Act - The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, codified at 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.

Assessment - Ongoing procedures used by appropriate qualified personnel throughout the period of a child's eligibility to identify the following:

• The child's unique strengths and needs, and the services appropriate to meet those needs.
• The resources, priorities, and concerns of the family, and identification of the supports and services necessary to enhance the family's capacity to meet the developmental needs of its infant or toddler with a disability.

Child - An infant or toddler from birth through two (2) years of age.  As used in this article, "child" includes the singular, as well as the plural, form of the noun.

Child Find - Strategies and activities, including awareness activities, conducted for the purpose of bringing children into the early intervention system so that individual eligibility may be determined and potential needs for early intervention services can be identified.

Child Find System - A coordinated, community system for identifying, locating, and evaluating children who are eligible for early intervention services. The system includes a public awareness program, a procedure for referring a child to the appropriate system point of entry for assessment and early intervention services, where appropriate, and an effective method to determine which children are receiving needed early intervention services and which children are not receiving those services.

Consent - Includes all of the following:

• The parent has been fully informed of all information relevant to the activity for which consent is sought, in the parent's native language or other mode of communication.
• The parent understands and agrees in writing to the carrying out of the activity for which consent is sought, and the consent describes that activity and lists the records, if any, that will be released, and to whom.
• The parent understands that the granting of consent is voluntary on the part of the parent and may be revoked at any time.

Days - Calendar days.

Disclosure - To permit access, or to release, transfer, or otherwise communicate the information contained in early intervention records, including personally identifiable information contained in those records, to any party, by any means, including oral, written, or electronic means.

 Division - The division of family resources.

Early Intervention Services - Developmental services that:

• Are designed to meet:
• the developmental needs of each child eligible for services through the early intervention system; and
• the needs of the family related to enhancing the child's development;
• Are selected in collaboration with the child's parents;
• Are provided:
• under public supervision;
• by qualified personnel as described in section 26 of this rule; and
•  in conformity with an individualized family service plan;
• Meet state and federal laws, regulations, and rules; and
• Are provided in natural environments, to the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of the child, including the home and community settings in which children without disabilities participate.

Early Intervention System - The total effort in the state that is established to meet the needs of children eligible for early intervention services and their families, including the coordination of all available federal, state, local, and private resources available to provide early intervention services within the state.

Evaluation - Includes the procedures used by appropriate, qualified personnel, as described in section 26 of this rule, to determine a child's initial and continuing eligibility for early intervention services, including determining the status of the child in each of the following developmental areas:

• Cognitive development.
• Physical development, including vision and hearing.
• Communication development.
• Social or emotional development.
• Adaptive development.

Foster Parent - A person or persons who meet the definition found at 470 IAC 3-1-1 and:

• Have an ongoing, long term parental relationship with the child;
• Are willing to make the decisions required of parents; and
• Have no interest that would conflict with the interests of the child.

ICC - The state interagency coordinating council.

IFSP - The individualized family service plan, a written plan for providing early intervention services to a child eligible for early intervention services and the child's family.

Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities - Individuals from birth through two (2) years of age who are eligible for early intervention services.

Informed Clinical Opinion - A decision made by appropriate, qualified personnel, as described in section 26 of this rule, regarding the developmental status of a child, which is utilized for purposes of eligibility determination, assessment of service needs, and development of an IFSP, and which is based upon observation, interviews, or other appropriate techniques.

LPCC - The local planning and coordinating council, a regional planning and coordination group organized for the purpose of implementing the early intervention system as required by 20 U.S.C. 1435 and 34 CFR 303.

Multidisciplinary - The involvement of two (2) or more different disciplines or professions in the provision of integrated and coordinated services, including evaluation and assessment activities, and development of the IFSP.

Natural Environments - Settings that are natural or normal for the child's age peers who have no disability.

Parent - A parent, a guardian, a person acting as a parent of a child, a foster parent, or a surrogate parent who has been appointed. The term does not include the state if the child is a ward of the state. The term includes the singular, as well as the plural, form of the noun.

Part B - Subchapter II of the Act, codified at 20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq., which provides federal assistance to states for the education of children with disabilities.

Part C - Subchapter III of the Act, codified at 20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq., which provides federal assistance to states for infants and toddlers with disabilities.

Participating Agency - Any state agency, SPOE, service provider, or other person or entity, who or which collects, maintains, or uses personally identifiable information in implementing the early intervention system, or from who or which information is obtained in order to implement the early intervention system.

Primary Referral Sources - Individuals who, or organizations that, may refer children for early intervention services, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Hospitals, including prenatal and postnatal care facilities.
• Physicians.
• Parents.
• Day care programs.
• Local educational agencies.
• Public health facilities.
• Other social service agencies.
• Other health care providers.
• The department of child services

Qualified Personnel - Includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Audiologists.
• Family therapists.
• Nurses.
• Registered dietitians.
• Occupational therapists.
• Orientation and mobility specialists.
• Pediatricians and other physicians.
• Physical therapists.
• Psychologists.
• Service coordinators.
• Social workers.
• Special educators or developmental therapists.
• Speech and language pathologists.
• Vision specialists, including ophthalmologists and optometrists.
• Parent-to-parent support personnel.

Service Coordination - The activities carried out by a person or entity to assist and enable a child eligible for early intervention services, and the child's family, to receive the rights, procedural safeguards, and services that are authorized to be provided through the early intervention system.

Service Provider - A person, or a public or private entity, selected by the family to provide early intervention services for an eligible child and the child's family pursuant to an IFSP.

SPOE - The system point of entry, that serves as local lead agency, and is the single point of contact in helping parents obtain services and assistance for infants or toddlers with disabilities as defined in section 16 of this rule.

Surrogate Parent - An individual appointed in accordance with 470 IAC 3.1-13-5 to take the place of a parent for the purposes of this article, when no parent can be identified or located, or when the child is a ward of the state.

Transition - The transfer of a child to another service type or location within the Part C eligibility period as well as transition to other services including, but not limited to, the Part B/special education program, or to any environment or combination of environments determined to be appropriate for the ongoing developmental growth of the child at or prior to three (3) years of age.

Reference

470 IAC 3.1-1