Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) The Department shall provide ongoing and
continuous public awareness efforts focused on the early identification of
eligible children throughout the State.
1)
The Department shall prepare information on the availability of EI services
under this Part.
2) With the
assistance of the regional intake entities and local interagency councils, the
Department will disseminate to all primary referral sources (especially
hospitals and physicians) the information to be given to parents of infants and
toddlers, especially parents with premature infants or infants with other
physical risk factors associated with learning or developmental complication.
The information to be provided shall include:
A) description of the availability of EI
services under this Part;
B)
description of the child find system and how to refer a child under the age of
three for an evaluation or EI services; and
C) information about the Central Directory
(see Section
500.30
).
3) The Department may
make direct mailings to primary referral sources as defined in this Part,
distribute pamphlets and posters at pertinent locations and use media releases
and campaigns to the public and professional organizations as necessary to
create awareness, in addition to the activities set forth in this
Part.
4) Primary referral sources
are required to make referrals to the EI System as soon as possible, but in no
case more than five business days after a potentially eligible child is
identified. Primary referral sources, as listed in subsection (b), with
assistance of the regional intake entities and local interagency councils, will
disseminate information on the availability of EI services under this Part to
parents of infants and toddlers, especially parents with premature infants or
infants with other physical risk factors associated with learning or
developmental complication.
b) The regional intake entity as set forth in
Section
500.45
serves as the central intake for each eligible child within its geographical
area. By use of the Central Directory set forth in Section 500.30, primary
referral sources can identify and contact the appropriate regional entity.
Primary referral sources include:
1)
hospitals, including prenatal and post-natal care facilities;
2) physicians;
3) parents, including parents of infants and
toddlers;
4) child care programs
and early learning programs, including, Early Head Start Programs;
5) local educational agencies and
schools;
6) public health
facilities;
7) other public health
and social services agencies;
8)
other clinics and health care providers;
9) Public agencies and staff in the child
welfare system, including child protective service and foster care;
10) Homeless family shelters; and
11) Domestic violence shelters and
agencies.
c) The local
interagency council shall be responsible for coordination, design and
implementation of child find and public awareness activities for their
geographic region. Such efforts shall take into consideration the region's
cultural, communication, geographical and socio-economic make-up.
d) The regional intake entity and the local
interagency council shall assure that activities are coordinated with
comprehensive local and statewide efforts and shall provide information to the
Department as requested and required in order for the Department to monitor the
effectiveness of the efforts and determine possible gaps in public awareness
and child find. If gaps are determined, the regional intake entity and the
local interagency council shall increase efforts as required.
e) Local interagency councils shall assist
in:
1) Development of collaborative
agreements between local service providers, diagnostic and other agencies
providing additional services to the child and family and agreements related to
transition and integration of eligible children and families into the
community;
2) Local needs
assessment, planning and evaluation efforts;
3) Identification and resolution of local
access issues;
4) Provider
recruitment; and
5) Development of
an annual report to the Council regarding child find and public
awareness.
f) The
Department has entered into interagency agreement with the Illinois State Board
of Education (ISBE) regarding coordinating ISBE's responsibility under Part B
of IDEA to conduct child find of 0-21 year olds with the Department
responsibility under Part C. Local education agencies (LEAs) are responsible to
ISBE for carrying out specific obligations regarding child find.
1) LEAs shall:
A) conduct public awareness activities
targeting families and other primary referral sources;
B) conduct screenings (by developmental
checklists) to actively seek out infants and toddlers with disabilities or
delays, report to the Department on these screenings and maintain procedures to
assure compliance with the five-day referral time frame (schedules of screening
dates and locations will be provided to the regional intake entity, other
providers and the local advisory body);
C) work closely with their regional intake
entity to assure evaluations of identified children; and
D) participate actively in their local
advisory body (and as a member participate in coordination of public awareness
and child find).
2) ISBE
will:
A) provide technical assistance to LEAs
to carry out screening and identification;
B) monitor to assure that services are
available in each LEA jurisdiction; and
C) if notified by the Department that an LEA
is not providing appropriate public awareness and child find, contact the LEA
to assure the establishment of appropriate awareness, screening and
identification (and report effort and screening dates back to the
Department).
