FACTS/LRE #5: Appendix F: Rock Island / Mercer County LIC

(Reprinted by permission of Local Interagency Council of Rock Island & Mercer Counties, Rock Island, Illinois.)

The intent of this agreement is to provide a continuum of services for families with children birth through five who are eligible to receive early intervention services residing in Rock Island and upper Mercer County school districts including the following: Moline #40, Rock Island #41, Riverdale #100, Hampton #29, Silvis #34, Carbon Cliff #36, Aledo #201, Rockridge #300, Sherrard #200, East Moline #37, and Westmer #203.

This agreement will establish predictable guidelines for agencies to follow. Our commitment is to keep each other well informed, to avoid duplication of effort, to close gaps in service delivery, and to ensure that needs and aspirations of families and children are at the center of each child's transition.

Throughout this agreement, reference will be made to the referring agency and the receiving agency. For the purposes of this agreement, the referring agencies include but are not limited to the following:

The proposed receiving agencies for this agreement will be but are not limited to:

It will be the responsibility of the referring agency to inform the family about the transition that may take place when a child turns three years of age. Information will be provided from the time the child first begins receiving early intervention services and will continue periodically as the time for the transition draws nearer.

Parents will receive information from the beginning of service delivery by the Early Intervention (EI) provider. This information will include available training and workshops on transition offered locally as well as alternative community resources/services. This information will be confirmed in writing and/or pamphlet form. The receiving district will conduct a thirty month conference which can occur either via telephone or face to face contact. At this time the parents' rights and responsibilities will be fully explained. In addition to a verbal explanation, the parents will receive information regarding their rights in writing through the provision of the Illinois State Board of Education's "Explanation of Procedural Safeguards Available to Parents of Children with Disabilities" and "A Parent's Guide: The Educational Rights of Students with Disabilities." Also, a copy of this agreement will be given to the parents to review. This information will be provided in the parents native language or other appropriate mode of communication used.

Information regarding the school district's continuum of programs will be shared at the thirty months conference and eligibility criteria will be reviewed.

IFSPs will be amended to include transition plans when the child turns thirty months. Parents will work jointly with the transition team to develop the plan.

To comply with federal guidelines for schools, the referring agency will request parental consent to release information to the receiving agency about the child's name, address, date of birth, and suspected disability as soon as the child begins early intervention.

The "Child Find" list will be updated and reviewed monthly. Referring agencies and names will be removed when children are no longer eligible to receive Early Intervention (EI) services.

By the age of thirty months, the referring agency will set up an initial meeting between parents, educators, and early intervention providers. Also, by this time a consent to release the most recent Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), the assessment summary, and developmental assessments completed at or near thirty months will be obtained. Related service evaluations performed by the referring agency as well as any other information that the parents wish to include from said agency will be forwarded. Parents have the option of obtaining and including independent evaluations.

To insure informed consent, parents and guardians will have the opportunity to review exactly what will be shared with the receiving agency. This will be communicated to parents and guardians in their primary language. Parents and guardians will be invited to add or rescind information that they would like to send to the receiving agency. Parents will be informed about how to rescind the release form at any time.

Related service evaluations not performed by the referring agency cannot be legally re-released. The referring agency will ask parents to sign the receiving agency's consent form so that the receiving agency can directly request and obtain these evaluations. These consent forms will also be forwarded at age thirty months.

A summary report will be available at the Multidisciplinary Case Conference (MDC) to update the child's progress on the latest Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). A representative(s) from the early intervention agency will be invited to attend the MDC.

Once all of the components of the case study evaluation have been completed, a multidisciplinary conference will be held prior to the child's third birthday to discuss the results of the case study evaluation and determine eligibility for special education programs and/or related services. The receiving district must provide written notification of the conference at least ten calendar days prior to the meeting. This notification will include the scheduled date and time, location, purpose, and participants. Participants should include but not be limited to the following individuals: the parents or guardians, representative(s) of the referring agency, representative(s) of early intervention agencies that have been involved with the child, those individuals who may provide services to the child, those individuals involved in the case study evaluation, and a local education agency (LEA) representative. Parents should be reminded by the early intervention (EI) provider of their right to bring friends or support members to the MDC. If the parent cannot attend, the district will attempt to reschedule the meeting at a mutually agreed upon time and date. In addition, the district will provide interpreters at the meeting for parents who do not speak English or are hearing impaired.

The Multidisciplinary Conference (MDC) establishes the child's eligibility for special education programming. For children found eligible, the Individual Education Plan (IEP) must be developed and implemented by the child's third birthday. The IEP meeting may or may not occur at the same time as the MDC. Resources immediately available may not match all needs identified in the child's IEP. When this happens, the participants at the IEP will:

If a child reaches age three during the summer, extended school year eligibility needs to be determined and must be based on the individual needs of the child, the anticipated degree of learning lost by the child over the summer, and the projected length of time necessary to relearn previously acquired skills or information. Otherwise, the date of initiation of services could be the beginning of the upcoming school year.

Functional goals
The referring agency working together with the family will include (on the transition plan) functional goals that assist the child and family in a smooth transition. Examples of functional goals may include visiting the school classroom, the playground, creating play group experiences, anticipating schedule changes, and other tips to assist parents in preparing their child for change.

At thirty months, the referring agency will contact the receiving agency to schedule an appointment with school staff. Following this referral, the referring agency may offer to accompany parents on visits to these potential program sites. Parents may invite a support person to accompany them on these visits.

Communication between direct service staff from referring and receiving agencies

An open line of communication between referring and receiving agency staff will be maintained. Early intervention specialists will follow each child's new placement after the transition with a phone call or visit. With parent permission, the classroom teacher may call early intervention specialists to discuss problems in a child's adjustment to a new setting.

A transition committee, consisting of no less than one parent and representatives of participating referring and receiving agencies will be formed as a standing committee of the Local Interagency Council (LIC) of Rock Island and Mercer Counties to review and monitor the agreement.

A family satisfaction survey (Appendix A) will be developed by the committee and distributed by the early intervention (EI) providers. These surveys will be reviewed by the LIC committee twice a year. Parties to the agreement may bring to the attention of committee members at any time information as to whether the letter and spirit of the agreement is being respected and carried out.

The transition committee will report to the Local Interagency Council (LIC) the results of data collected and/or problems brought to their attention. Members of the committee may propose changes in the agreement and explain their rationale for these changes. These changes may be motioned and voted upon by LIC members. If there are no changes to the agreement, the agreement will be formally reaccepted by participating members every two years.

Please help us to evaluate our transition plan so that we are better able to make transitions smoother for other children and families. All of your responses are confidential. If you wish an individual contact, you may sign your name at the end of the survey. Thank you for your time.

1. I was an active member of my child's transition team.	YES	NO
2. I went to an orientation meeting to learn about my child's next program.	YES	NO
3. The orientation meeting helped me understand more about my child's new program.	YES	NO
4. Did you receive information about community programs your child might attend or privately run preschools?	YES	NO
5. I visited the programs or classrooms that were possible placements for my child.	YES	NO
6. I was told about my child's IFSP or IEP meeting far enough in advance for me to make plans to attend.	YES	NO
7. I took part in my child's IFSP or IEP meeting.	YES	NO
8. The timelines for my child's transition were reasonable.	YES	NO
9. Did preschool services start in a reasonable amount of time?	YES	NO
10. What amount of time passed from the time EI services ended and preschool services started?	YES	NO
11. School staff members were helpful and answered my questions about transition.	YES	NO
12. I felt comfortable during the transition meetings and program site visits.	YES	NO
13. I learned some things I could do to help my child make the move to the new program.	YES	NO
14. Overall, I felt good about my child's move to the new program.	YES	NO
15. I'm glad I had a chance to:
16. I wish I had been able to:
17. One thing I would be sure to tell other parents of children moving to a new program is:
18. Additional comments:

Writing an Interagency Agreement on Transition

Appendix F3

Sample Interagency Agreements

Rock Island/Mercer County LIC