Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) An Illinois
child under the age of 36 months of age and his or her family are eligible for
services set forth in this Part if the child:
1) is experiencing a Department determined
eligible level of developmental delay; or
2) is experiencing a medically diagnosed
physical or mental condition that typically results in developmental delay;
or
3) is, according to informed
clinical opinion of qualified staff based upon a multidisciplinary evaluation
and assessment, at risk of substantial developmental delay.
b) Eligibility must be determined,
with parental consent, using one or more of the following criteria:
1) The child is experiencing a Department
determined eligible level of developmental delay by consensus of qualified
staff based upon a timely, comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation of the
child using one or more standardized evaluations or criterion referenced
measures approved by the Department. A provider may request Department approval
of a developmental test by submitting, in writing, documentation that the test
meets the following criteria: is listed in the Mental Measurement Yearbook
Series (Burros Center for Testing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 21 Teachers
College Hall, Lincoln NE 68588-0348 (2005, no later editions or amendments
included)); is nationally distributed; is formally validated; is age
appropriate; and is individually administered. The Mental Measurement Yearbook
Series can be found at the Early Childhood Intervention Clearinghouse, many
local libraries and via the Internet.
A)
Qualified personnel must use informed clinical opinion when conducting an
evaluation and assessment of the child. Informed clinical opinion may be used
as an independent basis to establish a child's eligibility under this Part even
when other instruments do not establish eligibility; however, in no event may
informed clinical opinion be used to negate the results of evaluation
instruments used to establish eligibility. Activities to determine clinical
opinion shall include observation and parent report and shall be described in
the written report documenting the informed clinical opinion of qualified staff
that the child is experiencing delay at a level determined by the Department to
be eligible.
B) In conducting an
evaluation, procedures must include administering an evaluation instrument;
taking the child's history (including interviewing the parent); identifying the
child's level of functioning in each of the areas of development; gathering
information from other sources such as family members, other caregivers,
medical providers, social workers and educators, if necessary, to understand
the full scope of the child's unique strengths and needs; and reviewing
medical, educational and other records.
2) The child is experiencing a medically
diagnosed physical or mental condition that typically results in a
developmental delay, as determined by the Department and listed in Appendix E.
If a child exhibits a medical condition not approved by the Department as being
an eligible condition, written verification by a qualified pediatrician or
pediatric sub-specialist (pediatric neurologist, geneticist, pediatric
orthopedic surgeon, pediatrician with special interest in disabilities) that
the child's medical condition typically results in substantial developmental
delay within the varying ranges of developmental disabilities may be used;
or
3) The child is at risk of
substantial developmental delay, based on informed clinical opinion.
Development of substantial developmental delay is probable if EI services are
not provided to the child who is experiencing risk factors as defined in
Section
500.20. Risk factors
that the child is experiencing must be identified.
c) A child's medical and other records may be
used to establish eligibility (without conducting an evaluation of the child)
if those records indicate that the child's level of functioning in one or more
of the developmental areas constitutes a delay at a level determined by the
Department to be eligible or that the child otherwise meets the criteria for an
infant or toddler with a disability under subsection (a). If the child's Part C
eligibility is established under this Section, the evaluators must conduct
assessments of the child and family in accordance with subsection
(d).
d) If the child is determined
eligible, with parental consent, a multidisciplinary assessment of the unique
strengths and needs of the infant or toddler and the identification of services
appropriate to meet those needs must occur. This assessment must include a
review of the results of the evaluation, personal observations of the child,
and identification of the child's needs in each of the developmental areas.
Unless the child's eligibility is established as defined in subsection (c),
this assessment is conducted with the evaluation.
e) With parental consent, 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 that infant or toddler must be
conducted by the Service Coordinator.
f) Qualified personnel must use informed
clinical opinion when conducting an evaluation and assessment of the child. All
evaluations and assessment of the child and family must be conducted by
qualified personnel, in a nondiscriminatory manner, and selected and
administered so as not to be racially or culturally discriminatory. Unless
clearly not feasible to do so, all evaluations and assessments of a child must
be conducted in the native language of the child.
g) Eligibility shall be determined annually.
Children will continue to be eligible if they:
1) have entered the program under any of the
eligibility criteria in subsection (a) but no longer meet the current
eligibility criteria under this Section; and
2) either:
A) continue to have any measurable delay;
or
B) have not attained a level of
development in each area, including cognitive, physical (including vision and
hearing), language, speech and communication, psycho-social, or self-help
skills, that is at least at the mean of the child's age equivalent peers;
and
3) have been
determined by the multidisciplinary team to require the continuation of EI
services in order to support continuing developmental progress, pursuant to the
child's needs, and provided in an appropriate developmental manner. The type,
frequency, and intensity of services will differ from the initial
individualized family service plan (IFSP) because of the child's developmental
progress, and may consist of only service coordination, evaluation and
assessments.
h) If a
family removes a child from services prior to reaching age three years and the
child is later referred again, the child must meet eligibility criteria in
effect at the time of the subsequent referral in order to be
re-enrolled.
