported high levels of compliance for
Indicators 1, 7, 8A, 8B, and 8C and correction for Indicator 8C. We hope
that your State will demonstrate in next year's APR that it meets
requirements.

The enclosed table provides OSEP's analysis of the State's FFY 2006 APR
and revised SPP and identifies, by indicator, OSEP's review of any
revisions made by the State to its targets, improvement activities
(timelines and resources) and baseline data in the State's SPP. It also
identifies, by indicator, the State's status in meeting its targets,
whether the State's data reflect progress or slippage, and whether the
State corrected noncompliance and provided valid and reliable data.

The State's determination for the FFY 2005 APR also was needs
assistance. In accordance with sections 616(e) and 642 of the IDEA, if a
State is determined to need assistance for two consecutive years, the
Secretary must take one or more of the following actions: (1) Advise the
State of available sources of technical assistance that may help the
State address the areas in which the State needs assistance; (2) Direct
the use of State-level funds on the area or areas in which the State
needs assistance; or (3) Identify the State as a high-risk grantee and
impose special conditions on the State's Part C grant award. Pursuant to
these requirements, the Secretary is advising the State of available
sources of technical assistance related to Indicator 9, timely
correction of noncompliance. A list of sources of technical assistance
related to the SPP/APR indicators is available by clicking on the
"Technical Assistance Related to Determinations" box on the opening page
of the SPP/APR Planning Calendar website at
<http://spp-apr-calendar.rrfcnetwork.org/>. You will be directed to a
list of indicators. Click on specific indicators for a list of centers,
documents, web seminars and other sources of relevant technical
assistance for that indicator. For the indicators listed above, your
State must report with its FFY 2007 APR submission (due February 1,
2009) on: (1) the technical assistance sources from which the State
received assistance and (2) what actions the State took as a result of
that technical assistance. The extent to which your State takes
advantage of available technical assistance for these indicators may
affect the actions we take under sections 616 and 642 should your State
not be identified as meets requirements next year. We encourage States
to take advantage of available sources of technical assistance in other
areas as well, particularly if the State is reporting low compliance
data for an indicator.

As required by sections 616(e)(7) and 642, the State must notify the
public that the Secretary of Education has taken the above enforcement
action. This notification must be sufficient to notify the public within
the State and may include such mechanisms as posting on the agency's
website, distribution through the media and distribution through public
agencies.

As you know, your State must report annually to the public on the
performance of each early intervention service (EIS) program located in
the State on the targets in the SPP under IDEA sections
616(b)(2)(C)(ii)(l) and 642. In addition, your State must review EIS
program performance against targets in the State's SPP, determine if
each EIS program meets the requirements of the IDEA and inform each EIS
program of its determination. For further information regarding these
requirements, see the SPP/APR Calendar at
<http://spp-apr-calendar.rrfcnetwork.org/>. Finally, if you included
revisions to baseline, targets or improvement activities in your APR
submission, and OSEP accepted those revisions, please ensure that you
update your SPP accordingly and that the updated SPP is made available
to the public.

OSEP is committed to supporting Indiana's efforts to improve results for
infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families and looks
forward to working with your State over the next year. If you have any
questions, would like to discuss this further, or want to request
technical assistance, please do not hesitate to call Jennifer Simpson,
your OSEP State Contact, at 202-245-6042.

 

Sincerely,

 

  /s/ William W. Knudsen

 

William W. Knudsen

Acting Director

> Office of Special Education Programs

 

Enclosures

 

cc: Part C Coordinator