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Texas Must Submit Corrective Plan within 90 Days
Feds Blast Texas for Shortchanging
Very Young Children with Disabilities
Texas must do much more to identify and provide for the needs of its youngest children who have developmental delays, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) Office of Special Education Programs says in a letter announcing the results of its investigation.
The Oct. 5 letter says the investigation confirmed that Texas has fallen short of its obligation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to ensure that infants and toddlers (defined as children under three years old) who have developmental delays — such as autism, speech delays, Down syndrome, etc. — have access to the early childhood intervention (ECI) programs to which they are entitled.
The investigation concluded that a significant issue identified in the findings is that state appropriations for ECI providers and services have fallen drastically over the past several years, something the state will need to take into consideration as it implements corrective actions.
The investigation also found that toddlers and infants in rural communities of the state have seen the greatest disruption of these services.
The letter, addressed to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission executive director, gives the state 90 days to submit a corrective plan to the feds, and a year to implement the plan.
The plan must include, among other things, provisions to comply with IDEA’s “child find” mandates to ensure eligible infants and toddlers are located, identified and evaluated and are provided with the services they need, and to make sure that adequate ECI resources are made available in all areas of the state.
At press time, the commission had not issued a public comment about the letter, other than to say that officials are reviewing it.