Code of Maine Rules › 05 - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION › 071 - EDUCATION - GENERAL › Chapter 101 - MAINE UNIFIED SPECIAL EDUCATION REGULATION BIRTH TO AGE TWENTY › Section 071-101-IV - RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHILD FIND, EARLY INTERVENTION AND SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
1.
Comprehensive Child Find for Children Birth -2
A.
Pre-Referral Activities for
				Children Birth-2. Child find is the identification, location and evaluation of
				children B-2. The State Intermediate Educational Unit (IEU) through a network
				of regional sites is responsible for overseeing the completion of all child
				find activities. The regional sites are responsible for ensuring that child
				find is
available to all infants and toddlers in the State, including
				Indian infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families residing on
				reservations geographically located in the State
,
including
				coordination, as necessary, with tribes, tribal organizations, and consortia to
				identify infants and toddlers with disabilities in the State, infants and
				toddlers with disabilities who are homeless children and their families, and
				infants and toddlers with disabilities who are wards of the State.
B. Referral for B-2.
The regional
				Child Development Services sites
are responsible for providing notice
				of child find activities and for providing annual written notification to all
				primary referral sources of their obligation to refer all identified children,
				B-2, for evaluation and assessment to the regional site as soon as possible,
				but in no case more than seven days after a child has been identified.
				[34 CFR
				303.303(a)(2)(c)] Primary
				referral sources include:
(1) Hospitals,
				including prenatal and postnatal facilities;
(2) Physicians;
(3) Parents;
(4) Day care programs;
(5) Local educational agencies;
(6) Public health facilities;
(7) Other social service agencies;
				and
(8) Other health care
				providers. [34 CFR
				303.303
											©]
(9) Public agencies and staff in the child
				welfare system including child protective and foster care;
(10) Homeless family shelters; and
(11) Domestic violence shelters and agencies.
The regional Child Development Services sites are
				  responsible for implementing the state policies and procedures for referral of
				  a child under the age of 3 who is involved in a substantiated case of child
				  abuse and neglect, or who is identified as affected by illegal substance abuse
				  or withdrawal symptoms resulting from prenatal drug exposure to the regional
				  site.
Consent. Consent means that a) the parent has been fully
				  informed of all information relevant to the activity for which consent is
				  sought, in the parent's native language; b) the parent understands and agrees
				  in writing to the carrying out of the activity for which the parent's consent
				  is sought, and the consent form describes that activity and lists the early
				  intervention records (if any) that will be released and to whom they will be
				  released; and (c)(1) the parent understands that the granting of consent is
				  voluntary on the part of the parent and may be revoked at any time. (2) If the
				  parent revokes consent, that revocation is not retroactive, (i.e., it does not
				  apply to an action that occurred before the consent was revoked).
C.
Service
				Coordinator during Post-Referral. The service coordinator assists the family in
				securing the necessary screenings, evaluations and assessments needed to
				determine the child's eligibility under the federal Individuals with
				Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The service coordinator oversees the
				development of the initial IFSP. The regional site director is responsible for
				assigning a
service coordinator
to a child upon referral to
				the regional site. The regional sites are responsible for ensuring that all
				activities conducted by the assigned service coordinator are performed in
				accordance with the federal IDEA and related Department of Education
				rules.
D. Post-referral
				Procedures.
(1) Within 45 days after the
regional site
or early intervention service (EIS) provider
				receives a referral of a child, the screening (if applicable), initial
				evaluation, initial assessments (of the child and family), and the initial IFSP
				meeting for that child must be completed. [34 CFR §
												303.310(a)]
(2) Subject to paragraph (3) of this section,
				the 45-day timeline described in paragraph (1) of this section does not apply
				for any period when-
(a) The child or parent
				is unavailable to complete the screening (if applicable), the initial
				evaluation, the initial assessments of the child and family, or the initial
				IFSP meeting due to exceptional family circumstances that are documented in the
				child's early intervention records; or
(b) The parent has not provided consent for
				the screening (if applicable), the initial evaluation, or the initial
				assessment of the child, despite documented, repeated attempts by the
regional site
or EIS provider to obtain parental consent.
				[34CFR
				303.310 (b)
(3)
The regional
				site
must develop procedures to ensure that in the event the
				circumstances in (2)(a) or (2)(b) of this section exist, the
regional
				site must
-
(a) Document in the
				child's early intervention records the exceptional family circumstances or
				repeated attempts by the
regional site
to obtain parental
				consent;
(b) Complete the screening
				(if applicable), the initial evaluation, the initial assessments (of the child
				and family), and the initial IFSP meeting as soon as possible after the
				documented exceptional family circumstances described in (2)(a) of this section
				no longer exists or parental consent is obtained for the screening (if
				applicable), the initial evaluation, and the initial assessment of the child;
				and
(c) develop and implement an
				interim IFSP, to the extent appropriate and consistent with
				34 CFR §
													303.345. [34 CFR §
													303.310(c)]
(4)
The regional
				site must
provide notice to parents of its intent to screen and
				clarifies that, at any time during the screening process, a parent may request
				an evaluation. [34 CFR
				§
												303.320]
E. Identification by Evaluation and
				Assessment
.
If any components of an evaluation or
				assessment have been performed within the prior six months, the results and
				findings are to be utilized with no unnecessary repetition. The service
				coordinator is responsible for collecting and integrating that
				information.
Initial evaluation refers to the evaluation of a child
				that is used to determine his or her initial eligibility under Part C of the
				Act. The term initial assessments refers to the assessment of the child and the
				family assessment that are conducted prior to the child's first IFSP meeting.
				[34 CFR
				303.321(a)(2) (i, iii)]
				Within 45 days after it receives a referral
the regional site
shall complete the evaluation and assessment activities in
				34 CFR
				303.321 and hold an IFSP meeting.
				[34 CFR
				303.310]
(1) Evaluation and assessment of each child
				age B-2 referred must include:
(a) Health: A
				review of pertinent records related to the child's current health status and
				medical history. [34 CFR
				303.321(b)(4)] A child's
				medical and other records may be used to establish eligibility (without
				conducting an evaluation of the child) under this part if those records
				indicate that the child's level of functioning in one or more of the
				developmental areas identified in VII1(A)(1) of this rule constitutes a
				developmental delay or that the child otherwise meets the criteria for an
				infant or toddler with a disability under VII.1(A). If the child's Part C
				eligibility is established under this paragraph, the
regional
				site
must conduct assessments of the child and family in accordance
				with IV.1.D of this rule. 34
				CFR 303.321(a)(3)(i)
(b) Multidisciplinary assessment
				of the unique strengths and needs of the infant or toddler and the
				identification of services appropriate to meet such needs
.
[20 USC
				1436 (a)(1)]
The
				evaluation and assessment team must administer one of the Department-approved
				instruments for determining eligibility.
[
See Section
				II. 24 definition of
				Multidisciplinary]
Evaluation and assessment of the child. The evaluation and
				  assessment of each child must--
(i) Be
				conducted by personnel trained to utilize appropriate methods and
				procedures;
(ii) Be based on
				informed clinical opinion. Qualified personnel must use informed clinical
				opinion when conducting an evaluation and assessment of the child. In addition,
				the
regional sites
must ensure that informed clinical opinion
				may be used as an independent basis to establish a child's eligibility under
				this part even when other instruments do not establish eligibility; however in
				no event may informed clinical opinion be used to negate the results of
				evaluation instruments used to establish eligibility under this section of the
				rule; and
(iii) Be conducted in the
				child's native language, that in the case of a child who is limited English
				proficient, means the language normally used by the parents of the child except
				that when conducting evaluations and assessments of the child, qualified
				personnel determine whether it is developmentally appropriate to use the
				language normally used by the child.
(iv) Include the following:
(I) A review of medical, educational, or
				other records.
(II) An evaluation
				of the child's level of functioning in each of the following developmental
				areas:
(aa) Cognitive development.
(bb) Physical development, including vision
				and hearing.
(cc) Communication
				development.
(dd) Social or
				emotional development.
(ee)
				Adaptive development.
(III) An assessment of the unique needs of
				the child in terms of each of the developmental areas in paragraph (II) of this
				section, including the identification of services appropriate to meet those
				needs. [34CFR
				303.321(c)]
(IV) Be conducted by qualified personnel, in
				a nondiscriminatory manner, and selected and administered so as not to be
				racially or culturally discriminatory.
(V) Personal observations of the
				child.
(c)
				Family assessment
(i) A Family directed
				assessments must be conducted by qualified personnel in order to identify the
				family's resources, priorities, and concerns and the supports and services
				necessary to enhance the family's capacity to meet the developmental needs of
				the family's infant or toddler with a disability.
(ii) Any assessment that is conducted must be
				voluntary on the part of each family member participating in the
				assessment.
(iii) If an assessment
				of the family is carried out, the assessment must--
(I) Be conducted by personnel trained to
				utilize appropriate methods and procedures;
(II) Be based on information obtained through
				an assessment tool and also through an interview with those family members who
				elect to participate in the assessment;
(III) Incorporate the family's description of
				its resources, priorities, and concerns related to enhancing the child's
				development. [34 CFR
				303.321(c)] ; and
(IV) Unless clearly not feasible to do so,
				family assessments must be conducted in the native language of the family
				members being assessed, in accordance with the definition of native language in
				34 CFR
				303.25.
[See Section
				II.25 definition of Native
				language]
(2) Timelines.
(i) Except as provided in paragraph (ii) of
				this section, the evaluation and initial assessment of each child (including
				the family assessment) must be completed within the 45-day time period required
				in Sec. 303.310.
(ii) In the event of exceptional
				circumstances that make it impossible to complete the evaluation and assessment
				within 45 days, the
regional site
will document those
				circumstances; and develop and implement an interim IFSP, to the extent
				appropriate and consistent with
				34 CFR
				303.345. [34 CFR
				303.310]
F. Records of Referral and Post-referral
				Procedures B-2.
For any child who is referred, documentation in that
				child's cumulative record file shall specify:
(1)
The date, the regional site, and
				the person who coordinated the referral and post-referral
				procedures;
(2)
A
				description or example of the post-refer ralactivities, procedures, forms, or
				instruments used; and
(3)
The results of the referral and post-referral procedures, including any
				recommendations and/or referrals to the IFSP Team.
When the results of an individual's post-referral
				  procedures do not indicate a possible need for early intervention, a notation
				  shall be entered in the child's cumulative record file documenting the
				  post-referral procedures, the date, and the regional site where the
				  post-referral procedures were conducted.
G. Determination That a Child is Not
				Eligible. If, based on the evaluation conducted under IV.1.C of this rule
the
				regional site
determines that a child is not eligible under this part,
				the
regional site
must provide the parent with prior written
				notice, and include in the notice information about the parent's right to
				dispute the eligibility determination through dispute resolution mechanisms
				under XVI. of this rule, such as requesting a due process hearing or mediation
				or filing a State complaint. [34 CFR 303.322]