RD194 - Annual Report on Virginia’s Part C Early Intervention System


Executive Summary:
Congress enacted early intervention legislation in 1986 as an amendment to the Education of Handicapped Children’s Act (1975) to ensure that all children with disabilities from birth through the age of three would receive appropriate early intervention services. This amendment formed Part H of the Act, which was re-authorized in 1991 and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). When the IDEA was re-authorized in 1998, Part H became Part C of the Act. IDEA was reauthorized in December 2004.

Virginia has participated in the federal early intervention program (under IDEA) since its inception. In 1992, the Virginia General Assembly passed state legislation that codified an infrastructure for the early intervention system that supports shared responsibility for the development and implementation of the system among various agencies at the state and local levels. The Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (DMHMRSAS) was designated as the Lead Agency. This legislation was designed to help Virginia meet federal regulations and guidelines by facilitating a move from a single-agency responsibility for service provision to an interagency, shared responsibility model for developing the early intervention system and for providing direct services to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. The broad parameters for the Part C system are established at the state level to ensure implementation of federal Part C regulations. Within the context of these broad parameters, localities determine exactly how their Part C systems will look based upon local resources and needs. In subsequent years, the General Assembly has passed legislation establishing mandates for state employees health plan and private insurance coverage for early intervention services, maximizing Medicaid coverage for Part C eligible children, and in 2001, instituting a statewide family fee system.

The Code of Virginia sections 2.2-5303, 2.2-5304.1 and 2.2-5305 provide the framework for Virginia’s Early Intervention System and charges participating state agencies with establishing a statewide system of early intervention services in accordance with state and federal statutes and regulations, identifying and maximizing coordination of all available public and private resources for early intervention services, developing and implementing formal state interagency agreements that define the financial responsibility and service obligations of each participating agency for early intervention services, establishing procedures for resolving disputes, and addressing any additional matters necessary to ensure collaboration; and consulting with the lead agency in the promulgation of regulations to implement the early intervention services system, including developing definitions of eligibility and services.

Local lead agencies determine exactly how their Part C systems will be implemented based upon federal mandates under IDEA and state requirements provided by the DMHMRSAS. The local lead agencies establish local working interagency relationships with child serving agencies, families and providers within communities, identify existing early intervention services and resources, identify gaps in the local service delivery system, identify alternative funding sources, and develop local procedures and mechanisms for implementing policies and procedures in accordance with state and federal statutes and regulations. Virginia’s Early Intervention System is a system characterized as a decentralized system of services managed by forty local lead agencies with a fair amount of local autonomy. Some local lead agencies are the sole provider of early intervention service while others support many providers.

Over the past several years, the need for early intervention services has been identified consistently in Virginia, and the importance of identifying the number of children that should be served in Virginia’s Part C system cannot be understated. There were other related issues and challenges:

• No systemic collection of data regarding planned service levels,
• No systemic cost information captured,
• No systemic delivered service information,
• No routine reporting from service providers,
• No central listing of service providers, and
• No common administrative protocol between local lead agencies and providers.

In 2004, the Social Science Research Center commissioned a private consulting firm, through a contract with the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (Department) to conduct a cost study of Virginia’s Part C Early Intervention System. As noted earlier, there were several reasons for undertaking this project, including the belief that the system most likely would have expenditures exceeding available revenues in fiscal year 2004 and that any request for additional funds would require answers to questions for which no cost data existed. The purpose and design of the cost study were to understand the total cost of Virginia’s Early Intervention System. The study process began in September of 2003 and concluded in August 2004. The average annual per child cost is $4,148 for the fiscal year 2002-2003.

The cost study highlighted the need for the Department to collect, analyze, and utilize a variety of information to ensure that Virginia’s early intervention system is using its resources, people, time, and money wisely and appropriately and is consistently working to meet its vision and to respond appropriately to the needs of young children and their families and demonstrate it efforts to consumers and constituents.

Virginia's federal Part C allocation for 2004-2005 for direct services is $8.9 million. Since 1992, the General Assembly had allocated an additional $125,000 in state general funds for use toward the provision of Part C services. In 2004, the General Assembly added $750,000 each year for early intervention services for Part C eligible children. In FY 05 and FY06 General Assembly provided an additional $2.25M per year of funding to pay for early intervention services. The legislative intent for the funding was to be used to maintain current services and meet projected annual caseload growth of eight percent. The total funding in state general funds for services stands at $3.125 million per year.

Part C Dollars FY05

Fund Source: Federal Allocation/Allocation Amount: $8,900,000

Fund Source: 1992 State Dollars/Allocation Amount: $125,000
Fund Source: FY04 State Dollars/Allocation Amount: $750,000
Fund Source: FY05 State Dollars/Allocation Amount: $2,250,000
Fund Source: State Total/Allocation Amount: $3,125,000

In 2004, with increased numbers of children identified and served, the General Assembly adopted Budget Item 334 K. The 2005 Appropriation Act continued this item and requirement.

The current budget language states:

"The Department shall amend its fiscal year 2006 contracts with the Part C Local Interagency Coordinating Council (LICC) fiscal agents to require additional reporting on (a) total revenues used to support Part C services, (b) total expenses for all Part C services, (c) total number of infants and toddlers and families served using all Part C revenues, and (d) services provided to those infants and toddlers and families. Beginning October 1, 2005 the Department shall annually report this information to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees.”