FACTS/LRE #5: Writing an Interagency Agreement on Transition

Each year, hundreds of thousands of young children exit early intervention programs. Many of these children are eligible to receive continued special education services under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). At one time, the service options for these children were fairly limited, with the overwhelming majority of children receiving services through a special education preschool program run by the local school district. However, there is a growing recognition that the individual needs of children and families may be met in a variety of settings. The movement towards inclusion, bolstered by the current interpretation of the least restrictive environment (LRE) clause in IDEA, has led to increased placement options for preschool children with special needs. While some children may receive special education services in a special education preschool program, other children will receive services in their home, child care, or community preschool. The wide range of service options can complicate the transition from early intervention, as policies may differ from one service provider to another. Variations in how eligibility is determined, how information is transferred, and the type of service plan used are examples of the many differences that families may encounter as they prepare their child to make the age three transition. It is not unusual for parents to report that their child's transition from early intervention was hectic or chaotic. However, this transition does not have to be disruptive: with careful planning, the transition from early intervention to preschool services can be smooth.

FACTS/LRE has worked with 37 Local Interagency Councils representing over 80 counties in the State of Illinois to assist them in writing their own inter-agency agreement on the age three transition. Our project has also worked with 5 First Steps Councils representing 10 counties in Indiana.

An interagency agreement that focuses on the age three transition can guide service providers in planning transitions. A good interagency agreement will establish predictable guidelines, spell out procedures to be followed, and clarify the roles and responsibilities for individuals and agencies participating in the transition. For example, an interagency agreement should specify how information is transmitted from one agency to another, how assessments are conducted, and how eligibility for continued services is determined. In sum, an interagency agreement provides communities with a clear plan that can help to facilitate a family and child's transition from early intervention to preschool or other service options.

Writing an interagency agreement is not always easy. It takes time, commitment, and hard work. However, the benefits make the effort worthwhile. The purpose of this manual is to provide you with detailed, step-by-step information about how to write an interagency agreement on the age three transition in your own community. Worksheets that help you move through the process of writing an agreement are provided. After completing these worksheets, you will have the outline of an agreement. The information presented in this manual is based on our own experiences in assisting many communities to write their own interagency agreements.

What benefits do you see coming out of the agreement?

I just think it's a great deal less frightening for everybody. The early childhood personnel would know and be able to communicate with EI people and EI people would be able to communicate with the families. And the families are going to be able to communicate with early childhood people.

... I wish we could do this with just about everything we have. And I wish it would be as easy.

- Anonymous

Actually the families are the ones benefitting the most. Because the transition from early intervention is just a lot smoother. We know who to connect them to.

- Anonymous

Setting the Stage

Forming a Team to Write the Agreement

Before you sit down to draft an agreement, you will want to pull together a "transition team" to work on the agreement. Who should be on that team? Clearly, it will vary from community to community. However, we suggest that the following individuals be invited to participate:

In those communities that have a Local Interagency Coordinating Council, it has been helpful to have the coordinator of the council pull the team together. Try to ensure that all individuals on the team have the time to commit to the process. Chances are, you will not write your agreement in one day!

What should you do if you have six school districts in your community and only three agree to participate in writing the agreement? Don't worry about it. Work with the people you have. In our experience, individuals whose agencies did not participate in writing the agreement often have decided to sign it after it was completed.

The Process of Writing an Agreement

Your team will get together as a group on several occasions to draft the agreement. Some teams will meet six or seven times over the course of several months before the agreement is finalized. Typically teams whose members have not worked together in the past on a common issue require more time to become acquainted with each other, to share information, to build trust, and to reach consensus on issues addressed in the agreement. During these meetings, you will work through the worksheets provided in this manual. Each worksheet addresses a specific component of the agreement. As a team, you will need to reach consensus on how you want to address that component in your own agreement. You will answer several "wh" questions: what transition related activities you want to take place, when you want them to take place, and who will be responsible for making sure that they take place. In addition, you will also determine how they will take place.

Team members will discuss their views on the different topics until agreement is reached, although it may take some time for this to happen. Sometimes, you will find that the group is having difficulty reaching accord on a specific topic. You may find it helpful to put that topic aside and move on to another one. You can always revisit the first topic at a later date. In some instances, it may be useful to invite an objective outsider to facilitate group discussion around a sticky issue.

To ensure consistency from meeting to meeting, we recommend that you designate one individual as the official note taker. That person can take the draft from each meeting, type it, and circulate it prior to the next meeting. If you have access to a lap top computer, bring it along. Typing as you go can speed up the process considerably. We suggest that you start each meeting by reading the draft agreement out loud to make sure that all members agree with the language it contains. It may be slow going at first, but this investment of time has led many teams to achieve consensus and to take ownership in their finished work.

Writing Your Agreement

The worksheets provided in this manual address seven components that should be included in your community's interagency agreement:

The worksheets that follow provide guiding questions to assist you in thinking through how you would like to do things in your own community. For each component we will ask you to address four questions:

We hope that this format will assist you in developing a clear, concise plan that will assure continuous, well coordinated services for young children and their families.

1. Purpose statement

The purpose statement provides a framework for the interagency agreement and sets forth a vision for what you hope to accomplish with the agreement. The purpose statement should address these questions:

We recognize that a transition from early intervention to an early childhood program is a major event in a child's life. The intent of this agreement is to promote a seamless service delivery system at this transition stage for young children with special needs and their families living in Sangamon, Logan, Mason and Menard counties. It is our intent that this agreement will be family-focused, will reduce any anxiety of children and families facing this transition, and increase collaboration among those providing services. This agreement will establish predictable guidelines 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.

FACES-Local Interagency Council, Springfield, Illinois

Interagency Agreement on Transition

Purpose Statement

This interagency agreement is designed to:

Transition children from early intervention to early childhood services in a timely manner;
Respect the rights, opinions, and concerns of the diverse tri-county population;
Allow for flexibility in options for service delivery and settings;
Nurture a parents-as-partners philosophy through parental training and support;
Streamline the transition process through a collaborative team effort;
Include follow-up and safeguards throughout the transition process;
Track information flow to eliminate gaps and duplication of services and assessments;
Implement a mutually beneficial, family-friendly system of transition;
Outline specific procedures and timelines for transition planning and implementation;
Network parents and interagency staff into teams focusing on the best interest of each child.

- Cass-Morgan-Scott Local Intervention Council, Jacksonville, Illinois

2. Transmitting Information

A clear plan for sending and sharing information between sending and receiving agencies will improve accessibility of services--and promote an efficient use of resources. The intent of this section of the agreement is to identify information that must be shared between the sending and receiving agencies. Agency personnel can gather pertinent information by asking themselves the following questions:

In addition to gathering information around key questions, the following issues should be considered when writing this section.

A. Obtaining Informed Consent

What: To protect the confidentiality of children and their families, it is essential to define or clarify the concept of informed consent within the agreement. Informed consent means that parents and guardians have the opportunity to review the information that will be provided to the receiving agency and consent to its release. Parents must sign an informed consent form before any information is released.

How: The informed consent form should be in the parents' first language and should specify that they have the right to either add or rescind information that is sent to the receiving agency.

When: Informed consent to release information may be obtained at any time. Many programs ask families to sign a release of identifying information at enrollment. They may wait until they begin planning for the child's transition (e.g., 90-180 days before the child's third birthday) to request consent to release more detailed information. Some agencies request that families sign a "blanket" release at their child's entrance to a program. Blanket release forms which give the early intervention agency the ability to send anything they want should be avoided as they take away the parents' rights to review information forwarded to the receiving agency.

Who: Early intervention programs typically request the informed consent from the child's parents or guardians.

How: Informed consent should be fully explained to the parents. Parents have the option of waiting to sign the consent.

To insure informed consent, parents and guardians will have the opportunity to review exactly what will be shared with the receiving agency...Parents and guardians will be invited to add or rescind information that they would like to send to the receiving agency.

- Local Interagency Council of Rock Island & Mercer Counties, Rock Island, Illinois

B. Releasing Identifying Information

What: Identifying information consists of the name, birthdate, parents or guardian's name, address, phone number, and the suspected disability of all potentially eligible children. Some families may not be comfortable having their child's suspected disability forwarded to the LEA. Your team will need to discuss whether information related to suspected disability is routinely forwarded.

When: This information is sent by the early intervention agency only after informed consent is obtained. Sending and receiving agencies must agree on a schedule for sending information regarding potentially eligible children. Options may include: (a) sending information as soon as a child enters the early intervention system, (b) sending information when a child reaches a specific age (e.g., 30 or 33 months), or (c) identifying standard calendar dates when information will be sent (e.g., October 15, April 15) on all children enrolled in the early intervention program.

Who: This information is released to the local education agency by the early intervention agency to assist with Child Find activities. To expedite planning for future enrollments or service needs, sending and receiving agencies may wish to establish dates for releasing identifying child and family information. This assists school districts in determining who (or how many children) in their service area potentially may require services at age 3. Because families may move or children may graduate from services, it may be helpful to periodically update the service list.

Annually by December 31, referring agencies will forward to the LEA designee a count of all children who live in that district and are receiving EI services on December 1.

- Mid-Illinois Local Interagency Council, Vandalia, Illinois

C. Forwarding More Detailed Information (IFSPs, evaluations)

What: Detailed information includes the child's name, demographic information, current IFSP, the most recent assessment and related service evaluations, and any other information generated by the sending agency that parents wish to include. Some early intervention agencies may not be able to release information that was not generated by their agency. In this instance, parents may need to sign an additional release form to allow the receiving program to request records from related service providers that are not a part of the early intervention program.

When: The formal onset of transition planning (90 or 180 days before the child's third birthday) typically provides the time frame for releasing more extensive information regarding the child (e.g., IFSPs, evaluations, etc.). Information is forwarded prior to the child turning three and with sufficient lead time to allow the receiving agency to use information in planning for the child's service needs.

Who: The early intervention agency sends all information to the receiving agency.

D. Sending Discharge Reports

What: A discharge report summarizes the progress that a child has made since entry into the early intervention program. This report may include other documents or notes from the program.

When: The discharge report may be sent after the child is formally discharged from the program. However, you may wish to consider summarizing the child's progress one to two months prior to discharge to allow this information to be used in determining appropriate goals and objectives for children who are eligible for special education services.

Who: The sending agency is responsible for sending the discharge summary to the receiving agency.

3. Discussing Transition Issues With Families and Identifying Support for Families in the Transition Process

To be active participants in the planning process, families must have information. Federal regulations (34 CFR 303. 344) require that families be provided with information regarding the transition process as well as training regarding their legal rights. The intent of this section of the interagency agreement is to identify the information that families should receive and the roles that families may wish to assume in planning for the change in services. The agreement should focus on what information must be shared, when it is shared, and by whom.

The following issues should be considered in writing this section. Items A and B must be addressed to ensure that legal requirements are met.

The referring agency and the receiving agency each shall designate a contact person(s) responsible for coordinating transition activities for children under the age of kindergarten.

- Birth-Through-Five Interagency Coordinating Council of
Coles, Cumberland, Douglas and Shelby Counties,
Charleston, Illinois

Parents, sending agencies, and receiving agencies will collaborate to provide a workshop for families to acquaint them with transition issues, procedures, and parents' legal rights.

- Greater Interagency Council, Flossmoor, Illinois

(1) The IFSP must include steps to be taken to support the transition of the child, upon reaching age three, to-

(i) Preschool services under Part B to the extent that those services are considered appropriate; or
(ii) Other services that may be available, if appropriate.

(2) The steps required in paragraph (h) (1) of this section include-

(i) Discussions with, and training of, parents regarding future placement and other matters related to the child's transition;
(ii) Procedures to prepare the child for changes in service delivery, including steps to help the child adjust to, and function in, a new setting; and
(iii) With parental consent, the transmission of information about the child to the local educational agency to ensure continuity of services including evaluation and assessment information required in 303.322, and copies of IFSPs that have been developed and implemented in accordance with 303.340 and 303.346.

- Federal regulation 303.344 from PL 99-457, Part H

A. Acquainting Families with Procedures, Transition Issues, Legal Rights under Part B (special education and related services)

What: There are a number of issues with which families need to be acquainted prior to the transition. These issues include:

When: Federal guidelines require that transition planning begin at least 90 days before the child turns three; some states (e.g., Illinois) require notification and planning 180 days before the third birthday. The intent of planning is to provide families with information about the process as well as information about their legal rights. Such planning may begin as soon as families enter early intervention services or as late as 90 or 180 days before the child reaches three years of age.

Who: The team should designate which agency will provide the information or if it will be provided in concert by referring and receiving agencies.

How: Information should be written and whenever possible provided in the family's first language. Some agencies provide annual or semiannual workshops and open houses to share this information with families.

B. Amending IFSPs to Include Transition Plans

When: The IFSP should be amended at least 90 days before the child turns 3 years and in some states 180 days before the third birthday.

Who: The referring agency or service coordinator is responsible for convening a team meeting with the family to develop the transition plan. In some communities, the receiving agency (LEA) sends a representative to this meeting to begin sharing information regarding the continuum of services and to ensure collaborative planning with the family for the transition.

The plan should include information such as the identification of the child's skills, experiences which would assist the child, techniques which work well with the child, and other service needs expressed by the parent/legal guardian.

- Local Interagency Council of Macon, Piatt, DeWitt, and Moultrie Counties,
Decatur, Illinois

C. Helping Families Become Familiar with the Array of Services for Which a Child May Be Eligible

What: Families should receive information about services currently offered by the local school district as well as community based preschool programs, park and recreation services, etc.

When: At a minimum, this information should be provided within the 90 to 180 day planning time.

How: Options may include: written information (such as resource directories); workshops with representatives from a range of services and programs; and visits by family members to services and programs which are of interest to them (e.g., community preschools, Head Start, private services).

The sending agencies will provide families the opportunity to view available videotapes of various public school early childhood classrooms, private preschools, Head Start, day cares, and public programs.

- McLean County Local Interagency Council, Bloomington, Illinois

D. Providing Support for Families in Preparing Their Child for the Transition

What: Specific supports should be family driven and need not be specified in the agreement unless financial arrangements are involved. In such cases, the agency assuming fiscal responsibility for certain supports (e.g., transportation for program visits) may be specified along with the support. Examples of support may include: assisting families in visiting potential programs, arranging transportation to attend meetings, home visits to provide information, and if needed, support and training on "readiness" skills to assist the child's adjustment to new services.

Support activities should be written into the transition plan. Support activities may include parent to parent linkages, visits to potential programs, advocacy training, play groups, and consultation with EI family support specialists.

- Mid-Illinois Local Interagency Council, Vandalia, Illinois

4. Determining Eligibility

In a community where a good interagency agreement has been implemented, staff from early intervention and early childhood programs will have had some discussion about the differences and similarities between the eligibility requirements of their respective services and programs, and about the procedures that they follow in determining eligibility.

The intent of this section of the interagency agreement is to make the process of eligibility determination less cumbersome, more family-friendly, and more likely to result in a well-informed decision about each child's eligibility. Transition planning by the sending and receiving programs or agencies will enable both sets of families--those whose children will continue to receive services after they turn three and those whose children will not--to plan ahead for the next phase in their children's lives. They will want to clarify the following issues.

Transition planning by the sending and receiving programs or agencies will enable both sets of families--those whose children will continue to receive services after they turn three and those whose children will not--to plan ahead for the next phase in their children's lives.

A. Assessing Children's Developmental Progress

What: Good agreements specify that assessments will take place whenever possible in natural settings in which the child already participates (home, toddler group, child care). An interagency agreement addresses the nature of the information required by the receiving agency, the methods and locations where it will be collected, and parental consent. Some agreements may indicate whether assessments conducted by the early intervention agency may be used by the school district in determining a child's eligibility for services.

When: The team should identify and discuss the time frame in which assessments conducted by the sending program staff can be useful to the receiving program in making its determination of eligibility. Assessments of two year old children can become rapidly outdated.

Who: The following questions may guide discussion on this issue: Will the school district recognize assessments conducted by the staff of the early intervention program as valid for purposes of the multidisciplinary case conference (MDC)? Do they accept only selected, standardized assessments conducted by certified staff or will they accept a variety of assessments conducted by early intervention personnel? An interagency agreement offers an opportunity for sending and receiving staff to discuss and clarify these issues. Some agreements specify exactly which portions of the assessment will be conducted by the sending program and which by the receiving program. Others leave this issue to be worked out as each individual child's transition planning begins.

Results of testing and evaluations conducted after age 30 months by appropriately credentialed professionals will be considered current and not duplicated as part of the Case Study Evaluation.

- Mid-Illinois Local Interagency Council, Vandalia, Illinois

Sending and receiving agencies will coordinate a collaborative evaluation. This collaborative evaluation will serve as the exit evaluation of the sending agencies as well as the initial case study evaluation of the potential receiving agencies.

- McLean County Local Interagency Council, Bloomington, Illinois

How: Sending and receiving programs may agree that they will confer at a set time (for instance, at age 30 months) regarding eligibility determination of each child. At that time, they may exchange information about what assessments are on file or planned for the near future, and what additional assessments are required before age three. At this time, they can request the cooperation of the family and make arrangements for informed consent.

B. Identifying Family Concerns, Priorities, and Resources

What: The agreement will reflect the need to gather information about family resources, priorities, and concerns as they prepare for their child's transition and they start to think about their child's eligibility for continued services.

When: This can happen whenever the family and service providers begin thinking about the transition, but no later than three to six months before the child's third birthday.

Who: Some families are comfortable with the early intervention program staff conveying information on their behalf to the receiving program, while others prefer to convey the information themselves as one facet of developing a relationship with the new service provider. The agreement could specify that the early intervention program staff will check with the family as to their preference.

How: Some interagency agreements specify a joint home visit by the staff of early intervention and receiving agencies. Others include a visit by the family to the receiving program, whether a school district program or a community based preschool, before the child begins new services. This gives families the opportunity to provide information about their resources, priorities, and concerns to their child's new service providers, while still being supported by the current providers. A good interagency agreement will give families more than one choice about how to communicate with prospective providers.

Some families are comfortable with the early intervention program staff conveying information on their behalf to the receiving program, while others prefer to convey the information themselves as one facet of developing a relationship with the new service provider.

C. Convening the Multidisciplinary Conference (MDC)

What: Federal law requires that eligibility for special education services be determined in a meeting that includes professionals from two or more disciplines who have assessed the child's development, the parents or guardians of the child, and anyone else whom the parents would like to invite. Referred to in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as the multidisciplinary conference (MDC), this meeting is colloquially known in various states and communities as a "staffing," a "case conference," or a "core evaluation." An interagency agreement clarifies at minimum who is expected to attend this meeting and how they will be notified.

When: A good interagency agreement will require that the MDC take place no later than one or two months prior to the child's third birthday. This time line gives families of eligible children time to prepare for the new setting, while giving families of children who are not eligible for continued services time to plan (with the help of the early intervention staff) for alternative educational and child care experiences. This time line also allows school districts adequate time to plan an appropriate individualized education program for each incoming student.

Who: The school district is legally obligated to convene the MDC. The interagency agreement should state that families' schedules and preferences should be taken into account when setting the time for the MDC. The agreement also should say that parents may invite whomever they wish to accompany them to the MDC, and that representatives from the early intervention program will be invited--with adequate notice--unless the family prefers that they not be present.

How: Parties to an interagency agreement can decide whether notification of meeting times and places and other communication in preparation for the MDC will take place through written communication, telephone calls, or other means, and specify this in the agreement.

Professionals will make every effort to be accessible to parents in order to share any information relevant to the MDC at least one working day prior to the MDC on parent request.

- Cass-Morgan-Scott Local Intervention Council, Jacksonville, Illinois

D. Conducting the Case Conference

What: Federal and state laws authorizing special education services currently are based on a "deficit model" in which children's disabilities or developmental delays must be carefully documented and categorized. For this reason, many MDC meetings consist primarily of the assessment reports of professionals who have documented the academic, social, and physical abilities of the child as well as any special needs. A good interagency agreement will help to guide sending and receiving agencies toward more family-friendly case conferences that are nonetheless in compliance with state and federal laws and regulations.

When: Ideally, the multidisciplinary conference will be held 30-60 days prior to the child's third birthday. This time frame will allow all involved parties (families, children, and receiving programs) adequate time to plan for the child's new program.

Who: The MDC is convened by the school district. A representative from the LEA is charged with running the meeting.

How: Sending and receiving agencies should consider separating the MDC meeting, which determines the child's eligibility for special education services, from the IEP meeting, the meeting at which goals and objectives for the child are discussed, the IEP is drafted, and an appropriate placement determined. The MDC and the IEP are both legally mandated functions. However, they have been combined so frequently into one meeting, that many professionals and families have forgotten that they may be conducted independently of one another. There can be a real benefit to resolving the eligibility question at one time, and then coming back later to work on goals, objectives, and appropriate placement. When a child's eligibility for continued services has been unclear, or when a diagnosis of a disability has never been presented to a family before, it may be difficult for a family to focus on services which their child may need. Separating the MDC from the IEP meeting gives families additional time to think about their child's needs before they have to make a placement decision.

Sending and receiving agencies should consider separating the MDC meeting, which determines the child's eligibility for special education services, from the IEP meeting, the meeting at which goals and objectives for the child are discussed, the IEP is drafted, and an appropriate placement determined.

At the MDC, each discipline will share information regarding the child, and if eligibility is established, the parents will actively participate in the development of the Individualized Education Plan. The IEP meeting may be held at a later date.

- Local Interagency Council of Macon, Piatt, DeWitt, and Moultrie Counties, Decatur, Illinois

The agreement may include language that separates these two functions into separate meetings. In instances when there will be only one meeting, the agreement may provide ground rules to make the conference more family friendly. For example, the agreement may stipulate that the MDC will begin with a brief discussion of how the child is progressing in his or her current activities in the home or community, with input from the family and sending program staff. After that, the reports from members of the receiving program staff--who tend to be relatively unknown to the family and child--may be delivered.

5. Preparing Children for the Transition

Transitions can be hard on everyone. For a young child with special needs, the transition from early intervention services to preschool services can be especially difficult. In addition to saying good-bye to one service provider and saying hello to an unknown service provider, many children are encountering a group setting for the first time. Some children have never been away from their families for an extended period of time, while others may find the bus that comes to get them unfamiliar and intimidating. It is not unusual for a child to feel anxiety about the change. Therefore, it is important that steps be taken to prepare the child for the transition. Talking about the new program in a positive manner, taking the child to meet the new teacher, and teaching the child skills that he or she may need in the new setting are excellent ways to prepare a child. Your interagency agreement should identify steps that agencies and families will take to prepare children for successful transitions.

Talking about the new program in a positive manner, taking the child to meet the new teacher, and teaching the child skills that he or she may need in the new setting are excellent ways to prepare a child.

A. Program Visits

What: The agreement may specify that early intervention program staff will assist the family in identifying a range of receiving programs to visit (and accompany them if they wish). It may also specify that the purpose of such visits is to enable families to view a spectrum of options, but not to give them the right to select a specific classroom from among those of the very same type (e.g. parallel classrooms within a single agency or school). The agreement may also provide for the distribution of information to families about what to look for in an early childhood classroom.

Who: Parents should be encouraged to visit a variety of potential settings. Once a program has been selected, they should be encouraged to bring their child to visit the new setting. The child should be invited to explore the new setting and to interact with other children or staff. An interagency agreement can specify individuals from receiving programs to contact in order to arrange visits.

When: Program visits to potential sites may occur anytime in the 90-180 day planning period. Once a program has been selected, parents should feel free to bring their child to visit the new setting. More than one trip may be required to help the child feel comfortable. Visits should be coordinated with a representative from the receiving agency to ensure that they occur at time that is convenient for both families and programs.

B. Staff Communication

What: Children benefit when practitioners in the sending and receiving settings share information about skills or experiences that may help children succeed in the new program.

When: Once a decision has been made as to the child's next placement, all parties to the agreement can commit themselves to facilitating communication between their respective staffs regarding that child's transition.

How: Parties to the agreement may offer release time to their staffs to communicate by telephone, through meetings, or visits, with staff from other programs. In addition to individualized communication regarding specific children, the agreement may call on receiving programs to make available to the sending programs and families print, video, or other types of general information that will offer guidance about the nature of their programs, the typical daily schedules, and behavioral expectations for children in their settings.

6. Selecting Appropriate Services and Identifying Where Services Are Delivered for Eligible Children

Once a child's eligibility has been determined at the multidisciplinary conference, the team, which includes both parents and professionals, is faced with the task of determining appropriate services for the child. As stated previously in this manual, program services and placement can be determined at the MDC or it can be done later at a separate meeting. Key points to keep in mind regarding services and program selection are discussed below.

A. Ensuring Continuity of Services

What: The IEP specifies services to be provided to meet the child's needs and the intensity and duration of service provision. Services can be provided in special education preschool classes, in the home, or in other programs. According to the law, eligible children who are three years of age cannot be put on waiting lists to receive preschool services. Remember, the intent of the law was to create a seamless system. Creative options must be explored. For example, school districts may provide services in community settings such as child care centers, preschools, or in the child's home. Districts also may reimburse the early intervention agency to continue providing services. The local education agency is legally and fiscally responsible for the provision of services for three-year-old children. However, some states allow for flexible use of funds to ensure that services are not interrupted; in other places the LEA may contract with the early intervention program to continue services, if such services remain appropriate.

When: A child must begin receiving services specified in the IEP upon his or her third birthday. In instances when a child's third birthday occurs over the summer and personnel needed to conduct the case study evaluation and multidisciplinary conference are not available, the child's eligibility should be determined prior to the end of the school year. The IEP developed for this child will specify if the child needs extended school year services. For those children who do require extended school year, services must start on his or her third birthday. If extended school year services are not needed, services may begin at the start of the new school year.

Who: The local education agency has fiscal responsibility for ensuring that the child receive services.

B. Complying with the LRE Requirement

What: Federal law also requires that each child be educated in the least restrictive environment. According to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs, this requirement may be met in one of three ways: (1) Participation at least part of the time in Head Start or another public agency serving preschool children; (2) Placement in a private setting that may or may not enroll additional children with disabilities; (3) Locating segregated classes for eligible children in regular elementary schools. (Federal Register, March 14, 1998)

When: LRE requirement should be considered when developing the IEP. Children who receive services in community placements should start receiving special education services on their third birthday.

Who: The multidisciplinary team and family responsible for developing the IEP must make the decision about what services are needed to address the child's needs, as well as the duration, intensity, and location of services.

How: The IEP should specify services to be delivered, their intensity and duration. The location of service delivery should be indicated.

If new service delivery location is a nonspecialized least restrictive environment, develop a plan whereby either the sending organization, receiving organization, or both take responsibility for conducting initial in-service training and providing ongoing services such as consultation, clinical services, and staffing at the site where the child will be served.

- First Steps Council, Tippecanoe County, Indiana

C. Addressing Functional Skills

Functional skills are those skills that will help the child achieve success in the new setting. These skills are defined by the new environment. For example, in one setting children may be expected to toilet independently. In another setting, it may be important that children be able to participate in group activities. Other functional skills include: taking off coat, caring for personal belongings, sitting in seat, and following one or two step directions.

How: Functional skills are determined prior to the transition by examining the new setting and determining important skills that the child will benefit from learning.

Who: A representative from the sending program and a family member who knows the child well should visit the receiving program. They should observe other children in the program as well as talk to the receiving staff to learn about skills that may be important for a child to have. Ideally, a representative from the receiving program should visit the child in his or her current program to learn how the child functions in that environment. In conjunction with the child's parents, the staff at the sending program should decide upon specific goals and objectives to prepare the child. While the parents may elect to work on these skills, the sending agency is responsible for addressing skills that will facilitate the child's transition. Likewise, the ways in which the receiving program can make accommodations and adaptations to facilitate the participation of a young child with special needs also should be discussed and considered.

New functional skills may be needed for the child to feel comfortable and be successful in the new environment(s) and/or with new people. Visiting playgrounds, gradually spending more time away from parents, carrying a backpack, and learning to ride in a van or bus are examples of experiences that may be included in Transition plans.

- Mid-Illinois Local Interagency Council, Vandalia, Illinois

7. Monitoring the Agreement

An interagency agreement can be thought of as a policy or set of working procedures that includes, but also transcends, the individual agencies that it is designed to help organize. The maintenance of the agreement is shared by each individual designated to carry out any part of the agreement and the responsibility for monitoring is shared.

Interagency agreements are more likely to succeed the more public they become. The community being served can recognize the efforts of the individual agencies who have collaborated on the agreement and can support and monitor how well they carry out the tasks that the agreement spells out.

What: (1) Mechanisms for obtaining feedback from individuals who have a vested interest in the agreement can be identified. Parents, early intervention providers, public school teachers and administrators, and staff from preschools and child care facilities should all provide feedback which is critical for evaluating the success of the agreement. (2) Methods for gathering information include: surveys, interviews, questionnaires, record review, and informal observations.

Who: Many interagency agreements are written by transition teams which have been formed as a subcommittee of their local interagency council, developed by the state Part H system. This team should continue to meet regularly after the interagency agreement has been written and signed to monitor both the effect of the agreement on transitions and community adherence to the tenets of the agreement. This team should periodically report their findings to the local interagency council, reporting on what aspects of the agreement are working, as well as identifying aspects that are troublesome. If a community does not have a local interagency council, other public forums should be considered to promote awareness and accountability to the goals of the agreement. These public forums may consist of parent-teacher organizations, special education advisory teams, or human service councils.

When and How: Shortly after the agreement is signed, the transition team should disseminate copies of the agreement to important stakeholders, especially parents and direct service staff.

The transition team should continue to meet regularly, at least three or four times in the first year, to monitor the different tasks written into the agreement and to problem solve any difficulties that may arise. The keeping of minutes will assist in the documentation of these issues and the recording of team decisions.

At least once a year, families of children who have made the transition from early intervention should be surveyed in order to gain families' perceptions on how the agreement is working. Service providers from both sending and receiving agencies also should be surveyed. A sample questionnaire for use with families is included in Appendix C to this manual. Once this information is gathered, team members need to report their findings and any recommendations that they may have to the local interagency council or other appropriate public body. This information ought to be considered before the agreement is signed for another year.

An Interagency Linkage/Transition Committee, consisting of a minimum of one parent, a local interagency council representative, and representatives of each participating referring and receiving agency, will be formed as a standing committee of the Birth-Through-Five Interagency Council of Coles, Cumberland, Douglas and Shelby Counties. The Committee shall meet no less than annually to review, monitor and recommend amendments to the terms of this agreement, estimate the numbers of children who will be leaving early intervention services during the coming year, identify new providers that might be included in this agreement, and to evaluate family satisfaction with the transition process.

- Birth-Through-Five Interagency Coordinating Council of
Coles, Cumberland, Douglas and Shelby Counties,
Charleston, Illinois

Six weeks after the third birthday, the referring agencies will deliver the committee's transition satisfaction survey to the family with a postage paid envelope addressed to the LIC coordinator for its return.

- Mid-Illinois Local Interagency Council, Vandalia, Illinois

Developing an Appendix of Best Practices

As you draft your agreement, you will discuss many good ideas regarding transition. However, your team may not feel that all parties to the interagency agreement should be obligated to carry out each of these ideas or practices. Instead, we recommend listing them in a "best practices appendix." Ideas we have seen in best practice appendices include:

Getting the Agreement Signed

Once the team agrees to the language and intent of the agreement, the next step is getting it signed. This can be a formidable task. Programs often send individuals directly involved in providing or coordinating services to represent them on the transition team. They may not have the authority to actually sign the agreement. The individuals with the authority to sign the agreement often include program directors, school district superintendents, special education directors, and organization presidents. Each member of your team has worked hard to represent the interests of your program. You have kept your superiors informed of the progress. Possibly you have taken them previous drafts for feedback. Nonetheless, you may find that despite your best efforts, someone refuses to sign the agreement unless certain language is changed. If this happens, you will need to reconvene the team to discuss and approve the change and alert any previous signers of the change that is being requested. All parties must agree to the change before it can be implemented. This can be frustrating to those of you who have invested much time and effort in writing the initial agreement. The coordinator of your local interagency coordinating council can be very helpful in taking the agreement back and forth among parties. Your agreement may circulate several times before all parties agree to sign. Once agreement is achieved, we recommend that you organize a signing party; invite the transition team and everyone involved to sign. If you have an LIC you may want to invite the other members. By having a party, you are celebrating your accomplishment while publicly acknowledging the significance of the agreement. Folks we know in Marion County, Indiana had a wonderful signing party at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis!

Appendices

This appendix contains the worksheets that you will use in writing your interagency agreement. These worksheets are perforated so you may pull them out and use them. Information included in these appendices include:

About the FACTS/LRE Information Series:

This booklet is one in a series designed to provide practical information to the various audiences concerned about transitions: families, educators, service providers, and members of state and local interagency councils.

Copyright �1995 FACTS/LRE.
FACTS/LRE grants permission to view, download, print, and reproduce the electronic version of this publication.

Writing an Interagency Agreement on Transition:

A Practical Guide

by Sarah Hadden, Susan A. Fowler, Dale B. Fink, and Michael W. Wischnowski

A publication of FACTS/LRE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Contents

Forming a Team to Write the Agreement

The Process of Writing an Agreement

A. Obtaining Informed Consent

B. Releasing Identifying Information

C. Forwarding More Detailed Information (IFSPs, evaluations)

D. Sending Discharge Reports

3. Discussing Transition Issues With Families and Identifying Support for Families in the Transition Process

A. Acquainting Families with Procedures, Transition Issues, Legal Rights under Part B (special education and related services)

B. Amending IFSPs to Include Transition Plans

C. Helping Families Become Familiar with the Array of Services for Which a Child May Be Eligible

D. Providing Support for Families in Preparing Their Child for the Transition

A. Assessing Children's Developmental Progress

B. Identifying Family Concerns, Priorities, and Resources

C. Convening the Multidisciplinary Conference (MDC)

D. Conducting the Case Conference

A. Program Visits

B. Staff Communication

6. Selecting Appropriate Services and Identifying Where Services Are Delivered for Eligible Children

A. Ensuring Continuity of Services

B. Complying with the LRE Requirement

C. Addressing Functional Skills

About the FACTS/LRE Information Series: