CFPC Guest Chat Transcript - May 28, 2008
Topic: “Transition: Part C to Part B”
Guest Speaker: Marilyn Hibbard & Carole West
Bureau of Exceptional Education & Student Services
Florida Department of Education
Welcome to the Guest Chat. Today's topic is Transition from Part B to Part C. Our guest speakers are from Florida Department of Education, and I am going to invite each to introduce herself.
Hi I'm Carole West. On the call today, I will be representing the Florida Department of Education as the liaison to the Lead Agency for Early Steps which is the Department of Health - Children's Medical Services.
Good afternoon, I'm Marilyn Hibbard. I will be representing the Florida Department of Education as the Program Specialist for the Prekindergarten Program for Children with Disabilities, ages 3-5, in the school districts.
Both Carole and I work in the Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services (BEESS). We're both happy to be here to answer some of your questions.
Carole: As we all know, transitions occur all through life. The transition we are talking about today is the process that occurs when a child moves from Early Steps to the school district or to another community program. Another way to refer to this is "transitioning from Part C to Part B." The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part C is the program that serves children from birth to the child's third birthday.
Marilyn: Part B begins serving an eligible child on the child's 3rd birthday.
Based on IDEA, there are requirements related to the transition process, in both Part C and Part B. In our discussion today, we will refer to Part C as Early Steps and the school district prekindergarten programs for children with disabilities as Part B.
I think we're ready for our first question!
Q: Who is responsible for the initial transition meeting before the child's third birthday?
Initial planning for transition begins right at first contacts, and this is in the Early Steps program where the service coordinator will initiate the transition planning process. This continues and Early Steps is then responsible to schedule a Transition Conference with the family to be held no later than 90 days prior to the child’s third birthday. The service coordinator will schedule the conference with the family and with a school district representative if the child is potentially eligible for Part B (with the consent of the family).
Q: What happens when I feel my son needs to be around children and they say natural environment?
Services that are provided in Part C are required to be in natural environments and this could include home or other environments where typically-developing children will also participate. Services in the natural environment, then, would be settings that are natural or normal for the child’s age peers who have no disabilities (with other typically-developing children) and natural environments for the family would be determined by where the family and child normally do their scheduled daily routine activities.
Q: May Early Steps services continue beyond a child's third birthday?
Early Steps services must be terminated by the child’s third birthday. However, there are a few acceptable uses of Part C funds after the child's third birthday. They include: to fund a service coordinator's attendance at an initial IEP meeting of a child transitioning from C to B; to pay for administration of an exit evaluation or child outcomes measurement within 30 calendar days after age three; and to provide compensatory services after age three as a result of a hearing decision or a state complaint in which services have been delayed or interrupted due to the local Early Steps provision of services or a service provider. Those are the only uses of Part C funds that can be used after age three.
Q: What happens if there is a lapse in services, for example a child turns three during the summer months, it would be impossible for him to start school then. Does Early Steps continue the services until the child starts school?
No. If the child turns three during the summer, the Individual Educational Plan (IEP) still has to be developed by the child's third birthday. Deciding these services to be offered during the summer through Extended School Year (ESY), would be determined by the members of the IEP team. The IEP may be developed in the spring or summer; however, services may be authorized to begin when school begins. That also is an IEP team decision.
Q: Who is required to be part of the transition planning meeting?
There may be confusion about the transition meeting. The Transition Planning meeting involves the family and the service coordinator who discuss the transition process. The Transition Conference is required to be held no later than ninety days before the child's third birthday and must include the family, the service coordinator, and if the child is potentially eligible for Part B, the school district representative if the parent consents. If the child is not potentially eligible for Part B, the participants may be the service coordinator, the family, and with parent consent, other program representatives, such as Head Start, Agency for Persons with Disabilities representatives, or community providers as requested by the family.
Q: Must all children who are referred to Part C receive an evaluation and assessment?
Yes. A child referred to Part C must receive an assessment and/or evaluation to determine eligibility for Part C. However, if a child is referred late (close to the child’s third birthday) to Part C then there may not be time for an evaluation to be conducted to determine eligibility for Part C, and in that case, the evaluation might be done by the school district with the parents' consent. For example, if the child is referred a week before his/her third birthday, there would not be time to complete an evaluation for Part C.
Q: Can a school district pay for a child to go to a preschool other than the ESE Pre-K program?
Services, such as speech and language therapy and physical therapy, can be provided to children found eligible for Part B services who are in other settings than the school district ESE classroom. Examples of these settings are the Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) classroom, Head Start, or another community program. These services are determined by the IEP team, provided by the school district therapist in the child’s setting, and provided at no charge to the family. Please note the VPK program is offered at no cost to all children who are four years of age and will be attending kindergarten the following year.
Q: Could you please let us know if we are STILL going to offer VPK? There seems to be some confusion about this.
The VPK program is a program for all four-year-olds who will be attending kindergarten the following school year. The parent has the choice of the child going during the school year or the summer before the child goes to kindergarten. This is a free program in the state of Florida. So the answer is YES, VPK is still be available. Not all school districts offer the VPK program during the school year.
Q: How will children be placed in the
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) if there is no Pre-K program?
The school district is not required to provide services to typically-developing prekindergarten children and that does at times limit options for inclusive settings. There are many other settings in which services may be provided to a child, such as VPK, the local child care centers, and Head Start, which would all have typically-developing peers.
Q: Can an Individualized Family Support Plan (IFSP) be used for a child who is over 3 years old?
An IFSP may be used in lieu of an IEP after age 3 if a detailed description of the differences between the IFSP and IEP are explained to the family, if the School District Policies and Procedures for the Provision of Specially-designed Instruction and Related Services for Exceptional Students, commonly known as the school district's SP&P indicate that an IFSP will be used, and the family gives written informed consent. So, the answer is Yes, if these conditions apply.
Moderator: This will be the last question that is posted into today's chat. If you have other questions, please send them to the moderator and we will pass them on to the Guest Speakers and add them to the transcript.
Q: What information is needed to determine eligibility for Part B services?
When a child who has been served by Part C is referred to Part B, guidance is included in a referral packet that will help the school district in a review of the child's potential eligibility. The packet may include the current IFSP, recent evaluations and assessments, any hearing and vision screening that has been completed within the last six months and a copy of the written consent for release of that information from the parent.
Other assessments or evaluations may still be required as appropriate or as needed based on the individual needs of the child. There are differences in eligibility criteria for the Part C program and the Part B program. Because of these differences, a child served in Part C is not automatically eligible for Part B services. In addition, the Part C program primary focus is on the family; the Part B program focuses on the child and their educational needs.
In closing, we have some resources that we would like you all to be aware of. The first one would be the Transition Technical Assistance Paper (TAP) which can be found at http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/transitiontap910.pdf.
The next is a website for Florida's Transition project http://www.floridatransitionproject.ucf.edu/. On that website, there are several documents that can be downloaded - one is called "Getting to Know Me," another one is called "Getting to Know Your New Teacher and School. There is also a Transition Booklet for Families." It is also available in Spanish.
I would like to share the VPK website: http://www.fldoe.org/earlylearning.
The Early Steps Website: http://www.cms-kids.com/earlystepshome.htm.
And the DOE Bureau website: http://www.fldoe.org/ese/ese-home.asp
Those are the top websites...
We wanted to thank you and the participants for chatting with us this afternoon - the questions that were asked were excellent and we hope we have addressed your issues and we would be happy to respond to questions that time did not permit us to answer (those will be addressed in the transcript of this session).
Carole: My email address is carole.west@fldoe.org if you would like to contact me directly.
Marilyn: Or contact me directly at marilyn.hibbard@fldoe.org.
Questions that were not answered due to time restrictions:
Q: Where does the funding for VPK come from?
In 2004, the Florida Legislature enacted legislation to implement the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program, in accordance with the State Constitution. Section 1002.71, Florida Statutes (F.S.), Funding; financial and attendance reporting states the following:
Q: Can you ask for a FBA if interventions are not working?
A functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a process for developing a useful understanding of how behavior relates to the environment. By knowing the function (or purpose) that the behavior serves for the child, one is able to develop an intervention. Best practice suggests that a functional behavioral assessment be conducted for a child whenever behavior appears to be significantly interfering with the learning process and well before behaviors reach crisis proportions. The parent may request to have a FBA conducted. The parent should also be included in the development and implementation of the plan.
Q: What are the eligibility criteria for Part C?
A child under the age of three is eligible for services under Part C if he/she has a diagnosed physical or mental condition that has a high probability of resulting in a developmental delay. If the child has an established condition that falls into one of the following areas: genetic and metabolic disorders, neurological disorder, autism spectrum disorder, severe attachment disorder, or significant sensory impairment, and is likely to lead to a developmental delay, a written confirmation of the diagnosis from a licensed physician is required to establish eligibility.
Developmental delay is a delay that meets or exceeds 1.5 standard deviations below the mean in one or more domains on a standardized assessment tool appropriate to the child’s area(s) of developmental concern or at least a 25% delay in terms of months of age.
No single procedure is used as the sole criterion for determining a child’s eligibility for Part C. Eligibility determination of each child must include informed clinical opinion that makes use of multiple sources of information.
Q: What is the difference between an assessment and an evaluation?
Based on the definitions provided in IDEA, Part C Federal Regulations 303.322 (b)(1) and (2) and the Early Steps Policy and Operations Guide:
Assessment means the ongoing procedures used by appropriate qualified personnel throughout the period of a child’s eligibility to identify the following:
A. The child’s unique strengths and needs and the services appropriate to meet those needs
B. The resources, priorities, and concerns of the family and the supports and services necessary to enhance the family’s capacity to meet the developmental needs of the infant or toddler with a disability.
Evaluation means the procedures used by appropriate qualified personnel to determine a child’s initial and continuing eligibility for Part C, including determining the status of the child in each area of development.
Q: What can schools and parents do to make the transition process and preschool experience meaningful and productive?
The following tips may help you and your child prepare for a smooth transition to a new preschool experience:
Talk with your child about what will happen as he/she changes programs, using positive language about the new setting
Participate in meetings and follow up with scheduled appointments
Prepare a list of questions related to the transition process (such as what kinds of skills will my child need, what is the daily routine of the classroom/program, how will therapies be provided) and ask the school district representative or Early Steps service coordinator for answers
Complete required paperwork in a timely manner
Gather required documents such as birth certificate, proof of residence, immunizations, recent reports and evaluations, etc.
Visit the new setting
Review the documents “Getting to Know Me” and “Getting to Know your New Teacher and School” found on the Florida Transition Project Web site at http://www.floridatransitionproject.ucf.edu/.
Encourage your child to talk to you about the new setting and experiences that he/she is having.
Visit the child’s classroom, talk to the teacher, and as appropriate, schedule follow up meetings.
Thank you so much, Marilyn & Carole!
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