Transcript Slide 1
April 2014
Early Intervention
Federal regulations (IDEA) mandate early intervention
services for preschool children.
However, each state decides on criteria for eligibility,
how services will be provided, and who will be
responsible for providing those services.
Differences between states were highlighted in a
report from The National Early Childhood Technical
Assistance Center (NECTAC) in 2011.
www.nectac.org
Examples from NECTAC (2011):
Arizona:
Dev. Delay = 1.5 – 3.0 SD in two areas
Severe Dev. Delay = 3 SD in one area
Illinois:
Dev. Delay = a delay in physical, cognitive,
communication, social/emotional, or adaptive areas
Michigan:
Dev. Delay = 50% delay in one or more areas
New Jersey:
Dev. Delay = 33% delay in one area or 25% in two areas
Early Intervention in PA
Two Separate Programs Work Together:
Infant Toddler Early Intervention
• Serves children ages birth to 3
• Funded through Department of Public Welfare
• Family centered and routines-based
• Plan is called “Individual Family Service Plan” (IFSP)
• Services provided by each county
• All services are by contracted individuals or agencies
Early Intervention in PA
Preschool Early Intervention
• Serves children ages 3-5
• Funded through Department of Education
• Focus on the individual child and is education-based
• Plan is called “Individual Education Plan” (IEP)
• Services provided by Intermediate Units, plus a
few individual school districts, and one large agency
(Elwyn in the Philadelphia area)
• Services provided by direct staff or contracted
staff
•
Direct staff are public school employees
Kirstan (Easter Seals)
Preschool EI Program
Special Education services for children from the age of
3 until they go to kindergarten.
Special Education regulations (IDEA and Chapter 14)
cover all children ages 3 – 21.
Services are funded through federal and state funds
and are provided at no cost to families (FAPE).
Federal funds: IDEA (based on Dec. 1 child-count)
State funds: Early Intervention funds (based on per
child allotment- different for every program)
ACCESS reimbursement (for eligible services)
Local funds: Kindergarten eligible charges to districts
Funding Details
2013-2014 CIU # 10 Preschool EI Program:
State EI Allocation:
$3,918,701
IDEA 619 Allocation:
210,927
IDEA 611 Component 1:
517, 517
Projected MA:
350,000
Total PDE Revenue $4,997,145
less IDEA 619 K-5 pass through 53,545
$4,943,600
2013-2014 Projected Child Count:
850
Funding Details
funding divided by child count = “per child allocation”
$4,943,600 / 850 = $5,816 per child
OCDEL uses a formula to determine state funding:
Per child $ x child count = total budget amount
Total budget – projected MA – IDEA funds = EI funds
needed from the state
Funding Details
Important factors:
• If you don’t make child count – OCDEL could request
return of funds
• In the past – if you didn’t make projected MA earnings
that was a loss to the program.
To improve financial circumstances a program can:
Decrease program costs
Increase child count
Increase MA revenue
Request additional state funding
Dakoda & Courtney (home visit)
Kindergarten Eligible Children (Act 30)
Pennsylvania regulations allow parents to delay
sending children to kindergarten for one year.
Those children are entitled to continue receiving early
intervention services during that year.
EI programs are not permitted to use EI funds to pay
for kindergarten-eligible children, and are mandated
to charge school districts for those services.
CIU # 10 encourages parents to send eligible children
to school, but we still average about 25 K-eligible
children each year (within the 12 districts).
David – Rev MS (w/HS)
Pennsylvania’s Intermediate Units
Centre County
Area in square miles (urban-mix)
Number of children 0-5:
Risk of school failure:
% participating in pub. funded EC programs:
Children in econ. high risk families (100% FPL):
Children in econ. at risk families (300% FPL):
% of births to mothers w/ less than HS educ.
OCDEL Reach & Risk Report 2013
1,112
6,771
Low
39.3%
16.7%
54.6%
9.3%
Clearfield County
Area in square miles (rural)
Number of children 0-5:
Risk of school failure:
% participating in pub. funded EC programs:
Children in econ. high risk families (100% FPL):
Children in econ. at risk families (300% FPL):
% of births to mothers w/ less than HS educ.
OCDEL Reach & Risk Report 2013
1,154
4,053
High
56%
33%
78.9%
13.8%
Clinton County
Area in square miles (rural)
898
Number of children 0-5:
2,205
Risk of school failure:
Moderate-High
% participating in pub. funded EC programs:
46.9%
Children in econ. high risk families (100% FPL):
23%
Children in econ. at risk families (300% FPL):
74.3%
% of births to mothers w/ less than HS educ.
22.4%
OCDEL Reach & Risk Report 2013
Three County CIU # 10 Area
• Total Square Miles:
3,164
(larger in area than Delaware or Rhode Island)
Total Children ages 0-5:
13,029
(According to the Reach & Risk Report, this number
has increased by 659 children since 2009)
Niko – Rev MS (Easter Seals)
On his “Jet Scooter”
Child Count
The CIU # 10 Preschool Early Intervention Program
provided services to over 850 children per year in our
three county area for the last three years.
CIU # 10 Preschool
Data Profile 2011 – 2012*
% by Educational Environment:
Early Childhood
EC – Head Start
EC – Special Ed
Home
Itin. Outside Home
Reverse Mainstream
Inclusive Env.
32.8%
27.5%
7.2%
13.8%
1.1%
14.6%
88.9%
* Most recent Data Profile available
State Average:
32.5%
15.2%
15.8%
7.2%
10.2%
2.8%
69.8%
Eligibility in Pennsylvania
Children referred to Preschool EI must be within 45
days of their 3rd birthday up to the age of school entry.
The child must have 1.5 SD or a 25% delay in cognition,
motor, language, personal-social, or adaptive skills OR
have a diagnosis that is one of the disability categories
from IDEA/Chapter 14, AND is in need of specially
designed instruction.
Referral Process
Most of our referrals are from families or EC programs
A referral packet is mailed to the family: Ages & Stages
Questionnaire (ASQ), permission to screen, parent
input form, consent to exchange info, return envelope
with postage
When returned, ASQ is scored by director, screening is
then assigned to a staff person
Staff perform screening, always have option to go
directly to evaluation if they feel it is warranted
Niko with a Friend
Connor – Rev MS (Easter Seals)
Kindergarten Transitions
We host district meetings in November to give
administrators advance information about how many
children they can expect in the fall and their individual
level of needs
Preschool EI staff attend February meetings with the
families, often more than one staff for involved kids
If a district offers a “kindergarten camp” type of
program in the summer, we will support our kids if
needed for them to attend (PCA’s, etc.)
Matternville ECSE
CIU # 10 Preschool
Service Delivery
Early Childhood Special Education Classes (7):
Centre Co: 3 classes (Matternville – CIU # 10 staff )
Clearfield Co: 1 class (Cen Clear Clearfield Campus)
Clinton Co: 3 classes (Infant Development Program)
Contracted Integrated Classes (rev. mainstream: 13)
Centre Co: 5 classes (Matternville & Easter Seals)
Clearfield Co: 5 classes (Clearfield Campus, Woodland,
Graham Station II)
Clinton Co: 3 classes (Infant Development Program)
CIU # 10 Preschool
Service Delivery
Itinerant Teachers / Therapists provide services in:
Community preschools & daycare facilities
Head Start classrooms
Pre-K Counts classrooms
Family Homes
Transitions from Infant/Toddler Programs:
CIU # 10 “Transition Teachers” complete the process in
Centre and Clearfield Counties, including the initial
meeting, evaluation, ER, & IEP.
A Trans. Teacher is contracted in Clinton Co. – part time
Summer Services
By state regulation – PS EI must not have any break more
than 3 weeks in length. We operate on a “stretch calendar” of
184 work days “stretched” over 12 months.
PALS = Preschoolers Accessing Language & Speech
Many children receive services in community programs that
do not operate during the summer months.
PALS sessions are team-taught by a teacher and an SLP, or
sometimes by two SLPs. Related service staff (OT – PT: visit
PALS to provide services in that setting).
Theme-based language activities focus on skill practice.
2 hour classes are held one day per week for 4 weeks during
July and August (on Preschool Calendar).
Classes are held at a variety of central locations and
transportation is provided.
Summer Services
Specialized Classes and Reverse Mainstream Classes
Classes run on a modified schedule for 4 weeks during July &
August. Transportation is provided.
Home-based services
Children receiving home-based services are encouraged to
participate in Summer PALS. Often this is a way to introduce
a classroom-based experience to children transitioning to a
preschool class in the fall.
Some children continue to receive home-based services on
the preschool calendar during the summer months (children
who are medically fragile or just turning 3 for example).
Summer PALS – Centre Co.
Summer PALS – Clearfield Co.
CIU # 10 Preschool
Contracted Agencies
Cen-Clear Child Services, Inc.
Head Start, Pre K Counts, & B-3 provider in Clearfield
& Centre Counties
1 Specialized class
8 Integrated classes (rev. mainstream) with HS
children
Itinerant teachers for services in Head Start
classrooms
Classroom teachers, classroom aides, personal care
aides as needed in contracted classrooms
CIU # 10 Preschool
Contracted Agencies
Infant Development Program
Preschool Program & B-3 provider in Clinton County
3 Specialized classes
3 Integrated classes (reverse mainstream with typical
preschool children)
Classroom teachers, classroom aides, personal care aides as
needed in contracted classrooms
Part-time Transition Teacher completes B-3 transitions in
Clinton County
CIU # 10 Preschool
Contracted Agencies
Easter Seals
Preschool Program & B-3 provider in Centre County
Contracted for 12 slots (reverse mainstream with
typical preschool children)
Classroom teachers, classroom aides, personal care
aides as needed in integrated classrooms
Provides office & therapy space for CIU # 10 SLP, OT,
and PT/TVI
Rev MS – Easter Seals
Claire in the swing - ES
Claire & Heidi use AT
to make choices at ES
CIU # 10 PS Professional Direct Staff (34)
1 ½ Transition Teachers (Centre & Clearfield transitions)
2 Specialized Classroom Teachers (Matternville)
4 ½ Itinerant Teachers
19 Speech / Language Pathologists
2 ½ Physical Therapists
3 ½ Occupational Therapists
.5 Teacher of the Deaf & Hard of Hearing
.5 Teacher of the Visually Impaired + some help from SA
CIU # 10 Preschool Administration and
Administrative Assistants (4)
1 Director
1 Administrative Assistant
1 Fiscal Administrative Assistant
½ Data Administrative Assistant
½ of ACCESS Administrative Assistant
Zoe at ES
Zoe in the sensory room at ES
Cen Clear Rev MS – Clearfield
Kari (SLP)
We strive to help each child make progress
toward their goals, be ready for school, and still
have time to just enjoy being a kid.