Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 17a - Social and Human Services and Resources › 248 - Early Intervention Services for Infants and Toddlers and Their Families › Section 17a-248-1 - Definitions

Current through July 10, 2024
As used in section 17a-248-1 to section
				17a-248-10,
				inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies:
(1) "Administrative proceeding" means a
			 formal procedure before an impartial decision maker appointed to hear evidence
			 and render a decision final and binding on the parties unless reversed or
			 modified on appeal.
(2)
			 "Birth-to-three system" means the statewide, comprehensive, coordinated,
			 multidisciplinary, interagency system that provides early intervention services
			 for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
(3) "Days" means calendar days.
(4) "Diagnosed condition expected to lead to
			 a developmental delay" means those conditions, diagnosed by a physician,
			 audiologist or speech pathologist, that are designated by the lead agency as
			 having a high probability of resulting in a developmental delay.
(5) "Director" means the person designated by
			 the commissioner of the lead agency as the person responsible for all statewide
			 aspects of the birth-to-three system.
(6) "Impartial decision maker" means the
			 person duly designated for the purpose of conducting an administrative
			 proceeding pursuant to
			 34 CFR
			 303.430 to
			 303.432,
			 inclusive.
(7) "Individualized
			 Family Service Plan" or "IFSP" means a written plan for providing early
			 intervention services to an eligible child and the child's family.
(8) "Interim IFSP" means a temporary plan
			 developed with parental consent for a child with a known developmental delay or
			 disability who has apparent immediate needs for early intervention service
			 delivery between initial identification of the child's needs and the completion
			 of the multidisciplinary evaluation and assessment. The interim IFSP shall
			 include the name of the service coordinator and the early intervention services
			 that have been determined to be needed immediately.
(9) "Lead agency" means the Department of
			 Developmental Services, the public agency responsible for the administration of
			 the birth-to-three system in collaboration with the participating
			 agencies.
(10) "Mediation" means a
			 voluntary, non-adversarial process by which a parent of a child and an early
			 intervention program are assisted by a trained mediator who has been designated
			 by the lead agency to provide mediation services to reach agreement regarding
			 eligibility, the provision of early intervention services, or the failure of an
			 early intervention program to act within a period required by
			 34 CFR
			 303.431.
(11) "Parent" has the same meaning as
			 provided in section
			 17a-248
			 of the Connecticut General Statutes.
(12) "Personally identifiable" means
			 information which includes, but is not limited to, (A) the name of the child,
			 the parent, or other family member; (B) the address of the child, the parent,
			 or other family member; (C) a personal identifier, such as the social security
			 number of the child, parent, or other family member;(D) a list or description
			 of personal or physical characteristics or other information that would make it
			 possible to identify the child, the parent, or other family member with
			 reasonable certainty.
(13)
			 "Program" means an agency providing comprehensive, early intervention services
			 to eligible children operated by, under contract with, or through an inter-
			 agency agreement with the lead agency.
(14) "Record" means any information recorded
			 in any way, maintained by a birth-to-three state-operated program,
			 birth-to-three contractor or lead agency personnel. A record shall include any
			 information recorded in any way including, but not limited to, handwriting,
			 print, electronic, tape, film, microfilm, or microfiche.
(15) "Service coordination" means activities
			 that assist and enable an eligible child and the child's parent to understand a
			 child's rights and the procedural safe- guards afforded by the birth-to-three
			 system and to receive services that are authorized by the birth-to-three
			 system.
(16) "Significant
			 developmental delay" means the child's scores on an appropriate norm-referenced
			 standardized diagnostic instrument are (A) two standard deviations below the
			 mean in one area of development; or (B) one and one-half standard deviations
			 below the mean in at least two areas of development. When the use of the
			 standardized diagnostic instrument is not appropriate due to a child's age or
			 when a child requires significant adaptation to perform on a standardized
			 instrument, the evaluator may substitute another procedure.
(17) "Surrogate parent" means a person
			 appointed or designated to act as a parent for the child for the birth-to-three
			 system when a child's parents are unknown or unavailable.