Child Find:

Identifying Children for IDEA Services in a

Remote and Virtual Context

Brookes Coffee Chat Marisa Macy, Ph.D.

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OVERVIEW

• Child Find is…
• Need for Child Find
• Virtual & Remote Child Find
• Family Communication
• Additional Resources

A Tale of Two Children

• Adriana
• Kendra • Child Find • No Child Find
• Access
• Lacking access • Coordinated • Lacking

services

coordinated services • Early necessary

resources

• Lacking early necessary resources

TIMELY EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES

CAN IMPROVE DEVELOPMENTAL, HEALTH,

AND BEHAVIORAL OUTCOMES FOR YOUNG

CHILDREN.

Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act (IDEA)

Child Find-IDEA

The passage of P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children’s Act, (20 USC 1401 et seq) in 1975 required each state and territory in the United States to create and implement a system to actively locate and screen children with disabilities, from age 5 to 18. This Child Find mandate has since been extended first to preschool age children and finally to infants and toddlers, including those who are at-risk for disabilities.

Child Find is…

“A comprehensive child find system, consistent with part B, including a system for making

referrals to service providers that includes timelines and provides for participation by primary referral sources and that ensures rigorous standards for appropriately identifying infants
and toddlers with disabilities for services under this part that will reduce the need for future services” (IDEA, Part C, Section 635, a5).

Prevalence of Disability and Risk in

Young Children

• In the United States, historical as well as current findings consistently suggest that approximately 15-17% of children ranging in age from birth to 21 years are diagnosed with a developmental-behavioral disorder or disability (IDEAdata.org).
• Infants and toddlers = 2-3%
• Preschoolers = 5-7%
• School-age = 10% or more

Early Intervention (EI)

• Birth to 3 year olds
• IDEA Part C
• About 2-3% of population of infants and toddlers

NATIONAL IDEA PART C CHILD COUNT FOR NEWBORN TO AGE 3

Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE)

• 3 to 6 year olds
• IDEA Part B, Section 619
• About 5-6% of population

Source: IDEAdata.org

NATIONAL IDEA PART B, SECTION 619 CHILD COUNT FOR AGES 3, 4, AND 5

Need for Child Find

• Substantial numbers of children have developmental delays,
• Many more children are faced with multiple risk factors in their lives,
• Many developmental delays remain undiagnosed in young children,
• The lag time from identification to entry into a program is considerable.

Problems with Child Find in Education Settings

• Existing Child Find programs vary enormously across communities and states.
• Uneven accessibility to early detection/child find programs across ethnic and income groups.
• Fragmented referral system.

Problems with Child Find in Health Settings

• The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, 2006, 2010, 2020) recommends that all children receive early identification services including surveillance and screening, and if needed, developmental or medical diagnostic evaluation.
• Despite this recommendation, many pediatric or other healthcare practices do not routinely screen their young patients nor consistently refer children identified by a screening test for follow-up assessment to determine their eligibility for services.

Problems with Child Find in Social Service Settings

• Many social service agencies offer only limited child find services for young children with whom they come in contact because of poverty, violence, neglect, abuse or homelessness.

Early Identification

• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends periodic screening for all children,
• The federal IDEA program mandates that each state conduct periodic and appropriate early detection/child find activities for infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children.

IDEA Child Find Components

1. Establish a lead agency.

2. Ensure widespread dissemination.

3. Create a central directory.

4. Evaluate the state’s Child Find efforts.

Establish a lead agency.

• Under Part B of IDEA (for children ages 3-21), the lead agency for Child Find must be the local education agency (LEA) of the state’s Department of Education, or in other words, the child’s school district.

• Under Part C of IDEA (for children birth through age 3), the lead agency does not have to be an educational agency and differs from state to state. In some states, the lead agency for Part B (i.e., Department of Education) is the same as for Part C, while in other states a health or social service agency is assigned the responsibility (e.g., Department of Public Welfare, Department of Social Services, or Department of Health).

• Child find services are provided at no cost to the parents and family of the child under the IDEA principle of Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

• Anyone can refer a child to child find; it is often parents or familiar caregivers that notice the child is developing differently from peers through their observation of the child’s development or as a result of completing developmental questionnaires.

Ensure widespread dissemination.

• Another IDEA requirement is that the public be informed about the availability of Child Find services, including the conducting of screening activities and opportunities.
• Effective community outreach initiatives for young children are especially important, since many young children do not participate in public preschools or community programs where screening occurs routinely.

Create a central directory.

• Each state system is required to have a central directory of information that addresses child find and referral services.
• The central directory needs to include agencies and services in the state that provide IDEA screening and assessment, as well as related services that parents might need such as parenting classes and community mental health services.

Evaluate state’s Child Find efforts.

IDEA requires state educational agencies to evaluate their Child Find efforts; however, most states track only the numbers of children screened through state initiatives and the numbers of children found eligible for services. Child find data from states are reported yearly to the federal government through the State Performance Plan and Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR). States with lower than expected numbers of children enrolled in special education services are required to create a state plan that explains how these numbers will be increased by detailing their future expanded child find efforts.

Developmental-behavioral screening is…

A brief, easy to complete formal test of young children’s developmental-behavioral skills that reliably discriminate those children who should be referred for further more comprehensive assessment from those who should not be referred.

Recommendations for Child Find

• Coordinated services
• Accessibility
• Necessary resources
• Alternatives for face-to-face early detection activities

Virtual/Remote Child Find

• Developmental screening over the phone.
• Developmental screening online.

Phone

Procedure Considerations

• Staff mail questionnaires to parents.
• Staff make a follow-up telephone call. Parents can complete questionnaires independently or with help from staff to read or understand items. Staff score questionnaires and discuss results with parents.

Developmental screening online.

Procedure Considerations

• Staff invite parents of young children to complete questionnaires, and parents independently complete questionnaires online. The online system scores and generates a report for professional review. A reply can be generated for parents whose children appear to be developing typically.

Developmental screening on a virtual home visit.

Procedure Considerations

• Staff provide questionnaires in advance for parents to review and complete independently.
• Adequate time is necessary for parents to observe items with the child. Staff may translate or adapt results for cultural, language differences.

Developmental screening via snail mail.

Procedure Considerations

• Staff mail questionnaires to parents. Parents complete independently and mail back to a central location for scoring and feedback. Strategies can be implemented to increase return rates.

Electronic Communication with Family

• Trust, reflection, and effective communication skills are necessary to building positive relationships with families of young children.
• Alternatives to face-to-face communication are important. Recent events have changed communication dynamics.

Publications – Resources

• Various research studies and publications detailing developmental screening and child find initiatives.

In Summary

• Child Find is a required component of the IDEA legislation.
• Early identification of delay/disability is important to the health, education, and social development of young children.
• It is important to have remote and virtual options for Child Find activities.
• Developmental-behavioral screening efforts are needed in a Child Find system.