2018 Mississippi Code
Title 41 - Public Health
Chapter 87 - Early Intervention Act for Infants and Toddlers
§ 41-87-9. Minimum components of statewide system of programs providing early intervention services; council to establish plan.
(1) A statewide system of coordinated, comprehensive, multidisciplinary, interagency programs providing appropriate early intervention services to all eligible infants and toddlers and their families, including eligible Indian infants and toddlers and their families on reservations, shall include the following minimum components:
(a) Eligibility criteria and procedures including a definition of the term “developmentally delayed” that will be used by the state in carrying out programs under this chapter;
(b) Timetables for ensuring that appropriate early intervention services will be available to all eligible children in the state, including Indian infants and toddlers on reservations;
(c) A timely, comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation of the functioning of each infant and toddler with a disability in the state, and a family-directed assessment of the resources, priorities and concerns of the family and the identification of the supports and services necessary to enhance the family’s capacity to meet the developmental needs of their infant or toddler with a disability;
(d) For each eligible child, an individualized family service plan including service coordination (case management) services in accordance with such service plan. The individualized family services plan shall be in writing, done in accordance with Part C regulations, and contain a statement of the natural environments in which early intervention services shall appropriately be provided, as well as all components listed in the Part C regulations;
(e) A comprehensive interagency child find system that includes a system for making referrals to service providers that includes timelines and provides for participation by primary referral sources;
(f) A public awareness program focusing on early identification of infants and toddlers with disabilities, including preparation and dissemination by the lead agency to all primary referral sources of information materials for parents on the availability of early intervention services, and procedures for determining the extent to which primary referral sources, especially hospitals and physicians, disseminate information on the availability of early intervention services to parents of infants with disabilities;
(g) A central directory which includes early intervention services, resources and experts available in the state and research and demonstration projects being conducted in the state;
(h) A comprehensive system of personnel development, including the training of paraprofessionals and the training of primary referral sources respecting the basic components of early intervention services available in the state, that is consistent with the comprehensive system of personnel development described in Part B of IDEA and that may include:
(i) Implementing innovative strategies and activities for the recruitment and retention of early intervention service providers;
(ii) Promoting the preparation of early intervention providers who are fully and appropriately qualified to provide early intervention services under this chapter;
(iii) Training personnel to work in rural areas; and
(iv) Training personnel to coordinate transition services for infants and toddlers with disabilities from an early intervention program in the early intervention system to a preschool program under Section 619 of IDEA;
(i) A single line of responsibility in the lead agency for carrying out:
(i) The general administration and supervision of programs and activities receiving assistance under Part C of IDEA, and the monitoring of programs and activities used by the state to carry out this chapter, whether or not such programs or activities are receiving assistance made available under Part C, to ensure that the state complies with Part C;
(ii) The identification and coordination of all available resources within the state from federal, state, local and private sources;
(iii) The assignment of financial responsibility in accordance with state and federal law to the appropriate agencies;
(iv) The development of procedures to ensure that services are provided to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families in a timely manner pending the resolution of any disputes among public agencies or service providers;
(v) The resolution of intra- and interagency disputes; and
(vi) The entry into formal interagency agreements that define the financial responsibility of each agency for paying for early intervention services (consistent with state law) and procedures for resolving disputes and that include all additional components necessary to ensure meaningful cooperation and coordination;
(j) A policy pertaining to contracting or making arrangements with service providers to provide early intervention services in the state as a part of the early intervention system in accordance with state law, state regulation and Part C of IDEA;
(k) A procedure for timely reimbursement of funds used in accordance with Section 41-87-15;
(l) Procedural safeguards with respect for programs participating in the early intervention system;
(m) Policies and procedures relating to the establishment and maintenance of standards to ensure that personnel necessary to implement the early intervention system are adequately and appropriately prepared and trained including:
(i) The establishment and maintenance of standards which are consistent with any state-approved or recognized certification, licensing, registration or other comparable requirements which apply to the area in which such personnel are providing early intervention services; and
(ii) To the extent such standards are not based on the highest requirements of the state applicable to a specific profession or discipline, the steps the state is taking to require the retraining or hiring of personnel that meet appropriate professional requirements in the state;
(n) A system for compiling data on the number of infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families in the state in need of appropriate early intervention services, the numbers of such infants and toddlers and their families served, the types of services provided, and other information required by the U.S. Secretary of Education, or state regulation.
