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Public Act 91-0538
SB1065 Enrolled LRB9102324SMdvA
AN ACT to amend the Early Intervention Services System
Act by changing Sections 2, 3, 6, 11, 12, and 13 and by
repealing Section 14.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Early Intervention Services System Act is
amended by changing Sections 2, 3, 6, 11, 12, and 13 as
follows:
(325 ILCS 20/2) (from Ch. 23, par. 4152)
Sec. 2. Legislative Findings and Policy.
(a) The General Assembly finds that there is an urgent
and substantial need to:
(1) enhance the development of all eligible infants
and toddlers in the State of Illinois in order to
minimize developmental delay and maximize individual
potential for adult independence;
(2) enhance the capacity of families to meet the
special needs of eligible infants and toddlers including
the purchase of services when necessary;
(3) reduce educational costs by minimizing the need
for special education and related services when eligible
infants and toddlers reach school age;
(4) enhance the independence, productivity and
integration with age-appropriate peers of eligible
children and their families;
(5) reduce social services costs and minimize the
need for institutionalization; and
(6) prevent secondary impairments and disabilities
by improving the health of infants and toddlers, thereby
reducing health costs for the families and the State.
(b) The General Assembly therefore intends that the
policy of this State shall be to:
(1) affirm the importance of the family in all
areas of the child's development and reinforce the role
of the family as a participant in the decision making
processes regarding their child;
(2) provide assistance and support to eligible
infants and toddlers and their families to address the
individual concerns and decisions of each family;
(3) develop and implement, on a statewide basis,
locally based comprehensive, coordinated,
interdisciplinary, interagency early intervention
services for all eligible infants and toddlers;
(4) enhance the local communities' capacity to
provide an array of quality early intervention services;
(5) identify and coordinate all available resources
for early intervention within the State including those
from federal, State, local and private sources;
(6) provide financial and technical assistance to
local communities for the purposes of coordinating early
intervention services in local communities and enhancing
the communities' capacity to provide individualized early
intervention services to all eligible infants and
toddlers in their homes or in community environments; and
(7) affirm that eligible infants and toddlers have
a right to receive early intervention services to the
maximum extent appropriate, in natural environments in
which infants and toddlers without disabilities would
participate in their own homes or, if provision of
services at home is not possible or is rejected by the
parents, in natural settings in local community
environments.
(c) The General Assembly further finds that early
intervention services are cost-effective and effectively
serve the developmental needs of eligible infants and
toddlers and their families. Therefore, the purpose of this
Act is to provide a comprehensive, coordinated, interagency,
interdisciplinary early intervention services system for
eligible infants and toddlers and their families by enhancing
the capacity to provide quality early intervention services,
expanding and improving existing services, and facilitating
coordination of payments for early intervention services from
various public and private sources.
(Source: P.A. 87-680.)
(325 ILCS 20/3) (from Ch. 23, par. 4153)
Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act:
(a) "Eligible infants and toddlers" means infants and
toddlers under 36 months of age with any of the following
conditions:
(1) Developmental delays as defined by the
Department by rule Disabilities due to developmental
delay.
(2) A physical or mental condition which typically
results has a high probability of resulting in
developmental delay.
(3) Being at risk of having substantial
developmental delays based on informed clinical judgment
due to a combination of serious factors.
(b) "Developmental delay" means a delay in one or more
of the following areas of childhood development as measured
by appropriate diagnostic instruments and standard
procedures: cognitive; physical, including vision and
hearing; language, speech and communication; psycho-social;
or self-help skills.
(c) "Physical or mental condition which typically
results has a high probability of resulting in developmental
delay" means:
(1) a diagnosed medical disorder bearing a
relatively well known expectancy for developmental
outcomes within varying ranges of developmental
disabilities; or
(2) a history of prenatal, perinatal, neonatal or
early developmental events suggestive of biological
insults to the developing central nervous system and
which either singly or collectively increase the
probability of developing a disability or delay based on
a medical history.
(d) "Informed clinical judgment" means both clinical
observations and parental participation to determine
eligibility by a consensus of a multidisciplinary team of 2
or more members based on their professional experience and
expertise. "At risk of having substantial developmental
delay" means the presence of at least 3 at risk conditions,
plus a consensus based on clinical judgment, that the
presence of these conditions warrants a risk of substantial
developmental delay if early intervention services are not
provided. A list of at risk conditions shall be developed by
the Illinois Interagency Council on Early Intervention. When
relying on clinical judgment, which includes both clinical
observations and parental participation, a developmental
delay will be determined by a consensus of an
interdisciplinary team of at least 2 or more members based on
their professional experience and expertise.
(e) "Early intervention services" means services which:
(1) are designed to meet the developmental needs of
each child eligible under this Act and the needs of his
or her family;
(2) are selected in collaboration with the child's
family;
(3) are provided under public supervision;
(4) are provided at no cost except where a schedule
of sliding scale fees or other system of payments by
families has been adopted in accordance with State and
federal law;
(5) are designed to meet an infant's or toddler's
developmental needs in any of the following areas:
(A) physical development, including vision and
hearing,
(B) cognitive development,
(C) communication development,
(D) social or emotional development, or
(E) adaptive development;
(6) meet the standards of the State, including the
requirements of this Act;
(7) include one or more of the following:
(A) family training,
(B) social work services, including
counseling, and home visits,
(C) special instruction,
(D) speech, language pathology and audiology,
(E) occupational therapy,
(F) physical therapy,
(G) psychological services,
(H) service coordination services,
(I) medical services only for diagnostic or
evaluation purposes,
(J) early identification, screening, and
assessment services,
(K) health services specified by the lead
agency as necessary to enable the infant or toddler
to benefit from the other early intervention
services,
(L) vision services,
(M) transportation, and
(N) assistive technology devices and services;
(8) are provided by qualified personnel, including
but not limited to:
(A) child development specialists or special
educators,
(B) speech and language pathologists and
audiologists,
(C) occupational therapists,
(D) physical therapists,
(E) social workers,
(F) nurses,
(G) nutritionists,
(H) optometrists,
(I) psychologists, and
(J) physicians;
(9) are provided in conformity with an
Individualized Family Service Plan;
(10) are provided throughout the year; and
(11) are provided in natural environments,
including the home and community settings in which
infants and toddlers without disabilities would
participate to the extent determined by the
multidisciplinary Individualized Family Service Plan
desired by families.
(f) "Individualized Family Service Plan" or "Plan" means
a written plan for providing early intervention services to a
child eligible under this Act and the child's family, as set
forth in Section 11.
(g) "Local interagency agreement" means an agreement
entered into by local community and State and regional
agencies receiving early intervention funds directly from the
State and made in accordance with State interagency
agreements providing for the delivery of early intervention
services within a local community area.
(h) "Council" means the Illinois Interagency Council on
Early Intervention established under Section 4.
(i) "Lead agency" means the State agency responsible for
administering this Act and receiving and disbursing public
funds received in accordance with State and federal law and
rules.
(j) "Child find" means a service which identifies
eligible infants and toddlers.
(Source: P.A. 90-158, eff. 1-1-98.)
(325 ILCS 20/6) (from Ch. 23, par. 4156)
Sec. 6. Local Structure and Interagency Councils. The
lead agency, in conjunction with the Council and as defined
by administrative rule, shall define at least 40 and no more
than 60 local service areas and define the geographic
boundaries of each so that all areas of the State are
included in a local service area but no area of the State is
included in more than one service area. In each local
service area, the lead agency shall designate a regional
entity core provider responsible for the assessment of
eligibility and services and a local interagency council
responsible for coordination and design of child find and
public awareness. The regional entity A
coordination/advocacy provider shall be responsible for
staffing the local council, carrying out child find and
public awareness activities, and providing advocacy for
eligible families within the given geographic area. The
regional coordinating entity is the prime contractor
responsible to the lead agency for implementation of this
Act.
The lead agency, in conjunction with the Council, shall
create local interagency councils. Members of each local
interagency council shall include, but not be limited to, the
following: parents; representatives from coordination and
advocacy service providers; local education agencies; other
local public and private service providers; representatives
from State agencies at the local level; and others deemed
necessary by the local council.
Local interagency councils shall:
(a) assist in the development of collaborative
agreements between local service providers, diagnostic
and other agencies providing additional services to the
child and family;
(b) assist in conducting local needs assessments
and planning efforts;
(c) identify and resolve local access issues;
(d) conduct collaborative child find activities;
(e) coordinate public awareness initiatives;
(f) coordinate local planning and evaluation;
(g) assist in the recruitment of specialty
personnel;
(h) develop plans for facilitating transition and
integration of eligible children and families into the
community;
(i) facilitate conflict resolution at the local
level; and
(j) report annually to the Council.
(Source: P.A. 87-680; 87-847.)
(325 ILCS 20/11) (from Ch. 23, par. 4161)
Sec. 11. Individualized Family Service Plans. Each
eligible infant or toddler and that infant's or toddler's
family shall receive:
(a) timely, comprehensive, multidisciplinary
interdisciplinary assessment of the unique needs of each
eligible infant and toddler, and assessment of the
concerns and priorities of the families to appropriately
assist them in meeting their needs and identify services
to meet those needs; and
(b) a written Individualized Family Service Plan
developed by a multidisciplinary an interdisciplinary
team which includes the parent or guardian.
The Individualized Family Service Plan shall be evaluated
once a year and the family shall be provided a review of the
Plan at 6 month intervals or more often where appropriate
based on infant or toddler and family needs.
The evaluation and initial assessment and initial Plan
meeting must be held within 45 days after the initial contact
with the early intervention services system. With parental
consent, early intervention services may commence before the
completion of the comprehensive assessment and development of
the Plan.
Parents must be informed that, at their discretion, early
intervention services shall be provided to each eligible
infant and toddler in the natural environment, which may
include the home or other community settings parents' home.
Parents shall make the final decision to accept or decline
early intervention services. A decision to decline such
services shall not be a basis for administrative
determination of parental fitness, or other findings or
sanctions against the parents. Parameters of the Plan shall
be set forth in rules.
(Source: P.A. 87-680.)
(325 ILCS 20/12) (from Ch. 23, par. 4162)
Sec. 12. Procedural Safeguards. The lead agency shall
adopt procedural safeguards that meet federal requirements
and ensure effective implementation of the safeguards for
families by each public agency involved in the provision of
early intervention services under this Act.
The procedural safeguards shall provide, at a minimum,
the following:
(a) The timely administrative resolution of
complaints by parents as defined by administrative rule.
The process shall use formal mediation procedures used by
the lead agency, as well as prescribed due process
procedures, which may be used by families at their
discretion.
(b) The right to confidentiality of personally
identifiable information.
(c) The opportunity for parents and a guardian to
examine and receive copies of records relating to
assessment, screening, eligibility determinations, and
the development and implementation of the Individualized
Family Service Plan.
(d) Procedures to protect the rights of the
eligible infant or toddler whenever the parents or
guardians of the child are not known or unavailable or
the child is a ward of the State, including the
assignment of an individual (who shall not be an employee
of the State agency or local agency providing services)
to act as a surrogate for the parents or guardian.
(e) Timely written prior notice to the parents or
guardian of the eligible infant or toddler whenever the
State agency or public or private service provider
proposes to initiate or change or refuses to initiate or
change the identification, evaluation, placement, or the
provision of appropriate early intervention services to
the eligible infant or toddler.
(f) Written prior notice to fully inform the
parents or guardians, in their primary language, in a
comprehensible manner, of these procedural safeguards.
(g) During the pendency of any proceedings or
action involving a complaint, unless the State agency and
the parents or guardian otherwise agree, the child shall
continue to receive the appropriate early intervention
services currently being provided, or in the case of an
application for initial services, the child shall receive
the services not in dispute.
(Source: P.A. 87-680; 87-847.)
(325 ILCS 20/13) (from Ch. 23, par. 4163)
Sec. 13. Funding and Fiscal Responsibility. The lead
agency and every other participating State agency may receive
and expend funds appropriated by the General Assembly to
implement the early intervention services system as required
by this Act.
The lead agency and each participating State agency shall
identify and report on an annual basis to the Council the
State agency funds utilized for the provision of early
intervention services to eligible infants and toddlers.
Funds provided under Section 633 673 of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (20 United States Code 1433
1473) may not be used to satisfy a financial commitment for
services which would have been paid for from another public
or private source but for the enactment of this Act, except
whenever considered necessary to prevent delay in receiving
appropriate early intervention services by the eligible
infant or toddler or family in a timely manner. Funds
provided under Section 633 673 of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act may be used by the lead agency to
pay the provider of services pending reimbursement from the
appropriate state agency.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to permit the
State to reduce medical or other assistance available or to
alter eligibility under Title V and Title XIX of the Social
Security Act relating to the Maternal Child Health Program
and Medicaid for eligible infants and toddlers in this State.
From the sum appropriated to the lead agency for the
purposes of this Act, the lead agency shall distribute funds
to the prime contractor for each local community area for the
provision of early intervention services. The local community
area may meet its obligations to assure appropriate early
intervention services through contracts with public or
private agencies that meet the requirements of this Act.
The lead agency shall create a central billing office to
receive and dispense all relevant State and federal
resources, as well as local government or independent
resources available, for early intervention services. This
office shall assure that maximum federal resources are
utilized and that providers receive funds with minimal
duplications or interagency reporting and with consolidated
audit procedures. The lead agency shall also create a
resource review committee on the use of public and private
sector resources.
The lead agency may also create a system of payments by
families, including a schedule of fees. No fees, however, may
be charged for: implementing child find, evaluation and
assessment, service coordination, administrative and
coordination activities related to the development, review,
and evaluation of Individualized Family Service Plans, or the
implementation of procedural safeguards and other
administrative components of the statewide early intervention
system.
(Source: P.A. 87-680.)
(325 ILCS 20/14 rep.)
Section 10. The Early Intervention Services System Act
is amended by repealing Section 14.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
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