22-20-118.5. Child find - responsibilities - interagency operating agreements.

Statute text

(1) As of July 1, 2022, the department of early childhood shall administer part C child find pursuant to part 4 of article 3 of title 26.5; except that, beginning May 1, 2022, and continuing until July 1, 2022, the department of human services shall administer the referral intake process for part C child find evaluations.

(2) On or before July 1, 2022, the department shall establish a state-level interagency operating agreement, referred to in this section as the "agreement", with the department of early childhood concerning the coordination of transitions of children from part C child find to part B child find. In developing the agreement, the department and the department of early childhood shall involve stakeholder participation, including representatives from administrative units and part C entities. The agreement must also include:

(a) The definition of a child who is potentially eligible for part B;

(b) The processes for a parent of a child to opt out of required notifications;

(c) The required notification concerning a child who is potentially eligible for part B;

(d) A process for resolving disputes between an administrative unit and a part C entity concerning the satisfaction of agreement requirements, including remedies and sanctions;

(e) A process for resolving disputes between the department and the department of early childhood concerning systemic and statewide issues related to agreement requirements;

(f) The development and delivery of standardized communication materials for a parent of a child who is potentially eligible for part B, including information concerning eligibility, referral, evaluation, and service delivery;

(g) The development and delivery of standardized training for part C and part B providers, including information concerning eligibility, referral, evaluation, and service delivery for the programs;

(h) The process for transferring a child's assessment, IFSP, and other necessary information to an administrative unit for consideration of a part B evaluation and eligibility determination, if a parent has provided written consent;

(i) (I) Processes to ensure timely notification to the administrative unit if a child is potentially eligible for part B. At a minimum, timely notification must occur not later than when a child is two years and six months of age; except that timely notification must occur not later than when a child is two years and three months of age if a child has a low incidence diagnosis including, but not limited to, visual impairment, including blindness; hearing impairment, including deafness; or deaf-blind.

(II) If a child is determined to be eligible for part C when the child is older than the ages described in subsection (2)(i)(I) of this section, timely notification must occur not later than ten business days after the eligibility determination.

(j) A process for including an administrative unit representative in a transition conference for a child who transitions from part C to part B;

(k) A process for including an early intervention services provider in the development of an IEP, if requested by the parent of the child; and

(l) A process for timely transferring data that is required by law between the department and the department of early childhood.

(3) The department and the department of early childhood shall review and revise the agreement to account for any changes to state or federal law, as necessary. At a minimum, the agreement must be reviewed once every five years. In the review and revision of the agreement, the department and the department of early childhood shall involve stakeholder participation, including representatives from administrative units and part C entities.

History

Source: L. 2021: Entire section added, (SB 21-275), ch. 393, p. 2612, 5, effective June 30. L. 2022: (1), IP(2), (2)(e), (2)(l), and (3) amended, (HB 22-1295), ch. 123, p. 840, 54, effective July 1.