New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 8 - SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter 9 - EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
Part 8 - REQUIREMENTS FOR FAMILY INFANT TODDLER EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES
Section 8.9.8.12 - SERVICE DELIVERY

(a) designed to address the outcomes identified by the IFSP team (which includes parents and other team members);

(b) identified in collaboration with the parents and other team members through the IFSP process;

(c) listed on the IFSP if recommended by the team, including the family, even if a service provider is not available at that time;

(d) delivered to the maximum extent appropriate in the natural environment for the child and family in the context of the family's day to day life activities;

(e) designed to meet the developmental needs of the eligible child and the family's needs related to enhancing the child's development;

(f) delivered in accordance with the specific location, duration and method in the IFSP; and

(g) provided at no cost to the parent(s).

(a) Assistive technology services: services which directly assist in the selection, acquisition, or use of assistive technology devices for eligible children. This includes the evaluation of the child's needs, including a functional evaluation in the child's natural environment; purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the acquisition of assistive technology devices for eligible children; selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing assistive technology devices; coordinating and using other therapies, interventions, or services with assistive technology devices, such as those associated with existing developmental therapy, education and rehabilitation plans and programs; training or technical assistance for an eligible child and the child's family; and training or technical assistance for professionals that provide early intervention or other individuals who provide other services or who are substantially involved in the child's major life functions. Assistive technology devices are pieces of equipment, or product systems, that are used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of eligible children. Assistive technology devices and services do not include medical devices that are implanted, including a cochlear implant, or the optimization, maintenance, or replacement of such a device.

(b) Audiological services: services that address the following: identification of auditory impairment in a child using at risk criteria and appropriate audiology screening techniques; determination of the range, nature, and degree of hearing loss and communication functions, by use of audiological evaluation procedures; referral for medical and other services necessary for the habilitation or rehabilitation of children with auditory impairment; provision of auditory training, aural rehabilitation, speech reading and listening device orientation and training; provision of services for the prevention of hearing loss; and determination of the child's need for individual amplification, including selecting, fitting, and dispensing appropriate listening and vibrotactile devices, and evaluating the effectiveness of those devices.

(c) Developmental instruction: services that include working in a coaching role with the family or other caregiver, the design of learning environments and implementation of planned activities that promote the child's healthy development and acquisition of skills that lead to achieving outcomes in the child's IFSP. Developmental instruction provides families and other caregivers with the information, skills, and support to enhance the child's development. Developmental instruction addresses all developmental areas: cognitive, communication, physical/motor, vision, hearing), social or emotional and adaptive development. Developmental instruction services are provided in collaboration with the family and other personnel providing early intervention services in accordance with the IFSP.

(d) Family therapy, counseling and training: services provided, as appropriate, by licensed social workers, family therapists, counselors, psychologists, and other qualified personnel to assist the parent(s) in understanding the special needs of their child, supporting the parent-child relationship, and to assist with emotional, mental health and relationship issues of the parent(s) related to parenting and supporting their child's healthy development.

(e) Family service coordination: services and activities as designated in the IFSP and performed by a designated individual to assist and enable the families of children from birth through age three years of age to access and receive early intervention services. The responsibilities of the family service coordinator include acting as the single point of contact for: coordinating, facilitating and monitoring the delivery of services to ensure that services are provided in a timely manner; coordinating services across agency lines; assisting parents in gaining access to, and coordinating the provision of, early intervention services and other services as identified on the IFSP; explaining early intervention services to families, including family rights and procedural safeguards; gathering information from the family regarding their concerns, priorities and resources; coordinating the evaluation and assessment activities; facilitating the determination of the child's eligibility; referring the family to providers for needed services and supports; scheduling appointments for IFSP services for the child and their family; helping families plan and prepare for their IFSP meeting; organizing, facilitating and participating in IFSP meetings; arranging for and coordinating all services listed on the IFSP; conducting follow-up activities to determine that appropriate services are being provided; coordinating funding sources for services provided under the IFSP; facilitating periodic reviews of the IFSP; ensuring that a transition plan is developed at the appropriate time; and facilitating the activities in the transition plan to support a smooth and effective transition from FIT services.

(f) Health services: those health related services that enable an eligible child to benefit from the provision of other early intervention service during the time that the child is receiving the other early intervention services. These services include, but are not limited to, clean intermittent catheterization, tracheostomy care, tube feeding, the changing of dressings or colostomy collection bags, and other health services; and consultation by physicians with other service providers concerning the special health care needs of eligible children that will need to be addressed in the course of providing other early intervention services. Health services do not include surgery or purely medical services; devices necessary to control or treat a medical condition; medical-health services (such as immunizations and regular "well-baby" care) that are routinely recommended for all children; or services related to implementation, optimization, maintenance or replacement of a medical device that is surgically implanted.

(g) Medical services: those services provided for diagnostic or evaluation purposes by a licensed physician to determine a child's developmental status and other information related to the need for early intervention services.

(h) Nursing services: those services that enable an eligible child to benefit from early intervention services during the time that the child is receiving other early intervention services and include the assessment of health status for the purpose of providing nursing care; the identification of patterns of human response to actual or potential health problems; provision of nursing care to prevent health problems, restore or improve functioning, and promote optimal health and development; and administration of medication, treatments, and regimens prescribed by a licensed physician.

(i) Nutrition services: include conducting individual assessments in nutritional history and dietary intake; anthropometric biochemical and clinical variables; feeding skills and feeding problems; and food habits and food preferences. Nutrition services also include developing and monitoring appropriate plans to address the nutritional needs of eligible children; and making referrals to appropriate community resources to carry out nutrition goals.

(j) Occupational therapy services: those services that address the functional needs of a child related to adaptive development, adaptive behavior and play, and sensory, motor, and postural development. These services are designed to improve the child's functional ability to perform tasks in a home, school, and community setting. Occupational therapy includes identification, assessment, and intervention; adaptation of the environment and selection, design and fabrication of assistive and orthotic devices to facilitate the development and promote the acquisition of functional skills, and prevention or minimization of the impact of initial or future impairment, delay in development, or loss of functional ability.

(k) Physical therapy services: those services that promote sensorimotor function through enhancement of musculoskeletal status, neurobehavioral organization, perceptual and motor development, cardiopulmonary status, and effective environmental adaptation. Included are screening, evaluation, and assessment of infants and toddlers to identify movement dysfunction; obtaining interpreting, and integrating information appropriate to program planning to prevent or alleviate movement dysfunction and related functional problems; and providing individual and group services to prevent or alleviate movement dysfunction and related functional problems.

(l) Psychological services: those services delivered as specified in the IFSP which include administering psychological and developmental tests and other assessment procedures; interpreting assessment results; obtaining, integrating, and interpreting information about child behavior, and child and family conditions related to learning, mental health, and development; and planning and management of a program of psychological services, including psychological counseling for children and parents, family counseling, consultation on child development, parent training, and education programs.

(m) Sign language and cued language services: services that include teaching sign language, cued language, and auditory/oral language, providing oral transliteration services (such as amplification), and providing sign and cued language interpretation.

(n) Social work services: those activities as designated in the IFSP that include identifying, mobilizing, and coordinating community resources and services to enable the child and family to receive maximum benefit from early intervention services; preparing a social or emotional developmental assessment of the child within the family context; making home visits to evaluate patterns of parent-child interaction and the child's living conditions, providing individual and family-group counseling with parents and other family members, and appropriate social skill-building activities with the child and parents; and working with those problems in a child's and family's living situation that affect the child's maximum utilization of early intervention services.

(o) Speech and language pathology services: those services as designated in the IFSP which include identification of children with communicative or oral-motor disorders and delays in development of communication skills, including the diagnosis and appraisal of specific disorders and delays in those skills; provision of services for the habilitation or rehabilitation of children with communicative or oral-motor disorder and delays in development of communication skills; and provision of services for the habilitation, rehabilitation, or prevention of communicative or oral-motor disorders and delays in development of communication skills.

(p) Transportation services: supports that assist the family with the cost of travel and other related costs as designated in the IFSP that are necessary to enable an eligible child and family to receive early intervention services or providing other means of transporting the child and family.

(q) Vision services: services delineated in the IFSP that address visual functioning and ability of the child to most fully participate in family and community activities. These include evaluation and assessment of visual functioning including the diagnosis and appraisal of specific visual disorders, delays and abilities; referral for medical or other professional services necessary for the habilitation or rehabilitation of visual functioning disorder; and communication skills training. Vision services also include orientation and mobility training addressing concurrent motor skills, sensation, environmental concepts, body image, space/time relationships, and gross motor skills. Orientation and mobility instruction is focused on travel and movement in current environments and next environments and the interweaving of skills into the overall latticework of development. Services include evaluation and assessment of infants and toddlers identified as blind/visually impaired to determine necessary interventions, vision equipment, and strategies to promote movement and independence.