Introduction
This first edition of NASET’s new series, Special Education: What Do the Latest Numbers Tell Us?, will focus on the latest data under Infants and Toddlers Served Under IDEA, Part C. The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986 established the Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities under Part H (now Part C) of IDEA. Providing early intervention services to children with disabilities as early as birth through age 2 and their families helps to improve child developmental outcomes that are critical to educational success. Early intervention services are designed to identify and meet children’s needs in five developmental areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, and adaptive development. The early intervention program assists states in developing and implementing a statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, and multidisciplinary interagency system to make early intervention services available for all infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
January 2017 – Special Education: What Do the Latest Numbers Tell Us?
Infants and Toddlers Served Under IDEA , Part C
The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986 established the Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities under Part H (now Part C) of IDEA. Providing early intervention services to children with disabilities as early as birth through age 2 and their families helps to improve child developmental outcomes that are critical to educational success. Early intervention services are designed to identify and meet children’s needs in five developmental areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, and adaptive development. The early intervention program assists states in developing and implementing a statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, and multidisciplinary interagency system to make early intervention services available for all infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
An infant or toddler with a disability is defined as an individual under 3 years of age who needs early intervention services because the individual is experiencing a developmental delay in one or more of the five developmental areas listed above or has a diagnosed physical or mental condition that has a high probability of resulting in developmental delay [see IDEA, section 632(5)(A)]. States have the authority to define the level of developmental delay needed for Part C eligibility [see IDEA, section 635(a)(1)]. States also have the authority to define other Part C eligibility criteria. For example, at a state’s discretion, infants or toddlers with a disability may also include (1) individuals younger than 3 years of age who would be at risk of having substantial developmental delay if they did not receive early intervention services, and (2) children 3 years of age and older with disabilities who are eligible to receive preschool services under IDEA Part B, Section 619 until such children are eligible to enter kindergarten3 or an earlier timeframe, consistent with 34 CFR §303.211 [see IDEA, section 632(5)(B)]. The decisions that states make regarding these options may explain some of the differences found between states with respect to their Part C data.
5 Key Findings at the National Level
1. In 2014, there were 350,581 infants and toddlers birth through age 2 served under IDEA, Part C. Of those infants and toddlers, 346,394 were served in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This number represented 2.9 percent of the birth-through-age-2 population in the 50 states and the District of Columbia
2. From 2005 through 2014, the percentage of the resident population of infants and toddlers birth through age 2 served under IDEA, Part C, increased from 2.5 percent to 2.9 percent. The percentage of 2-year-olds in the resident population of infants and toddlers served under IDEA, Part C, either increased from the previous year or was approximately the same as in the previous year from 2005 through 2012. Between 2012 and 2013, the percentage decreased from 4.7 percent to 4.6 percent. However, the percentage increased to 4.9 in 2014. The percentage of 1-year-olds in the resident population of infants and toddlers served under IDEA, Part C, either increased from the previous year or was approximately the same as in the previous year from 2005 through 2010. Between 2010 and 2011, the percentage decreased from 2.7 percent to 2.6 percent and remained at that level in 2012. In 2013, the percentage again reached 2.7 percent and it remained there in 2014. From 2005 through 2014, approximately 1 percent of the infants and toddlers under 1 year old in the resident population were served under Part C
3. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander and White infants and toddlers had risk ratios of 1.4 and 1.2, respectively, indicating that infants and toddlers in each of these racial/ethnic groups were slightly more likely than those in all other racial/ethnic groups combined to be served under IDEA, Part C. American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Black or African American infants and toddlers and infants and toddlers associated with two or more racial/ethnic groups had risk ratios of 0.9, 0.8, 0.9, and 0.7, respectively, indicating that infants and toddlers in each of these groups were slightly less likely than those in all other racial/ethnic groups combined to be served under IDEA, Part C.
Hispanic/Latino infants and toddlers, with a risk ratio of 1, were as likely to be served under Part C as the infants and toddlers of all other racial/ethnic groups combined
4. In 2014, 88.1 percent of infants and toddlers served under Part C received their early intervention services primarily in the home. The category of community-based setting was reported as the primary early intervention setting for 7.6 percent of those served under Part C. Consequently, 95.6 percent of infants and toddlers served under IDEA, Part C, in 2014 received their early intervention services primarily in natural environments, which are defined as the home or a community-based setting
5. In 2014, home was the primary early intervention service setting for more than 84 percent of the infants and toddlers birth through age 2 served under IDEA, Part C, in each racial/ethnic group. The largest percentage of infants and toddlers served under IDEA, Part C, who received early intervention services in a community-based setting was associated with American Indian or Alaska Native children (13.1 percent), while the smallest percentage served in this setting was associated with Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander children (5.2 percent)
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