Voicerag

POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
PROGRAMS
i This document contains resources that are provided for the reader’s convenience.
The inclusion of these materials
is not intended to reflect its importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views
expressed, or products or services
offered. These materials may contain t he views and recommendations of various
subject matter experts as well as
hypertext links, contact addresses and websites to information created and
maintained by other public and private
organizations. The opinions expressed in any of these materials do not necessarily
reflect the positions or policies
of the U.S. Departments of Education or Health and Human Services. The U.S.
Departments of Education and
Health and Human Services do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance,
timeliness, or completeness of
any outside information included in these materials.
PROGRAMS
1 PURPOSE
All young children with disabilitiesi should have access to high- quality inclusive
early childhood programsii
that provide individualized and appropriate support so they can fully participate
alongside their peers
without disabilities , meet high expectations , and achieve their full potential.
The responsibility to ensure
that young children with disabilities and their families are included in high -
quality early childhood
programs is shared by federal, State, and local government s, early childhood
systems, early childhood
programs and providers , local educational agencies (LEAs), and school s.
This policy statement from the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and
Human Services
(HHS) (the Departments) build s upon our earlier 2015 policy statement with
renewed commitment and
urgency as children with disabilities continue to face significant barriers
accessing and participating in
inclusive early childhood programs . This updated joint ED and HHS policy statement
for State s,iii LEAs,
schools, early intervention (EIS) providers, and early childhood programs advance
s the Departments’
position by:
•Reiterating the expectation for inclusioniv in high- quality early childhood
programs;
•Setting the expectation that inclusion continues as children transition into
elementary school ;
•Continuing to increase public awareness and understanding of the latest science
that supports
inclusion of children with disabilities in early childho od programs from the
earliest ages ;
•Reinforcing the legal foundations supporting inclusion in early childhood;
•Reiterating and updating recommendations for State and local agencies that
implement Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs, Head Start, child care, home
visiting,
preschool s, and public schools for increasing inclusi ve early learning
opportunities for all children;
•Updating models and exemplars of inclusion ; and
•Identifying and sharing resources for States, LEAs, EIS providers, early
childhood programs,
schools, early childhood personnel ,v and families to support high -quality
individualized
programming and inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood
programs.
Disability is a natural part of the human experience. Almost 45 million adults have
a disability,1 and nearly
one out of six children are estimated to have a developmental delay.2 A disability
should not diminish
i As used in this document, “children with disabilities” refers to infants and
toddlers with disabilities and children with dis abilities served under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as well as infants and toddlers
and children with developmental delays and disabilities who are not
receiving services under the IDEA or who are going through the eligibility process
to determine if they are eligible for IDEA services.
ii As used in this document, “e arly childhood programs ” refer to those that
provide early care and education to children birth through age five,
including but not limited to childcare centers, family child ca re, Early Head
Start, Head Start, home visiting programs, and public and private
pre-kindergarten in -school and community -based settings.
iii As used in this document, “ State ” refers to the 50 States, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, outlying areas and
jurisdictions , and the freely -associated States.
iv A full description of “inclusion in early childhood programs” is on page s 6–7.
v As used in this document, “e arly childhood personnel” refer s to professionals
who provide early care and education services to children birth
through age five, including publ ic or private preschool teachers, home and center
-based child care providers, Head Start and Early Head Start
teachers, home visitors, early interventionists, early childhood special educators,
and related services personnel. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH
DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
2 one’s right to participate in or contribute to society. Though this policy
statement focuses on including
young children with disabilities in early childhood programs, it remains the
Departments’ shared vision
that people of all abilities be included in all face ts of society throughout the
ir lives as it benefits not only
individuals with disabilities but also all individuals in our communities .
Building a culture of inclusion for
individuals with disabilities begins at birth in early childhood programs and
continues into schools,
communities, and places of employment. Inclusion in early childhood programs can
set a trajectory for
inclusion across a lifespan . Consequently , there is a critical need to improve
policies and programs to
support early childhood inclusion from birth and as children move into elementary
school. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY
CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
3 OVERVIEW
The Departments’ September 2015 Policy Statement on Inclusion of Children with
Disabilities in Early
Childhood Programs (policy statement ) articulated a vision for increasing
access to high- quality inclusive
early childhood programs for young children with disabilities . The Departments
have held multiple
listening sessions since then with federal staff, State and local early childhood
administrators, early
childhood programs and providers , families, technical assistance (TA) providers,
advocates, faculty , and
researchers . During these sessions, participants shared that they used the 2015
policy statement to drive
changes in po licies and practices to support the inclusion of young children with
disabilities across
multiple levels of the early childhood system . Some examples include :
• Increased awareness of the benefits of early childhood inclusion led many States
and local
communities to prioritiz e inclusion and improve policies and practices that
support inclusion in
State and local system level plans.
• Early childhood programs and providers improve d their policies , practices ,
and early learning
environments to support the inclusion of young children with disabilities and
their families in their
programs and services .
• Higher education faculty and training and TA providers used the policy
statement as an essential
component of trainings and professional development (PD) and TA support . They
created new
resources and documents to highlight the policy statement and support
implementation of its
recommendations .
• Families used the policy statement as a tool to bring awareness to the
importance of inclusion,
and advocate for more inclusive services and practices across early childhood
settings . Families
used resources developed from the policy statement to navigate early
intervention and special
education process es and find more inclusive options for their young children with
disabilities .
Despite these positive actions and the strong legal and research foundation to
support inclusive early
learning , young c hildren with disabilities and their families continue to face
significant barriers to accessing
and pa rticipating in inclusive high -quality early childhood programs . Families
of infants and toddlers with
disabilities report that they have difficulty finding and keeping child care, which
can cause stress and
impact their employment opportunities.3,4 Additionally, because of fewer options,
children with
disabilities are more likely to enter child care at a later age, to attend for
fewer hours, and to have less
access to child care programs than children without disabilities .5 In many
systems, programs are not
structured to provide preschool childrenvi with disabilities access to early
childhood special education
services in inclusive settings. In 2021, more than half (55.4 percent) of preschool
children with disabilities
received early childhood speci al education services in settings separate from
their peers without
disabilities .6 Data trends over the past four decades indicate that the percentage
of preschool children
with disabilities who receive early childhood special education services in inclus
ive early childhood
programs has remained largely unchanged.7 In addition to children with
disabilities’ limited access to
vi As used in this document, “preschool children” refers to children ages three,
four, and five, not yet in kindergarten. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN
WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
4 inclusive preschool settings,8 there continue to be significant disparities in
children’s access to high- quality
services and inclusive early childhood programs based on a child’s disability,
support needs, race and
ethnicity , language , and geographic and economic circumstances .9,10,11,12,13,14
Research and data collection
in early intervention highlight differences in children’s access to screening,
evaluation, and services
especially for children of color, those from low-income families, those living in
rural communities, and
those whose first language is not English .15,16,17 Data indicate that young
children of color do not have the
same levels of access to inclusive preschool services as their white peers .18,19
Additionally, there are wide
variations across States in the percentage of children with disabilities served
under the IDEA and the
percentage of children with disabilities who receive IDEA services in general
early childhood programs.20
The COVID -19 pandemic further limited access to inclusive early childhood
programs , with some
communit ies more significantly impacted . Program and classroom closures in some
communities resulted
in fewer inclusive community -based early childhood programs for children with
disabilities to attend. In
addition, workforce s hortages have negatively affected early intervention and
special education services ,
with some systems indicating that staffing shortages are impacting the provision
of inclusive services in
early childhood settings. These trends make it even more imperative that all
levels of the system, from
the federal government to State and local systems and programs, take action to
improve participation of
children with disabilities in, and their access to, inclusive early childhood
settings.
In order to address the negative impacts of the pandemic and longstanding
challenges facing young
children with disabilities, States and local communities must continue to build,
enhance, and expand their
inclusive early childhood systems and programs. Doing so highlights the importance
of design ing systems
and programs to support the learning and development of all children. A high-
program is, in part, one that is inclusive, culturally and linguistically
responsive, and provides a sense of
belonging for all children and their families. Nearly one in six or about 17
percent of children ha ve a
developmental disability,21 but only approximately 3. 7 percent of infants and
toddlers with disabilities22
and approximately four percent of preschoolers with disabilities are served under
the IDEA .23 Children
with disabilities and their families should be able to access and participate in
any early childhood programs
and services available to children without disabilities. The IDEA outlines the
responsibility of State lead
agencies and EIS providers and State educational agencies (SEAs) and LEAs to
serve children with
disabilities in natural environments (under Part C) and in the least restrictive
environment (LRE) (under
Part B) to the maximum extent appropriate , including serving children with
disabilities in community -
based settings such as Head Start, Early Head Start, and community- based child
care programs, as well as
other public or private early childhood preschool programs. It is important for
and their families to be intentionally included in high- quality early childhood
programs , so they too reap
the benefits of high -quality early learning experiences. This means ensuring that
policies, funding, and
program practices enable each and every child’s full participation and success in
early care and education systems. Serving children in a manner that engages their
families is a cornerstone of early childhood
education , and State and local p olicies and practices should also take into
consideration engaging all
families , including the 4.4 million parents with a disability ,
24 to ensure t hat all families can fully participate
in their children’s early learning experiences.
By describing high- quality inclusi ve early childhood programs and highlighting
how systems and programs
should operate based on research and legal requirements, the Departments make clear
through this POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY
CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
5 policy statement that all children with disabilities should have access to high -
quality inclusive early
childhood programs regardless of type of disability, level of service s and support
s needed , race and
ethnicity, language, and geographic and economic circumstances. POLICY STATEMENT
ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
6 THE FOUNDATION FOR INCLUSION IN
EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
Standing on a strong research and legal foundation, p olicy makers for decades
have partnered with
families, advocates, practitioners , and researchers to promote high expectations
for what children with
disabilities can learn and do and expand access to inclusive early childhood
programs. Continued work is
needed, however, to expand children’s access to and full participation in inclusiv
e early learning
opportunities regardless of the level of services and supports the child need s,
the child’s race and
ethnicity, language, socio -economic status , or residence . Further progress
require s a shared responsibility
and a nationwide commitment to :
1) work together to reshape attitudes and beliefs about inclusion and expectations
for what children
with disabilities can achieve;
2) implement policies, budgets, and practices that prioritize access to and
participation in high-
quality early childhood programs for children with disabilities ; and
3) create a comprehensive system that meet s the individualized learning and
developmental needs
of each and every child .
The following section s set a basic foundation for expanding children’s access to
inclusive opportunities,
which can inform implementation of the State, LEA, EIS provider, early childhood
program , and school
level recommendations provided in subsequent sections.
Inclusion in Early Childhood Programs
Young children with disabilities must be given access to the early childhood
programs, services, and
experiences that children without disabilities have within a State or local
community. Specifically, high-
quality inclusi ve early childhood programs are ones that :
• Include children with disabilities in early childhood programs they would
participate in if they did
not have a disability , so they can learn together with their peers without
disabilities;
• Provide high- quality teaching and learning environments that su pport children’s
development and
allow all children to meet high expectations ;
• Intentionally promot e children’s participation in all learning and social
activities, facilitated by
individualized accommodations and differentiated interventions and instruction ;
• Use high- quality, evidence -based services and supports that are
developmentally appropriate,
culturally and linguistically responsive ,vii and that foster children’s —
 acquisition and use of knowledge and skills,
vii As used in this document, c ulturally and linguistically responsive practices

involve recognizing and incorporating experiences, perspectives,
assets, and strengths all children bring into the early childhood setting and
ensuring that learning experiences are relevant to all chil dren. POLICY STATEMENT
7  use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs,
 positive social emotional skills, including friendships with peers , and
 sense of belonging ;
• Provide services and supports to children with disabilities in early childhood
program s with peers
without disabilities , and within daily routines and learning and social
activities ;
• Recognize families as collaborative partners, experts, and engaged decision -
makers in their
children’s lives and value and treat children with disabilities and their families
with respect; and
• Ensur e supports, such as screening and identification processes, early
childhood program and
school partnerships, access to and use of data, and PD are in place to enable
early childhood
programs and providers to successfully includ e children with disabilities a nd
their families .
The Scientific Basis for the Benefits of Inclusion
Research shows that early childhood inclusion is beneficial both to children with
and without
disabilities.25,26 The beginning years of all children’s lives are critical for
building the early foundations of
learning and wellness needed for success in school and later in life. Studies have
shown that individualized
evidence- based strategies for children with disabilities can be implemented
successfully in inclusive early
childhood programs.27,28,29,30 Children with disabilities , including those with
the most significant disabilities
and the highest needs, can make significant developmental and learning progress
in inclusive
settings.31,32,33 Some studies have shown that children with disabilities in
inclusive settings experienced
greater cognitive gains and communication development than children with
disabilities who were in
separate settings, with this being particularly apparent among children with more
significant
disabilities.34,35,36,37 Further, children with disabilities tend to have similar
leve ls of engagement as their
peers without disabilities ,38,39 and are more likely to practice newly acquired
skills in inclusive settings as
compared to separate settings .40 Likewise, research suggests that children’s
growth and learning are
related to their peers’ skills, particularly among children with disabilities.41
High -quality inclusion that
begins early and continues into school likely produces the strongest outcomes .
Studies have shown that
children with disabilities who spend more time in general education classes tend to
be absent fewer days
from school and have higher test scores in rea ding and math than those who spend
less time in general
education classes,42,43,44 and spending more time in general education classes was
related to a higher
probability of employment and higher earnings.45
In addition to making learning and achievement gains, children with disabilities
in inclusive early childhood
programs also demonstrate stronger social -emotional skills than their peers in
separate settings .46 These
social benefits are robust and can continue int o elementary school and beyond.47
Studies have found that
children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms demonstrated more social
interactions with peers with
and without disabilities, had larger networks of friends , and were more socially
competent compared to
children in separate settings .48,49,50,51,52 Importantly, while studies indicate
that inclusive services produce
benefits for children with disabilities, these desired outcomes are achieved only
when young children
with disabilities are included several days per week in social and learning
opportunities with peers
without disabilities, and specialized instructional strategies are used to meet
children’s individual needs.53 POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH
8 Systems supports such as resources for PD, ongoing coaching and collaboration,
and time for
communication and planning are critical to ensure that programs and personnel can
adequately meet the
needs of individual children.54,55 Additionally, the developmental benefits of
early childhood inclusion can
be lost if children are placed in separate settings in preschool, kindergarten ,
and elementary school .56
Inclusion in early childhood settings followed by inclusion in elementary school
can sustain these
developmental gains .
Children without disabilities also benefit from inclusive early childhood programs.
Studies indicate that
children without disabilities show positive academic, developmental, social, and
attitudinal outcomes
from inclusive experiences .57,58 Children withou t disabilities demonstrat e
greater compassion and
empathy and have a more positive perception of children with disabilities when
peer interactions are
adequately supported by classroom teachers.59,60,61 They can also develop a better
conceptual
understand ing of diversity and disability .62,63,64,65 Specifically , children
without disabilities have been shown
to exhibit more social skills , such as communication and c ooperation , and fewer
problem behaviors as a
result of peer -mediated interventions in inclusive settings .66 When programs and
teachers have the
capacity to individualize learning and can provide appropriate developmental
supports for each child, all
children can benefit , because all children learn best with individualized
supports . Children without
disabilities in high -quality inclusive early childhood settings also gain
incidental benefit s from interaction s
with developmental specialists who can identify and address delays or other issues
in devel opment that
might otherwise not be identified and provide classroom structure s,
environmental supports, and
instructional accommodations that can benefit all children .
The Legal Foundation for Inclusion
Applicable law broadly supports the right of children with disabilities to access
inclusive
early childhood programs.
The I ndividuals with Disabilities Education Act
The IDEA supports equal educational opportunities for eligible children with
disabilities from birth
through age 21. Part C of the IDEA requires that appropriate early intervention
services are made
available to allviii eligible infant s and toddlers with disabilit ies and their
families, to the maximum extent
appropriate, in natural environments. Natural environments include the home and
community settings in
which children without disabilities participate . Under Part C , infants and
toddlers with disabilities must be
provided services in the natural environment , to the maximum extent appropriate,
as determined by the
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) team and factoring in each child’s
routines, needs, and outcomes.
Similarly, under Part B of the IDEA, special education and related services are to
be made available to all
children with disabilities ages three through 21 , to the maximum extent
appropriate, in the LRE , as
determined by the individualized education program ( IEP) team and placement team
based on an
viii Under Parts B and C of the IDEA, “a ll” means all eligible infants, toddlers,
and children with disabilities in the State and includes those who are English
learners, immigrants (regardless of their immigration status), homeless, and in
foster care , as well as those who reside on Indian rese rvations. POLICY
STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
9 individual child’s unique strengths and needs as described in the child’s IEP .
The LRE provisions in the
IDEA further require a continuum of placement options be available to best meet the
diverse needs of
children with disabilities and presumes that the first placement option
considered for each child with a
disability is the regular classroom the child would attend if they did not have a
disability. Thus, before a
child with a disability can be placed outside of the regular educational
environment, the placement team
must consider the full range of supplementary aids and services that could be
provided to facilitate the
child’s placement in the regula r early childhood setting . Each LEA must ensure
that a free appropriate
public education (FAPE) is provided in the LRE to every child with a disability ,
ages three through 21 , in its
jurisdiction regardless of whether the LEA operates public general early childhood
programs.
To provide FAPE in the LRE, the LEA may need to work with community -based early
childhood settings
(e.g., Head Start and Early Head Start programs, community -based child care
programs, and public or
private general early childhood or preschool programs ) to provide special
education and related services
in those community -based settings. Additionally, preschool children are often
identified as having a
disability while participating in an early childhood program, such as Head Start
or a public pre -
kindergarten program. In determining placement options for a child with a
disability who already
participates in a regular public early childhood program, including publ icly
funded community- based
program s operated by a public agency or private entity other than an LEA , Part B
of the IDEA presumes
that the first placemen t option considered is the current public early childhood
setting the child is
attending , even if the L EA operates an equally inclusive early childhood program
. In addition, the
placement team must consider any potential harmful effect s on the child , such as
the loss of learning and
impact on a child’s sense of belonging or emotional regulation if the child is
moved or transported
between early childhood programs and IDEA services , and on the quality of services
that they need
before removing the child from the current regular early childhood setting to a
more restrictive setting.
Additionally, IDEA regulations specify that a child with a disability is not to be
removed from education in
age-appropriate regular early childhood programs solely because of needed
modifications in the general
education curriculum.
The A merican s with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibit s discrimination on the basis
of disability. Title II of the
ADA prohibits discriminat ion in all the services, programs, or activities of any
State or local government
regardless of whether they receive federal funds. It covers any early childhood
program operated or
administered by a State or local government, including a public school dis trict.
Title II further requires
public entities to provide services in the most integrated setting appropriate to
the needs of each
individual with a disabilit y. Integrated settings are those that provide
individuals with disabilities
opportunities to live, work, and receive services in their communit ies like
individuals without disabilities.
Title III of the ADA requires similar obligations on places of public
accommodation, such as private
schools, private child care programs, or private preschools , regardless of whether
an entity receives
federal funds .ix
ix Religious organizations, and entities controlled by religious organizations

(such as schools controlled by religious organiza tions), are exempt
from the requirements of Title III. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH
10 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
Section 504 of the Re habilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) prohibits
discrimination on the basis of
disability by public or private entities that receive federal financial assistance
(FFA). FFA includes grants,
loans, and reimbursements from Federal agencies, including assistance provided to
early childhood
programs. HHS and ED’s Section 504 regulations require recipients such as schools
to provide equal
educational opportunities for children with disabilities in the most integrated
setting appropriate to the
child’ s needs (45 CFR § 84.4(b)(2) ; 34 CFR §104.4(b)(2) ). In addition, the Head
Start Program
Performance Standards (45 CFR §1302.60)67 require programs to ensure that all
children, including but
not limited to those who are eligible for IDEA services, and their families receive
all applicable program
services delivered in the least restrictive possible environment and that they
fully participate in all program activities.
Head Start Act and the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act
The Head Start Act and the Child Care and Development Bl ock Grant Act (CCDBG)
have specific
provisions and requirements that support high -quality inclusive opportunities for
children with disabilities.
By statute, Head Start and Early Head Start programs must make at least 10 percent
of their enrollment
opportunities available to children with disabilities .68 The CCDBG requires States
to develop strategies
for increasing the supply and quality of child care services for children with
disabilities
(42 USC 9858(c)(2)(M)(iii). POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH
11 OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE INCLUSION IN
Families and experts have identified several opportunities to improve access and
participation of children
with disabilities in inclusive early childhood programs that are important for
systems and programs to
consider:
Understanding Evidence -based Inclusion
Successful, high -quality inclusive early childhood programs require early
childhood providers , and the
administrators who support them, to have high expectations for children with
disabilities and believe that
they can learn, develop , and thrive in inclusive early childhood programs like
their peers without
disabilities . Providers and administrators need access to accurate information
about inclusion and
research demonstrating the positive effects of inclusion or they risk having low
expectations for what
children with disabilities can learn and do and perpetuat e practices that are not
aligned with high- quality
inclus ive programs. Having s upports in place at all levels of the system help s
providers and administrators
understand the feasibility of inclusion , and counter fears of the unfamil iar and
resistance to chang e.
Unfortunately, some negative attitudes and erroneous beliefs about inclus ion have
remained largely
unchanged over the past several decades and have led to the establishment and
maintenance of separate
systems and practices for children with disabilities.69 However, t he research on
inclusion , described
earlier in this document , clearly demonstrates the benefits for all children,
including those without
disabilities and those with the most significant support needs , and highlights
that children with disabilities
can get the individualized support they need in inclusive s ettings. Efforts to
expand access to inclusive
early childhood programs should focus on the evidence base to inform policies and
practices and
showcase examples of programs implementing evidence -based inclusive practices
that can shift attitudes
and belief s for early childhood , early intervention , and early childhood special
education personnel as well
as program, school, local , and State administrators.
Understanding IDEA Requirements
The percentage of children who receive IDEA services in inclusive settings varies
widely both within and
among States ,70 suggesting that t here is significant opportunity to improve
access to inclusive early
childhood programs through education on IDEA requirements. It is critical that
systems support parents
in understand ing IDEA requirements and their rights under the law so that they
can make informed
decisions and use the law to advocate for their child to be included in inclusive
early childhood programs.
It is also necessary for systems to educate administrators , early childhood
programs and providers, and
early intervention and early childhood special educators on the requirements of
the law to support them
in making policy and practice decisions that are in alignment with IDEA
requirements.
Data show that almost all infants and toddlers with disabilities served under the
IDEA receive early
intervention services in the home.71 IDEA’ s Part C natural environment s
provision should not be
interpreted as only allowing early intervention services to be provided in eligible
children’s homes . POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN
12 IFSP teams should c onsider fully the family circumstance and how the child’s
outcomes may be met within
the child’s daily routines and activities, including in other settings where
infants and toddlers spend time,
such as inclusive child care, early childhood programs , or other community
settings where children without
disabilities are present .
Similarly, IDEA’s FAPE and LRE requirement s should not be interpreted as
prioritizing or allowing IDEA
preschool special education and related services to be delivered only in preschool
programs operated in a
public -school building ; child care , Head Start , other public ly-funded , and
private early childhood settings
can be used to provide FAPE . For example, in 2022, children with disabilities
accounted for
13.21 percent of Head Start program enrollment and 12.52 percent of Ea rly Head
Start program
enrollment ,72 yet some IEP teams make decisions to remove preschool children with
disabilities from
their inclusive early childhood program s and transport them during the day to a
separate setting for their
IDEA services, instead of providing services and supports in the child’s regular
early childhood program.73
Multiple transitions can have a detrimental impact on children’s learning. Additi
onally, some parents
indicate that they are only given the placement option of a separate setting, such
as a special education
preschool classroom, and not the regular early childhood program the ir child would
attend if they did not
have a disability , as required by IDEA.74 By only focusing on delivering IDEA
services in programs
operated in the public school, many school and LEA administrators may not be aware
of the range of
early childhood programs in their community with whom they could collaborate to
support FAPE in the
LRE.75 A mixed delivery system of pu blic and private high -quality early childhood
programs is vital in
increasing the availability of inclusive opportunities for children with
disabilities . Such a system relies on a
thorough understanding of IDEA provisions .
Staffing and T raining the Early Childhood Workforce
The interactions that children have with adults in early childhood settings shape
their development and
learning. The quality of these interactions is a critical driver in the overall
quality of inclusive
environments. Yet, there is variability in the training and support provided to
staff across early childhood
settings, which may be dependent on the funding streams and local, S tate, and
federal
requirements.76,77,78 In addition, t here is a shor tage of providers across the
early childhood system,
including within early intervention and early childhood special education —a
shortage that increased
during the pandemic .79,80 Staffing shortages impact efforts to fully meet the
promise of IDEA to provide
high- quality inclusive opportunities and timely IDEA services. These shortages
impact early childhood
programs and schools in communities with high proportions of children from racially
and ethnically diverse backgrounds and children from low -income families more
than other communities .
81 In addition,
current staffing structures —including low wages, and limited benefits and
workforce supports, for
example —contribute to staff shortages and present a challenge to providing high -
quality inclusive earl y
learning experiences.82,83
Variability in the training and educational opportunities accessible to all
providers can have a substantial
impact on program quality .84,85 Knowledge and implementation of evidence- based
practices that promote
positive outcomes for children with disabilities tie directly to program quality,
and high -quality programs
in turn lead to better outcomes for children with disabilities.86 Current systems
of training , PD, and POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
13 ongoing supports may not be sufficient to ensur e all providers have adequate
basic knowledge and
competencies in child development, early childhood pedagogy, and developmentally
appropriate practice ;
and how to individualiz e instruction, promote social- emotional and language
development, manage
challenging behavior, and scaffold and generalize learning across activities and
between peers. T raining
should also address how to include and support children with disabilities and
their families so providers
feel prepared to work wit h them ,87, 88 as well as specifically focus on
examining their attitudes and beliefs
on inclusion to understand how they may present barriers to inclusion .
For the early intervention and early childhood special education workforce, t he
variability in their level
and type of specialized training also impact s access to inclusion. Early
childhood special educators’
attitudes and beliefs about the ability of early childhood programs and providers’
ability to provide
appropriate support s to c hildren with disabilities can influence their decisions
on inclusion.89 Creating
inclusive environments requires trust and collaboration between early intervention
and early childhood
special education providers and the general early childhood workforce . Early
intervention and early
childhood special education providers should have access to training, PD , and
system supports so they
can examine how their attitudes and beliefs impact their practice decisions and
placement
recommendations . Their training and PD should also support them to collaborate
with general early
childhood providers and successfully provide services in inclusive environments
based on a firm
understand ing o f the quality supports and services provided by general early
childhood programs such as
preschool, child care, and Head Start programs .
Committing to Build Partnerships
The multiple systems , such as early care and education, early intervention and
special education, and
health, that provide services to young childr en are often structured to deliver
services in separate
settings. Siloed systems may disproportionately affect children with disabilities
who are often involved
with several systems . Strong partnership s among EIS providers, LEAs, schools,
and early childho od
programs and providers are key ingredient s to successful inclusion , and critical
to ensur e that children
served by multiple early childhood sectors receive adequate and appropriate
supports and services in
their early childhood programs. Many communities believe in the importance of
inclusion but have made
little progress due to limited planning time or leaders’ lack of commitment and
support. Coordi nating
across systems is complex, so f ostering relationships between early childhood
system leaders and
providers requires an ongoing commitment and a willingness to build systems by
aligning policies and
practice s, providing dedicated funding and resource s for inclusion , and
enabling structures for educators
and providers to implement evidence -based inclusive practices . Systems and
providers should also
commit to build ing strong partnerships wit h communities and families and
kinship caregivers —
children’s first and most important teachers and advocates.
Increasing Access for All Children
Children of color with a disability face additional barriers to accessing
inclusive early childhood programs
and services . Professionals are less likely to refer c hildren of color,
particularly Black children , for early
intervention and, if referred, are less likely to evaluate these children to
determine their eligibility for POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH
14 services .90,91 Additionally, children of color ar e less likely to receive
early intervention services if found
eligible . Data indicates that young children of color do not have the same levels
of access to inclusive
preschool services as their white peers.92,93 One promising approach to address
ing these disparities is for
early intervention and special education systems to increase the diversity of the
workforce to reflect the
communities served and provide PD on culturally and linguistically responsive
practice . Examples of such
practices include supporting bilingual language development and dual language modes
such as spoken and
signed languages . Disaggregated data on demographic characteristics —such as
family primary language ,
race and ethnicity, or income —can support programs to develop and implement data
-informed strategies
to address differences in services among populations of children and families.
Early childhood data
systems may require enhancements in order to collect that data. POLICY STATEMENT
15 THE PATH AHEAD : PARTNERING TO
BUILD A NATIONWIDE CULTURE OF INCLUSION
Addressing the challenges and barriers to inclusion and ensuring that all
children with disabilities receive
the individualized supports they need to thrive in early childhood programs
requires expansive
partnership s that bri ng families, advocates and self -advocates , early
childhood programs and providers ,
schools, LEAs, EIS providers, and community and State leaders together to build a
culture of inclusion
rooted in its empirical and legal foundations . Communities across the country
need to a dopt and expand
on the work that has been underway in some communities for many years . In
creating a culture of
inclusion , it is important for all partners to demonstrate and share their
commitment to inclusive
practices for all children and their families by :
• Effectively communicating the importance of inclusion by:
 Strongly communicating inclusion as a shared responsibility and a top priority;
 Celebrating diversity of human experience in all its forms and facets of society
;
 Communicating with neighbors, community members, and State and local leaders to
highlight the importance of inclusion and the universal benefits of inclusion for
children
with and without disabilities ; and
 Counter ing myths, misconceptions, and stereotypes about children with
disabilities
and inclusion .
• Demonstrating a commitment to inclusion for all children with disabilities
through policy changes
and appropriate resource allocation at all levels; and
• Co-creat ing inclusion strategic plans at the State, LEA, community, school and
program levels ,
and ensuring people with disabilit ies are included in the planning process .
A central tenet of an inclusive early childhood system is the commitment to ensure
that each child’s individual needs are supported appropriately, that each family’s
goals for their children are considered,
and all have high expectations for each child. This tenet of quality applies to
every child, including
dual language learners , immigrants (regardless of documentation status), refugees,
migrants, and those
with special health care needs , living in poverty, experiencing homelessness, or
in foster care. A culture of
inclusion sets the stage to implement the recommendations provided here and is the
first step to reaching the ultimate vision of providing ac cess to and supporting
full participation in high -quality inclusive
early learning opportunities for each and every child. POLICY STATEMENT ON
INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
16 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STATE ACTION
The recommendations for State action in this
policy statement expand upon the
recommendations in the 2015 policy
statement to include input from the field and
align with the National Early Childhood
Inclusion Indicators Initiative . The National
Early Childhood Inclusion Indicators Init iative
brought together partners from national early childhood professional organizations
and associations, families, federally funded
technical assistance centers , and State and federal leaders to develop and
disseminate indicators and
elements designed to improve and increase inclusive opportunities for young
children.
1. Ensure a Cross -Sector State Leadership T eam Implement s a
Shared Vision for Inclusion
All State agencies that provide services to young children should take an active
role in ensur ing that
policies and resources support a coordinated , comprehensive early childhood
system that provides
access to inclusive early learning opportunities for all children and is prepared
to meet the individualized
needs of all children . A cross -sector State leadership team should develop a
shared vision to expand
access to and participation in inclusive programs across sectors serving young
children and their families.
The leadership team should include a broad representation of agencies, programs,
and partners across
the State and, at a minimum , include diverse representatives from family
networks, family support
organizations, IDEA Part B, section 619, IDEA Part C, Head Start and Early Head
Start (such as Head
Start Collaboration Office Directors) , child care (including the C hild Care and
D evelopment Fund
(CCDF) Lead Agency), home visiting (including Maternal, Infant, and Early
Childhood Home Visiting
(MIECHV) programs) , the S EA, LEAs, pediatric health care, Medicaid, mental health
, child welfare,
provider organizations , institutions of higher education , and TA providers. The
leadership tea m should
also leverage existing early childhood councils or taskforces, such as State
Advisory Councils for Early Care and Education , State Interagency Coordinating
Council s, Special Education Advisory Panels , and
Developmental Disability Councils, to create or strengthen a focus on early
childhood inclusion.
The leadership team should develop and implement a strategic plan that reflects
the shared vision. The
plan should establish expectations for high -quality inclusive programs , including
program standards that
define inclusion ; identify solutions to overcome barriers to inclusion in the
State; address disparities in
access across communities; and include recommendations for EIS providers, LEAs,
schools, and early
childhood programs to implement th e shared vision for inclusion. Specifically ,
the strategic plan should
include how the State will support TA to EIS providers, LEAs, schools, and early
childhood programs to
establish partnerships to address challenges that create barriers to inclusion
and lead to unequal access to
inclusive opportunities . The strategic plan should also build on existing early
childhood efforts in the State, RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The State Indicators of the National Early Childhood
Inclusion Indicators Initiative detail the key early
childhood infrastructure elements that need to be in
place across State agencies and federal programs to
increase high -quality inclusion opportunities for
young children with disabilities and their families. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION
OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
17 including quality improvement efforts and efforts to expand access to high -
programs for all c hildren . In developing the strategic plan, t he lea dership
team should review and
coordinate existing State plans, such as CCDF State Plans, IDEA State Systemic
Improvement Plans ,x or
plans for specific grant programs ( e.g., Preschool Development Grants Birth
through Five, Early
Childhood Comprehensive Systems grants ) to ensure that early childhood inclusion
and the necessary
services and supports for children with disabilities are consistently addressed
across plans. The leadership
should also review previous and current early childhood inclusion efforts to ensure
that lessons learned
are applied. T o support the implementation of the shared vision, the strategic
plan should include how the leadership team will work with local inclusion teams to
collect, analyze, and report qualitative and quantitative data on a routine basis.
The plan should include mechanisms for communicating progress in
meeting the shared vision to all sectors and partners, including families, within
the State.
STATE SPOTLIGHT : ILLINOIS
Illinois has established a cross -sector leadership team to increase inclusive
opportunities in their
State. They used the Indicators of High -Quality Inclusion to help guide their
work. They adopted
an inclusion vision statement modeled after the federal joint position statement
on inclusion. A
recent report, Strengthening Early Childhood Inclusion , includes recommendations
to inform the
Governor's Office of Early Childhood's needs assessment and strategic planning
process funded
through Preschool Development Grant Birth through 5 (PDG B -5). They also
regularly colle ct
and use data to inform decisions. Their Community Inclusion T eam Report showcases
data on
programs that received TA, which shows how the number of children with
disabilities receiving
their special education services in regular education settings has increased.
2. Ensure State Policies and Guidance Meet Federal Requirements and
Support Inclusion in High -Quality Progra ms
State policies and guidance set the direction for how communities, EIS providers,
LEAs, schools , and early
childhood programs collaborate to implement inclusion and provide the necessary
services and supports
for children with disabilities . State s should review the policies and guidance
across programs to ensure
that they are consistent with federal and State legal requirements .
Specifically, States must ensure t hat
policies and guidance are clear that the first placement option IEP teams
consider for each child with a
disability is the regular early childhood program the child would attend if they
did not have a disability , as
required under Part B of the IDEA. They should also ensure that policies and
guidance support early
intervention services being delivered in community settings where children with
out disabilities participate
as part of the natural environments provisions of Part C of the IDEA .
Considerations when reviewing,
x The State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) is a reporting requirement for all
States as part of their State Performance Plan /Annual Performance
Report under Part B or Part C of IDEA . The SSIP is a comprehensive multi -year
plan developed by each State and is focused on improving results
for children with disabilities by measuring the State’s performance on measurable
and rigorous targets in a State- identified area . POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF
CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
18 revising, and eliminating policies to ensure that they support the
implementation of federal and State
requirement s include the following :
• Ensu ring that the same early childhood programs, services, and experiences that
children without
disabilities have access to within a State or local community enroll children with
disabilities .
 If State policy defines “preschool” as a minimum number of days and hours per
week,
this same standard of preschool should hold for children with disabilities .
 The principle of natural proportionsxi should guide the design of inclusive early
childhood
programs and classrooms —that is, children with disabilities are included in early
childhood programs and classrooms in proportion to their presence in the
community .
 State -funded early childhood programs should have explicit requirements for
recruiting
and enrolling children with disabilities and require collaboration among early
childhood
programs and schools to provide services and supports within those early
childhood programs.
 A mixed delivery system of public and private early childhood programs, including
child
care programs, should be used to ensure that FAPE requirements are met.
• Ensur ing that the provision of IDEA services for children with disabilities are
in environments and
activities in which all children would typically participate so that children with
disabilities can
remain in the early childhood program for the whole day and thro ughout the week
with their
peers without disabilities .
 T ransitions between service providers— such as schools and community -based
early
childhood programs —should be minimized to lessen the burden on families, and
disrupt ions in service delivery and child ren’s developmental progress.
 Families should not have to choose between remaining in their existing early
childhood
program and receiving early intervention or special education services after
children are
identified with a disability .
States should also examine their policies and guidance across programs to ensure
that t hose policies
and guidance remove , rather than create , barriers to inclusion , are informed
by quality data, respond
to the unique needs of communities and populations of children served across the
State, and promote
cross -agency collaboration at the State and local level s. States should also
build on existing structures
to establish and sustain alignment and coordinati on across early learning systems
and early childhood
health systems to improve outcomes for children with disabilities.
xi Application of this principle does not anticipate or permit imposing caps or

quotas on the number of children with disabilities in a program or
not individualizing services for children with disabilities under the IDEA. POLICY
19 State -level memorand a of understanding can
be developed to promote inclusive policies
and practices and delineate the roles,
responsibilities, and supports from all partners
to enable EIS providers, LEAs , schools, and
community- based early childhood programs
to work together to ensure inclusion of all
children with disabilities in high -quality
programs. The Departments have issued
guidance to support the development of
effective memoranda of understanding to
support inclusion.
State and local p olicies , guidance , and procedures should:
• Promote a mixed delivery system of high -quality inclusive early learning
opportunities through
partnerships between EIS providers, LEAs , schools, and community -based early
childhood programs.
• Reduce the creation and maintenance of parallel early childhood programs for
children with disabilities by :
 Promoting inclusive opportunities that may already be available within the
community ,
such as Early Head Start, Head Start or other high -quality early care and
education
programs ; and
 Expand ing early learning initiatives within the State, such as State pre -
kindergarten, to
increase the number of high-quality inclusive programs , and ensur ing that these
programs
have adequate funding and specific policies and procedures to recruit, enroll, and
appropriately support the learning and developmental needs of all young children
with disabilities regardless of the level of their service and support needs .
• Expand the av ailability of high -quality inclusive child care settings by using
CCDF to fund
contracted slots for children with disabilities.
• Promote coordinated and culturally and linguistic ally responsive comprehensive
services across
early childhood programs, includ ing physical and mental health, home visiting,
and other social
services —whether covered by Medicaid or other funding sources— so that all
programs have the
infrastructure needed to best support children with disabilities and fulfill
their legal obligations to
each child.
• Make explicit plans to meet the needs of underserved children and families that
affirm the
diversity of their exp eriences ; consider the specific intersections of poverty,
race and ethnicity,
language, and disability; promote belonging ; and support t heir ability to
navigate the systems that
serve their children. RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The HHS and ED Policy Statement on Supporting the
Alignment of Health and Early Learning Systems
provides policy and program recommendations to
support States and communities in their efforts to
better coordinate, align, and enhance health and
early learning systems to promote the healthy
development, early learning, and well -being of all
children fr om birth to kindergarten entry. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF
20 STATE SPOTLIGHT : KENTUCKY & MINNESOTA
Kentucky's State -funded preschool program is available for all four -year-old
children whose families
meet income eligibility requirements. Kentucky modified the eligibility
requirements for its State -
funded preschool program for children with disabilities. The State -funded
preschool program
serves all three and four -year-old children with disabilities, regardless of
income, ensuring that a
high percentage of young children with disabilities are educated in inclusive
environments.
Kentucky uses a mixed deliv ery system and has worked to support alignment,
coordination, and
efficiencies across the system; provide meaningful community data; enhance early
learning
experiences and data system improvements; improve engagement of families,
caregivers, and
communitie s; and align and leverage existing resources to meet the needs of all
children.
T o support collaboration in serving children with disabilities, Minnesota
developed a resource that
provides a cross -walk of individual and shared responsibilities for Head Start and
LEAs in regard to
the identification, evaluation, service pr ovision, and transitions for children
with disabilities.
3. Engage Families as Essential Partners
The cross -sector State leadership team and
State early childhood agencies have a
responsibility to e nsure that families —including
grandfamilies and kinship caregivers, and court -
appointed educational decision makers— are
involved as essential partners in State and local
policy decisions and initiatives that facilitate
inclusion. Familie s can offer critical exper tise,
exper iential knowledge, and diverse
perspectives based on their engagement with
various agencies and early childhood systems
and services. States need to inten tionally plan for and support the participation
of families —particularly families
who currently have young children , families traditionally underserved by early
intervention and special
education , and parents with disabilities— as essential partners in the
development, implementation, and
evaluation of inclusion ini tiatives . State leadership teams should include
members from family organizations
such as Parent T raining and Information Centers and Community Parent Resource
Centers . State leadership
teams should also allocate r esources to family organizations to build the
capacity of families to meaningfully
participate in State and local policy discussions, planning, and evaluation of the
State’s inclusion plan. Resources
that support families to effectively par ticipate include financial supports such
as child ca re reimbursement and
stipends, flexible meeting times and formats , and accommodations for access such
as American Sign Languge
and other language interpreters , and closed and real -time captioning .
Additionally, States should work across
State and local agencies to ensure families have op portunities to take on
leadership roles within their systems
and provide feedback on an ongoing basis . States can also demonstrate the
importance of families as critical RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The HHS and ED Policy Statement on Family
Engagement From the Early Years to the Early Grades
identifies principles of high -quality fami ly
engagement and provides recommendations for
implementing family engagement practices across
early childhood systems and programs on
family engagement. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN
21 partners by having a d issemination plan in place so that families regularly
receive information and data in
family -friendly and accessible formats , and in families’ native langauges on
what is included in the strategic plan
and the State’s progress in increas ing inclusive opportunities.
4. Use Data to Guide Decisions for Continuous Quality Improvement
Guided by their vision on inclusion , States should use current State and local
data to set concrete goals in
their strategic plan s for expanding access to and participation in inclusive ,
high- quality early learning
opportunities . The goals should include specific indicators of quality for the
planning and implementation
of inclusi ve programs. The National Early Childhood Inclusion Indicators
Initiative developed indicators of
high- quality inclusion for different levels of a system that States can use in
developing their strategic plans.
The strategic plan should not only lay out how the State will collect and use data
to show progress
towards goals, but also how State early childhood agencies will support local
programs in collecting and
using data to evaluate and improve how well children with disabilities and their
families are accessing and
participating in inclusive early childhood programs. As States establish a
baseline and set benchmarks to
track progress , they should ensure that children with disabilities across the
State have access to inclusive
early childhood programs. This includes collecting data on the number of high -
childhood slots available and the number of ch ildren under five with and without
disabilities served in
those slots , and examining this data by disability, support needs, race and
ethnicity, language, family
income level , and location in the State . States should not only track access to
inclusive earl y childhood
programs, but also indicators that address the quality of participation by children
with disabilitie s in
inclusive early childhood programs, through data on the provision of IDEA services
and supports in
inclusive settings and measures o f the quality of the environment for children
with disabilities in these
programs. Additionally, States should examine data on children’s developmental and
learning outcomes .
States should also ensure that they have a process in place to use data for
continuous improvement so
that they modify implementation strategies or benchmarks as needed, and share
data, in user -friendly and
accessible formats, with State and local partners , including families, to show
progress in meeting the
State’s vision and strategic plan on inclusion.
5. Leverage Funding and Resources to Support Inclusion Across
Early Childhood Systems
Research has shown that inclusive early childhood programs are not necessarily
more expensive than
separate early childhood programs ,94 yet many agencies and programs identify
funding as a barrier to
inclusion and indicate that they do not know how to navigate various funding
streams. As part of their
strategic plan, the State leadership team should review how existing funding and
resources are allocated ;
whether there are disparities in funding and resources across communities ; how
funds may be realloca ted
to better support increased access and participation in inclusive early childhood
programs ; and how State
policies and guidance could facilitate the coordination of funding and resources
across State and local
early childhood agencies . Finance mapping plans may help State e arly childhood
agencies determine how
to most efficiently and effectively utilize funds and resources from different
funding streams. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN
22 State agencies should examine regulations ,
funding , and resources across multiple early
childhood programs —including IDEA , public
preschool, child care, Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I funds,
and Early Head Start and Head Start . In
addition, State Medicaid agencies are
important financing partners , and States have
options they can utilize to locat e and enroll
eligible children in Medicaid, such as Express
Lane Eligibility (ELE).xii Medicaid funding for
early intervention services and related
services is available for children enrolled in Medicaid and eligible for the Early
and Periodic Screening,
Diagnostic and T reatment benefit (EPSDT) ,95 and schools can receive payment for
Medicaid -covered services.
The State strategic plan should include how
the State will p rovide TA and guidance to
communities, EIS providers, LEAs , schools,
and early childhood programs on allocating
funds and resources , and braiding and
layering funds at the local level to support
increased ac cess to inclusive settings and
IDEA services in those settings that meet
the individualized learning and
developmental needs of children with disabilities. The strategic plan should also
describe how the State will evaluate the
effectiveness of the TA and guidance and
examine differences in implementation
across communities or populations of
children in the State . The State leadership
team also should consider how to leverage
funds across early childhood systems to
enhance systems supports such as
workforce PD and data systems. One
strategy to leverage funding is the use of
xii As many programs have the same means- based eligibility requirements, ELE
provides States with important avenues to ensure that children
eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program have a fast and
simplified process for having their eli gibility determined or
renewed. ELE permits States to rely on findings, for things like income, household
size, or other factors of eligibility from another prog ram
designated as an express lane agency (ELA) to facilitate enrollment in health
coverage. ELA s may include Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program, School Lunch, T emporary Assistance for Needy Families, Head Start,
National School Lunch Program, and Women, Infants , and
Children among others. A State may also use information from state income tax data
to identify children in families that might qualify and so
that families do not have to submit income information. Ex press Lane Eligibility
for Medicaid and CHIP Coverage | Medicaid. RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
Braiding Funding for Early Childhood Education is an
interactive tool developed to assist States and local
communities in braiding or layering multiple federal
funding streams to increase the supply of quality
early care and education and increase access to
early childhood and family support services within a
coordinated, comprehensive early
childhood system.
RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’
Medicaid guidance, Delivering Service in School -
Based Settings: A Comprehen sive Guide to Medicaid
Services and Administrative Claiming , details new
flexibilities and consolidates existing guidance, to
improve the delivery of covered Medicaid and
Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
servic es to enrolled students in school -based
settings. In addition to the guidance, there is an
informational bulletin and fact sheet . Additionally ,
the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services’
Informational Bulletin on Leveraging Medicaid, CHIP ,
and Other Federal Programs in the Delivery of
Behavioral Health Services f or Children and Youth
includes federal requirements on EPSDT and
examples of ways that Medicaid and CHIP funding
can be used in the provision of high -quality
behavioral health services to children and youth. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF
23 ESEA Title II , Part A funds for supporting effective instruction to expand the
competencies of public
school personnel in providing inclusiv e early childhood education and invit ing
other local early
childhood personnel to participate in PD.96
6. Implement State Early Learning Guidelines and Statewide Initiatives
that Support Development and Learning for All Children
All States have early learning standards or
guidelines for developmental expectations. The State leadership team should review
their State early learning guidelines to ensure that
they include specific culturally and linguistically
responsive strategies and adaptations to
support the learning and developmental needs of all children with disabilities. L
ocal early
childhood programs should use the early
learning standards to guide curriculum and instruction for children with
disabilities, so
they have the same access to the general early
childhood curriculum as their peers wi thout
disabilities. The State leadership team should use the early learning standards to
identify PD
and TA and determine which statewide
initiatives and practices to adopt to support
the learning and development of all children in inclusive settings. For example,
early childhood programs and providers indicate they need PD to
adequately support all children’s social -emotional competence and behavioral
needs. As such, a lack of
program capacity to manage challenging behavior or social -emotional developmental
delays is often
identified as a barrier to inclusion and may contribute to inappropriate use of
discipline practices such as
expulsions and suspensions .
97 State leadership teams should plan for early childhood programs and
providers to have access to specialists who can build capacity in fostering young
children’s social -
emotional and behavioral health. States should implement early childhood mental
health consultation (ECMHC) models
xiii or positive behavior intervention and supports (PBIS) frameworks such as the
Pyramid Model for Promoting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young
Children (Pyramid Model).
xiv Studies show that p ractices like ECMHC and the Pyramid Model, both of which
consist of staff
xiii Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) is a multi- level

preventive intervention that teams mental health professionals with
people who work with young children and their families to improve their social-
emotional and behavioral health and development.
ECMHC builds the capacity of providers and families to understand the powerful
influence of their relationships and interactions on
young childr en’s development.
xiv The Pyramid Model is a tiered intervention framework for supporting social-
emotional and behavioral development. The first tier includes
practices to promote nurturing and responsive caregiving relationships with the
child and high -quality supportive environments. The second
RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
HHS and ED Policy Statement on Expulsion and
Suspension Policies in Early Childhood Settings and
Dear Colleague Letter on Supporting the Social -
emotional Development and Mental Health of Young
Children and ED Questions and Answers on Addressing
the Needs of Children with Disabilities and IDEA’s
Discipline Provisions all provide guidance and
resources to ensure that all children have access to a
high- quality education provided in a safe, supportive,
and predictable learning environment, and that early
childhood programs and schools implement positive,
proactive approaches to support children’s social,
emotional, and behavior development and mental
health, and respond to children’s behavioral needs. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION
OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
24 capacity building paired with external specialized support, reduce and preve nt
expulsion and suspension
in early learning and school settings, reduce reports of teacher -rated challenging
behaviors in young
children, and support the inclusion of children with disabilities.98,99,100
STATE SPOTLIGHT : MARYLAND
Maryland has made improving early childhood inclusion a State priority. The Early
Childhood
State Inclusion Leadership T eam, which includes the Developmental Disabilities
Council,
facilitated discussions and collected extensive feedback about the necessary
collabo rations
needed among early childhood agencies and programs to promote partnerships and
inclusive
practices, programs, and policies. Through this work, the State developed
indicators of high -
quality, inclusive programs. Those indicators are used to assess p rograms and
ongoing
collaboration efforts within the State. They used PDG B -5 funds to support
implementation of
the Pyramid Model in four counties, knowing that behavioral challenges are often
used by
programs as the reason that children are not included. Additionally, the Inclusion
Leadership
Te a m w o r k ed closely with policymakers and other advocacy organizations to
support the
development of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future . The Blueprint creates a new
fundi ng
structure for Maryland’s schools and includes the requirement that local school
systems enroll
children with disabilities in public prekindergarten regardless of income.
7. Ensure Program Standards Support High -Quality Inclusion
State early childhood systems have standards
in place for measuring program quality to
promote children’s learning and development .
These may include standards on health and
safety, ratios and group sizes , the use of
evidence- based curriculums and instructional
practices , developmental screening and
assessment , cultural and linguistic
responsiveness , and personnel qualifications
and PD. Such standards may not fully address
the learning and developmental needs of all children with disabilities , however .
State
leadership teams should ensure that there are program standards in place that
define inclusion, and that
they are used a cross early childhood programs at the local level to guide high-
quality inclusion practices .
tier includes explicit instruction in social skills and emotional regulation for
children who require more systematic and foc used instruction. The
third tier is for children with persistent challenging behaviors tha t are not
responsive to interventions at other tiers and involves implementing
a plan of intensive, individualized interventions. RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The Early Childhood Education Environment Inclusion
Indicators Observation T ool is a technical assistance
tool designed to help programs use more inclusive
practices. The observation tool supports coaches
and providers who are knowledgeable and skilled in
high- quality inclusive practices to build the capacity
of providers to implement high -quality
inclusive practices. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
25 States can use the indicators of high -quality inclusion for early care and
education environments to inform
program standards. State quality rating frameworks should include these program
standards and ensure
that the standards are applied at each level of a quality framework, as opposed to
allowing standards
specific to the inclusion of children with disabilities to be option al or only
applying standards on inclusion
at the highest level of a framework. In rating early childhood programs on
standards of high -quality
inclusion , traditional environmental quality assessments may not be sufficient for
assessing the quality of
the environment for children with disabilities .101 States should supplement
traditional environmental
assessments with tools that are designed to measure the quality of inclusion .
Those tools should always
be part of the core assessment protocol of early childhood settings, not optional
elements . States should
also incorporate inclusion s tandards in their child care licensing standards or
in agreements they make
with providers who accept CCDF .
STATE SPOTLIGHT : VIRGINIA
Virginia has a supporting State law and regulations that govern placements for
preschoolers with
disabilities as well as a State -developed guidance document, Virginia Guidelines
for Early Childhood
Inclusion , to enable Virginia’s school divisions to develop and sustain inclusive
early care and
education programs. The guidelines include information on the rationale,
definition, legal basis, and
benefits of and common misconceptions about inclusion, as well as descriptions of
inclusive contexts
and models for implementing inclusion, and information about funding models,
including cost sharing.
Virginia provides videos (available on its inclus ive practices resource page ) of
a variety of inclusive
settings throughout the State to support access, participation, and support.
8. Strengthen Accountability Systems and Build Structures to
Support Inclusive Mod els
State leadership teams should enhance their accountability systems to monitor and
address barriers to
inclusion across early childhood programs. IDEA has specific monitoring
requirements to ensure that EIS
providers and LEA s meet IDEA requirements. IDEA Part C State lead agencies should
examin e how IFSP
teams make decisions on provid ing early intervention services in community -
based natural environments ,
and specifically review how EIS providers are working with child care and Early
Hea d Start programs to
support young children’s participation in daily routines and activities by
delivering services in these
programs. Additionally, SEAs are required to monitor LEAs on how children with
disabilities receive FAPE
in the LRE. SEAs should examine LEAs’ policies and procedures to identify any
systemic biases in
placements by the LEAs that undermine childr en with disabilities being served in
the least restrictive,
highest quality settings. SEAs should also review the IEP process in local
communities to ensure that the
practices IEP teams use provid e families of eligible children with all their
options in the continuum of
services and supports , and support decisions that are both individualized and
consistent with LRE
requirements. Additionally, SEAs should have LEAs document how they meet
requirements to provide
services in the LRE through partnerships and formal agreements with early
childhood programs in the POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH
26 commun ity. As State lead agencies and SEAs monitor how local programs
implement IDEA requirements ,
they should ensure that family input is part of the monitoring process by
collecting information from
families on how they were informed of their rights under the IDEA , how service
decisions and placement
options were discussed with them, and their satisfaction with the process and the
support they received
to navigate it. States should also examine disaggregated data to deter mine
whether there are groups
within the State that have less access to services in the natural environment or
in the LRE. In addition to
IDEA programs, other State early childhood agencies should have specific monitoring
processes in place
to ensure that programs meet federal or State requirements on enrolling and serving
children with
disabilities in inclusive settings and Section 504 and the ADA requirements.
The State leadership team should include activities within their strategic plan to
build high- quality
inclusive early learning models . Activities could include : publicly recognizing
systems that have developed
partnerships across sect ors and programs to implement high- quality inclusive
programs ; using tiered
reimbursement in their quality rat ing and improvement systems for program s that
demonstrate high -
quality inclusion ; provid ing child care subsidy payment differentials per child
with a disability included in a
general early childhood program ; offering grant and contract opportunities for pr
ograms to strategically
plan for inclusion ; offering trainings on children with disabilities and
inclusion for continuing education
credit; providing tuition assistance for credit bearing courses on inclusion ; and
offering TA to programs to
implement inclusive practices .
9. Build a Coordinated Early Childhood Workforce System
An effective , well- prepared , well- compensated , and multilingual , racially and
ethnically diverse early
childhood workforce is a key component of expanding access to high- quality
inclusive early childhood
programs. Staff shortages —further impacted by the global pandemi c—persist across
all sectors of the
early care and education field , in large part due to low wages . The strategic
plan should identif y different
levers in the system to support the recruitment, preparation, and retention of the
early childhood
workforce across programs and settings . The State leadership team should ensure
that their strategic
plan has ongoing, coordinated , and different iated cross -sector efforts so that
inclusion is meaningfully
addressed, and that these efforts include paraprofessionals and aides, center -
based and family child care
providers, teachers, IDEA providers, directors and principals, and other leaders .
State leadership teams
should specifically address the following:
• Establish Structures to Support Recruitment, Retention, Compensation , and
Advancement of Educators and Providers
In a comprehensive approach to support the early childhood workforce , the Sta te
leadership
team should establish or enhance structures and policies to attract and retain
personnel, advance
career pathways , improve compensation , and improve work place supports .
T o bring new personnel into the field and to increase the diversity of the
workforce , the State
leadership team should explore coordinated recruitment efforts and innovative
models that
promote career advancement and alternative pathways. G row-your-own programs can
bring
racial, ethnic, cultu ral, and linguistic diversity to early childhood programs and
schools by POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY
CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
27 recruiting and preparing educators from within communities to become
certificated educators
and providers. Other models include practice -based learning such as registered
apprenticeships
and mentoring programs that leads toward a credential or degree . States should
ensure that
there are pathways for providers across early care and education sectors to attain
additional
credentials, degrees, and expertise , such as supporting articulation agreements
between degree
programs in early childhood and early childhood special education programs,
offering credit for
prior learning and experience, and providing more accessible coursework and
academic
supports. Additi onally, loan forgiveness and scholarship support can attract new
personnel to
enter the early childhood field.
The State leadership team should
explore federal funding options that
address shortages of personnel and partner with institutions of higher education
( IHEs ) to apply for funding.
The Office of Special Education Programs has an annual grant
program to award grants to IHEs to
increase the number of early
intervention, special education, and related service providers to serve
young children with disabilities and their families —including multilingual
personnel and personnel
from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds . They also administer the State
Personnel
Development Grant program, which support SEAs, who can partner with State lead
agencies for
Part C, in reforming and improving their systems for personnel preparation and PD
of individuals
providing early intervention, educational, and tr ansition services . The State
leadership team
should examine policies and initiatives across early childhood settings and schools
that impact
compensation, such as wage ladders and parity in pay and benefit s (e.g., paid
leave, health
insurance, and retirement benefits). Additionally, the State leadership team should
include
strategies to increase staff wellness by putting in structures such as guaranteed
breaks during the
work day, mental health consultation, and peer support networks to improve the
working environment.
• Build a Common Knowledge and Competency Base Across Child -Serving Providers
The Natio nal Academies of Science report, Transforming the Workforce for Children
Birth Through
Eight , recommends that all service providers who work with young children have a
common
knowledge and competency base. The strategic plan should include opportunities and
supports ,
such as paid time -off, for th e early care and education workforce to build and
enhance their
knowledge of child development and learning, the importance of consistent and
nurturing
relationships, and the biological and environmental factors that influence
development. Providers
should also have opportunities to attain competencies in engaging chil dren in
high -quality
interactions, promoting social -emotional development and mitigating challenging
behaviors,
implementing trauma -informed and cultural ly and linguistically responsive
practices, recognizing RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
HHS and ED both have webpages with resources on
building a system that attracts, prepares, supports,
and retains a qualified, diverse early childhood
workforce , including an early intervention and
special education workforce , across settings and
programs that serves all children and families. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF
28 signs that children may need additional assessm ents and services, and using
various tools and
techniques to promote learning. States should foster opportunities for early
childhood personnel
to collaborate and consult with one another in inclusive early childhood settings.
States should
also ensure tha t their efforts to build a common base of evidence- based
practices —in
partnership with training programs and IHEs—i nclude considerations for children
with
disabilities , with specific attention to childre n who need more intensive service
and supports and
children who are typically underserved , including dual language learners, those
whose families live
in poverty, and those from racially and ethnically diverse background s.
STATE SPOTLIGHT : MARYLAND
In Maryland , a 6-module training for child care professionals titled Learning the
Basics: Strength -
Based T raining on Developmental Disabilities — Abilities Network shares how to
support children
with developmental disabilities. The modules are now part of the State’s licensed
training series.
As a result, more children with disabilities will get the support they need to
learn, play, and grow
in ch ild care programs alongside their peers without disabilities.
• Ensure that State Certifications, Credentials, and Workforce Pre paration
Programs
Have a Strong Focus on Inclusion and Supporting Children w ith Disabilities
All early childhood personnel need to be prepared to support children with
disabilities and
differentiate interventions, instruction , and supports for children based on their
individual needs .
Doing so may require those personnel collaborate and team with professionals with
specialized
training as appropriate . States should ensure that personnel standards,
credentials, certifications,
and licensure requirements for general early childhood personnel, including
directors or
principals, educators and providers , and paraprofessionals or aides, include
competencies for
working with children with disabilities and their families in inclusive settings .
States should ensure
their personnel standards reflect the standards of national professional
organizations and contain
core knowledge and skills needed for working with young children and their families
in cross -
sector early childhood systems. They should work with IHEs to align programs of
study to the
State personnel standards and to criteria for licensure, certifications , and
credential s. Additionally,
State s should partner with IHE s—community colleges and 4 -year institutions —and
other training
entities to ensure that early childhood preparation certificate and degree
programs weave
throughout the entire curriculum —including coursework and practicum experience —
specific
pedagogy for children with disabilities , childhood assessment and instruction in
inc lusive settings ,
and collaborating and teaming , rather than in a small number of supplemental
courses or a
separate program . The State leadership team should encourage interdisciplinary
preparation
among education and related services preparation programs and ensure that there are
personnel
preparation programs within the State to prep are specialists to work with young
children with
disabilities, including infants and toddlers and those with significant service and
support needs
such as children with sensory disabilitie s. Additionally, States should consider
supporting dual POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN
29 certificatio n preparation programs, which certify graduates to work in both
early childhood and
early childhood special education , thereby enhanc ing the competencies of the
early childhood
workforce to indi vidualize instruction and supports for all children in inclusive
early
childhood programs.
STATE SPOTLIGHT : NORTH CAROLINA
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill implements the SCRIPT -NC project,
which works
with community colleges in North Carolina to assess, enhance, and redesign courses
to better
prepare preservice early childhood educators to meet the needs of all children in
their
communities, including c hildren with disabilities and children who are culturally
and linguistically
diverse and their families. The focus is on incorporating evidence -based practices
into the
program, courses, and syllabi.
• Ensure Personnel Policies Facilitate Inclusion
States should ensure that their policies allow programs led by early childhood
educators and
providers to serve children with disabilities. However, since many early childhood
educators and
providers do not have specialized disability certifications, they should provide
instruction in
consultation with and under the supervision of professionals with specialized
training and
certifications —such as occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech -
language
pathologists or other related service s providers; teachers of the deaf and hard
of hearing ;
teachers of the blind and visually impaired; orientation and mobility specialists ;
behavioral
specialists or early childhood mental health consultants ; child care health
consultants, early
childhood special educators ; and early interventionists . States should consider
promoting co -
teaching models where specialists and educators or providers work jointly with
children in
inclusive settings, and coaching and mentoring to support educators and
providers in developing
their competencies to include children with disabilities . They should also
provide guidance and
TA on personnel and staffing policies to assist early childhood programs in
navigat ing personnel
issues on inclusive service delivery , such as requirements for collaborative
planning time for early
childhood, early intervention, and early childhood special education personnel, and
supervision of
LEA general education personnel providing services in h ome-based and community
settings.
• Offer Collaborative PD and TA
States should ensure that existing early childhood PD and TA efforts always
consider and address all
children with disabilities. States should supplement existing PD and TA efforts to
ensure that
professionals working with young children can access information and obtain TA in
evidence -based
inclusion practices. State leadership teams should identify and coordinate
funding streams and resources
for PD and TA efforts and ensure that there are policies and guidance in place to
build the capacity of
local early childhood program s to use cross -sector and cross- discipline PD and
TA opportunities. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN
30 STATE SPOTLIGHT : MICHIGAN
Michigan has developed a bi rth-to-age-5 cross -program training for providers
from child care,
Head Start, State PreK and other general education programs, as well as EIS
providers from Part C
and providers from Part B section 619, to improve the skills of the entire early
childhood work
force in understanding early intervention and special education and how to work
with families and
help them locate resources.
COLLABORATIVE PD AND TA ACTIONS
State leaderships teams should consider the following action s:
• Develop and implement a cross -sector and cr oss-discipline PD and TA plan for
all educators,
providers, and specialists working with young children , based on an assessment of
the workforce’s
strengths and concerns.
• Establish a group of inclusion experts that provide ongoing PD and TA
opportunities across early
childhood systems to support the learning and development of children with
disabilities.
• Ensure that PD is tied to specific competencies, is sequential , supports
continuing education
requirements , and covers a wide range of topics, with a focus on how the content
and practice
apply to children with disabilities.
• Provide incentives to local programs to engage in PD.
• Use ESEA Title II , Part A funds for supporting effective instruction to build
capac ity in providing
inclusive high -quality early education. Encourage community -based educators and
providers to join
PD with school -based personnel.
• Establish a method for local programs— regardless of geographic region— to
request specialized
support on incl usion, for example, through statewide hotlines, consultation
models, mentoring, or
coaching networks.
• Develop community hubs and educators and provider networks where participants
can learn from
each. other how to implement evidence -based practices.
• Expa nd access to specialists, including inclusion coaches, behavioral or mental
health consultants,
and related services providers with the goal of providing universal access to
specialists across early
childhood programs in the State.
• Identify and highlight p rograms that are exemplars of inclusion so that State
and local leaders and
educators and providers can see how inclusion can be successfully implemented.
PROGRAMS
31 10. Raise Public Awareness
The State leadership team should plan for and implement a unified and ongoing
cross -sector public
awareness plan to shift attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of inclusion and
expectations for children
with disabilities. State s should partner with community leaders and families to
develop strategies and
messages that reach key audiences to communicate the benefits of early childhood
inclusion, affirm
the laws and research that provide the foundation for inclusion, and set the
expectation that the
community is responsible for ensuring that all children have access to high -
childhood programs and the individualized supports they need to fully participat e
in those programs .
State leaders should acknowledge the need for additional high-quality early
childhood programs for
all children to increase the opportunities for inclusive experiences for children
with disabilities. Key
audiences and partners should i nclude staff and leaders from early childhood
programs and schools;
parents and families of children with and without disabilities; specialized service
providers; pediatric
healthcare professionals; philanthropic , business, and other private sector
partners; faith -based
organizations; elected officials, and other relevant community leaders.
STATE SPOTLIGHT : ILLINOIS
Illinois used PDG B -5 funds to take documents and initiatives related to
inclusion that had been
developed ov er the years, and create a one-page infographic that communicates the
State’s key
areas of work around inc lusion: public outreach; supports to community -based
organizations to
support inclusion; guidance, incentives, and accountability to support school
districts; and
guidance, incentives, and accountability to support early intervention. Illinois
also developed a
public awareness campaign that uses social media to promote an understanding of the
value of
inclusion and the numerous resources available for families to help them make
informed choices
and for practitioners to help them support children with disabilities.
Additionally, the State used
social media to promote an online Understanding Inclusion T raining Series
designed for both
families and professionals. It is also using its Quality Rating and Improvement
System process to
identify and provide intensive support to programs that want to improve their
capacity to
provide high -quality inclusion. The State’s PD opportunities have been developed
colla boratively
across systems and with families, drawing on the best available evidence of what
constitutes
effective PD. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY
CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
32 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LOCAL ACTION
With the support of State s and federal
resources , and with the engagement of
families and community organizations, leaders
in LEAs, school s, EIS providers, a nd early
childhood programs can increase and enhance
high- quality early learning experiences for all
young children . Leaders within communities
can adopt a culture of inclusion, set
expectation s for programs across early
childhood systems to work together to provide inclusive settings and practices,
establish policies that
meet the unique needs of the populations in their community , allocate existing
and devote additional
resources in ways that facilitate incr eased access to inclusive early childhood
programs , and prioritize
workforce development . The following recommendations can guide local and community
leaders to
work together to champion a culture of inclusion and build high- quality
inclusive programs and
opportunities. As with the State recommendations, the recommendations for local
action were refined
and enhanced to better align with the indicators and elements the cross -sector
efforts of the National
Early Childhood Inclusion Indicators Initiative developed .
1. Establish an Inclusion Leadership T eam and Vision for Inclusion
Improving access to and participation in high -quality inclusive early childhood
pro grams is facilitated when
cross- sector early childhood administrators , LEA and school administra tors, IDEA
program
administrators, program staff, family members, and community partners come
together to develop and
commit to a vision of inclusion and use th is vision to develo p and implement
policies and procedures that
support inclusion across a mixed- delivery system . The inclusion leadership team
should develop an action
plan with goals and objectives to increase the number and quality of inclusive
early childhood programs ,
ensure that all populations of children and areas in the community have access to
high- quality inclusive
early childhood prog rams, ensure evidence -based practices support children’s full
participation in daily
routines and learning activities, and support the provision of IDEA services in
children’s general early
childhood programs. The inclusion leadership team should also identify partners,
strategies, and data
sources needed to implement and evaluate progress towards meeting the goals on the
action plan.
Inclusion leadership teams build awareness of and commitment to high -quality
inclusive opportunities at
the local and commun ity levels by clearly communicating the benefits of inclusion
for all children and
families as well as highlighting and celebrating exemplars of inclusion within the
community . RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The Community and L ocal Indicators of the National
Early Childhood Inclusion Indicators Initiative detail the
key elements that are necessary for promoting h igh-
quality inclusive policies, procedures, and practices
at a community and local program level. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN
WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
33 STATE SPOTLIGHT : OREGON
Oregon uses the Indicators of Early Childhood Inclusion and the Oregon Department
of Education
(ODE) Equity Stance to guide implementation work at the State and local levels in
Oregon. The
Community Inclusion T eams (CIT s) consist of family members, program
implementation coaches,
early inte rvention and early childhood special education providers, community
partners, and early
educational agency partners. The CIT s have implemented action plans based on both
the
Community and Local Program Indicators of High -Quality Inclusion that guide and su
pport the
availability of high -quality inclusive early childhood programs throughout the
community. Oregon’s
Implementation Programs (IPs) and Demonstration Sites support programs in
implementing the
Early Care and Education Environment Indicators of High -Quality Inclusion. IP
Leadership T eams
meet monthly and work to build capacity to implement community action plans, change
practices,
and enhance policies and procedures to maximize access, participation, supports and
outcomes for
children with disabilitie s. The IPs will be used to examine the effectiveness of
the inclusion
indicators and provide a model for replication. CIT s across the State meet to
identify solutions and
share data. All CIT s reported improvements to their systems, and significant
improvem ent on the
Indicators of High -Quality Inclusion. Following community implementation, the
State has examined
its educational environments data and seen signs of progress. As an example, one
Oregon county
increased the number of preschool children with disab ilities receiving services in
regular education
settings by 9.54 percent between the 2018- 2019 and 2020- 2021 school years. See
more in the
press release and story featured on OPB , and website for Oregon Early
Childhood Inclusion.
2. Develop Formal Collaborations with Community Partners
Formal agreements and strong collaboration
are critical for establishing a mixed delivery
system where all children have access to
inclusive early learning opportunities in a range of settings across their
community, such
as in child care programs (including family
child care and home -based programs) , public
and private preschool, and Head Start. The
inclusion leadership team should prioritize
supporting programs in establishing formal agreements to fulfill IDEA requirements
such
as those related to child find , eligibility
determination s, the natural environment , and
LRE. In addition to IDEA , other federal early childhood programs have statutory
requirements to serve
children with disabilities . EIS providers and LEAs are expected to collaborate
with early childhood RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The Guidance on Creating an Effective Memorandum of
Understanding to Support High- Quality Inclusive Early
Childhood Systems provides an overview of factors to
consider when developing, implementing, and
sustaining memoranda of understanding at the State
level to create a coordinated approach to service
delivery to improve outcomes for young children
who are at risk for or have a developmental delay
or disability. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN
34 programs to meet these requirements and the inclusion leadership team should
ensure that there are
formal agreements t hat address these early childhood program requirements. EIS
providers and LEAs
should recognize the expertise of early childhood program leaders and seek
collaboration to meet shared
goals of inclusive early childhood programs across a range of settings. For
example, Head Start and Early
Head Start programs are required to establish collaborative partnerships with
community organizations,
which may include individuals and agencies that provide services to children with
disabilities .102 Formal
agreements between Head Start and EIS providers and LEAs are important to ensur e
that Early Head
Start and Head Start programs can meet their requirements to serve children with
disabilities in their programs and to ensure that children receive Part C and Part
B services in E arly Head Start and H ead
Start programs . Further, the CCDBG requires States to describe how they will
coordinate services
provided under CCDF with agencies providing services to children with d
isabilities in their care .
103
Formal agreements can support the provision of IDEA Part C and Part B ser vices in
child care settings,
including consultative support to child care providers to meet the CCDF
requirements . Formal
agreements should also include how programs will work together to share resources;
braid or layer
funding; collect, share, and analyz e data with parent consent (if needed under
applicable IDEA privacy
provisions) ; and support joint PD .
In addition, young children with disabilities and their families often require
services that may be delivered by providers outside of their early childhood
programs. Formal collaborations between public and private
community partners —such as health systems, home visiting programs, pediatric
medical home s, and
developmental specialists —may improve screening, evaluation, referral systems, and
data sharing, and
may help ensure that children who need additional supports receive them as soon as
possible. In
developing formal collaborations with community partners, the inclusion leaderships
te am should build on
and support existing coordinating bodies that strengthen the coordination of health
and early learning
systems, including Health Resources and Services Administration’s Early Childhood
Comprehensive
Systems Impact grants, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration’s Early
Childhood Me ntal Health Programs . Formal partnerships may also facilitate the use
of wrap -around
services, a philosophy of care that involves providing intensive coordinated
community -based services
designed to meet children’s specif ic social- emotional and behavioral health
needs.
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT : OKLAHOMA
Within Oklahoma, the Community Action Project (CAP) of T ulsa County, which is the
Head Start
grantee, collaborates with the T ulsa Public Schools, Union Public Schools, and
Sand Springs Public
Schools Community Action Project of T ulsa County to provide services to children
with disabilities
in the Head Start program. Services to children with disabilities are provided in
part by district
personnel, as required in each child’s IEP . Children remain enrolled at the early
childhood centers
with their typically developing peers. CAP’s teachers receive training and TA to
support each child
in meeting their IEP goals. CAP’s Disability Coordinators are also available to
assist classroom
teachers, in partnership with the districts’ IDEA providers. POLICY STATEMENT ON
INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
35 3. Support Family Engagement and Partnerships
Families are young children’s first and most important teachers and advocates.
The inclusion leadership
team, s chools , and early childhood programs should intentionally plan and asses s
how t hey are partnering
with all families —including families of color, families whose primary language is
not English, and parents
with disabilitie s—to expand inclusive practices in the home and community settings
.104 This inc ludes
involving families in policy development, advocacy efforts, program improvement
processes, and public
information initiatives, including forums and conferences on inclusion . It is
important to ensure that all
families are knowledgeable about the benefits of inclusion , understand their
rights , and learn how to
navigate the systems that serve their children. Schools , early childhood programs,
and other community
partners could support families by connecting them to the parent training and
informatio n center in their
State , and community parent resource center in their area , in addition to
providing specific resources on
inclusion in early childhood programs, and the individualized supports and services
and continuum of
placement options available to meet their child’s unique needs.
This information should be available and
accessible to all families, including parents with disabilities and those with
limited English
proficiency.
xv Schools and early childhood
programs should support families’ capacity to
advocate for their children ’s access to early
childhood programs in their community and
having services provided in the early
childhood program. T eachers and pro viders
should regularly engage with families and h ave
ongoing conversations with families on their
children’s learning and development, share
information on developmental screening and child assessment, ask for their
perspectives on their children’s strengths and needs , and , as needed,
connect them to additional services and supports, such as family to family health
resource centers or
specialized service providers . The Head Start Parent, Family and Community
Engagement Framework
can serve as a useful roadmap to establish and enhance fam ily engagement .105
The inclusion leadership team, s chools and early childhood programs should also
plan for how they will
build and enhance staff’s capacity to engage and build partnerships with families ,
including providing PD
to teachers and providers on forming strong goal -oriented relationships with
families that are linked to
their child’s development, learning, and wellness and respect ing and incorporat
ing families’ cultures,
preferences , and priorities into children’s lea rning . They should also ensure
administrative, custodial, and
xv Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including its implementing

regulations, requires school districts to ensure meanin gful communication
with parents who have limited English proficiency (LEP) in a language they can
understand and to adequately notify parents wh o have LEP of
information about any program, service, or activity of a school district that is
called to the attention of parents who are proficient in English.
A description of these obligations is available in Section J of joint guidance
released by the U.S. Department of Education and the
U.S. Department of Justice, Dear Colleague Letter: English Learner Students and
Limited English Proficient Parents (Jan. 7, 2015),
available at www.ed.gov/ocr/letters/colleague -el-201501.pdf .. RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
Parent T raining and Information Centers and
Community Parent Resource Centers work with
families of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with
disabilities to help families understand their rights
under the IDEA and participate fully in their
children’s development, learning, and education.
They also partner with professionals and policy
makers to improve outcomes for all children with
disabilities and their families. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH
36 other support staff understand the program’s culture of inclusion and interact
with families res pectfully
and compassionately .
4. Ensure Policies and Procedures Support the Provision of Services i n
Inclusive Settings
The inclusion leadership team, schools, and early childhood programs should have
cross -cutting and
program -specific policies and procedures on inclusion that reflect the community’s
vision for inclusion,
support the use of evidence-based inclusive practices, support coordinated service
delivery among
programs, and comply with the requirements of IDEA and other federal policies and
guidance regarding services to children with disabilities and th eir families. The
IDEA requires that IFS P and I EP teams , which
includes parents, make service and setting decisions for infants, toddlers , and
based on their individual needs . The decisions these teams make determine if
services and supports will
be provided in inclusive early childhood settings. LEAs, schools, and EIS providers
should specifically
review their IFSP and IEP process es and procedures to ensure that natural
environments and inclusive
settings are meaningfully discuss ed for each child , and that the first options
considered for infants,
toddlers, and preschool children with disabilities are those that would be
considered for children without disabilities . Where appropriate for the individual
needs of a child with a disa bility, IFSP and IEP teams
should write goals and outcomes that can be met with the pro vision of services
and supports in inclusive
settings . For example, IFSP teams can develop a process to discuss the provision
of early intervention
services in child care settings as a community -based natural environment , in
order to support families in
accessing and keeping child care and to child care providers in meeting the
individualized needs of
children in their care. As another example, if a child in Head Start is identified
with a disability and found
eligible under the IDEA as a child with a disability the IDEA requires that the
first consideration should be
that their special education services will be provided in their Head St art
program. Policies and procedures
should be clear that f amilies should not be given an “either/or” option, such that
they must choose
between Head Start or special education services . Additionally, policies and
procedures should encourage
the involvement on IFS P and IEP teams —with parental permission —of e arly
childhood educators and
providers, including child care providers, child development specialists , and
related service s providers.
IEP teams are required to include at least one general education teacher if the
child is , or may be,
participating in the general education environment. In addition, policies and
procedures should be in place
to ensure that e ducators and providers have access to a child’s IFSP and IEP,
and understand the child’s
goals , strategies to meet those goals , their role , and the roles of early
intervention providers, early
childhood special educators, and related services providers in helping children
reach their goals. Educators and providers should also understand how to access
specialized services and supports
as needed . POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY
CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
37 STATE SPOTLIGHT : COLORADO
Colorado has recent ly updated its guidance document for making LRE placement
decisions. This
guidance document, Making Least Restrictive Environment Placement Decisions for
Preschool
Children, Ages 3 through 5 , is designed to assist IEP teams in understanding early
childhood
educational environments and their relationship to appropriate LRE decisions for
preschoolers
with disabilities. Colorado also developed Indicators of Quality Inclusion in Early
Childhood to
enhance the quality inclusive early childhood programs.
5. Review and Adjust Resource Allocation s
T o implement inclusion, early childhood programs and schools rely on multiple
funding streams at the
federal, State, and local levels. T o effectively use these funding streams, the
inclusion leadership team as
well as early childhood programs, schools, EIS providers, LEAs , local Part C
administration and state
CCDF lead agencies should engage in collaborative fiscal planning to identify how
to braid and layer
funding and allocate the resources to effectively support inclusive early childhood
programs.
In many cases, LEAs, schools , or early
childhood programs use most of their funding
for children with disabilities o n separate
classrooms for children with disabilities ,
undermining opportunities to serve children in
the most inclusive settings . The leadership
inclusion team as well a s early childhood ,
school, LEA, EIS and S tate CCDF agency
administrators should specifically examine the
ways they allocate funds within and across programs that serve children with
disabilities and adjust
resource allocations to promote inclusion by refle cting on the following questions
. RESO URCE SPOTLIGHT
The Early Childhood T echnical Assistance Center
has an inclusion finance toolkit to help programs
better understand the financial requirements and
responsibilities necessary to create inclusive
placement options. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN
38 RESOURCE ALLOCATION QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
• How could we use IDEA Parts B and C funds to provide services in inclusive
programs or
natural environments with typically developing peers to the maximum extent
appropriate, in
accordance with the provisions of the IDEA?
• How can we use ESEA Title I , Part A funds to support the inclusion of children
with disabilities
in school -based settings and Title II, Part A funds to expand the competencies of
public school
personnel in providing inclusive early childhood education and inviting other local
early
childhood personnel to participate in the training ?
• How could we as LEAs, EIS providers, and schools allocat e funds and formaliz e
partnerships
with community -based early childhood programs, including child care, to establish
a mixed
delivery system, where children with disabilities can receive inclusive early
learning opportunities in different settings across the community?
• How could we as LEAs, EIS providers, and schools review and adjust our funding
allocations
and decisions to ensure that all areas in the community and all populations of
children with
disabilities have access to inclusive programs?
• How could our programs us e resources to target the use of evidence- based
practices to
improve child outcomes?
• How co uld we change resource allocation s to support early childhood special
educators to
shift from full time teachers in segregated settings to providing consultative
services to general early childhood educators and providers?
• How could we allocate resources to support early intervention, early childhood
special
education, related services providers, and other specialized providers in providing
consultative
services to early childhood educators, providers, and staff?
• How could we allocate resources to optimize the distribution of specialized
providers, materials,
and equipment across early childhood programs to provide ECE personnel with
adequate instructional support and resources to serve all children, including
children with disabilities?
• How could we use PD resources to expand access to training and coaching, specific
to
supporting all children with disabilities, to all staff across early childhood
programs? Are there opportunities to expand access to staff from other early
childhood programs and partner wi th
other programs to share training? POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH
39 6. Establish an Appropriate Staffing Structure and
Strengthen Staff Collaboration
Establishing appropriate staffing structures and increasing staff collaboration
to support inclusion may
require programs to shift existing resources and work across early childhood
systems , especially given
that many regions continue to experience staffing challenges in early childhood ,
early intervention , and
early childhood special education . The inclusion leadership team as well as early
childhood programs,
schools, and LEAs need to jointly examine their personnel policies and current
staffing structures to
support the delivery of early intervention, special education, and related services
within daily routines and
learning activities with peers and allow time for collaborative teaming among
early childhood educators,
providers, and specialized service perso nnel. Collaborative service delivery
models can enhance the
reach of specialized service providers and allow them to serve more children more
effectively . A staffing
model that support s inclusion in an early childhood program involves specialists
—lik e early
interventionists, early childhood special educators, early childhood mental health
con sultants, and related
services provider s—coming into the early childhood program to provide services to
children with
disabilities and consult with the lead educator or provider and paraprofessional
or aide . This consultation
involves partner ing with educators , providers , and paraprofessional s to
observe, model , and share
strategies for supporting children ’s development and learning in an inclusive
setting . Programs should also
consider implementing co -teaching models where specialists and educators or
providers work jointly
with children in inclusive settings . Programs should pay close attention to
children’s support needs w hen
making decisions about staffing structures. Children with the most support needs
should have access to
highly trained pe rsonnel with specialized expertise and not have to rely mostly
on paraprofessional s for
instructional support .
STATE SPOTLIGHT : VIRGINIA
Virginia models for inclusion include the Individual T eacher Model in which one
licensed, dually
endorsed teacher works with the entire class, and the Co-T eacher Model in which a
PreK teacher
and an early childhood special education (ECSE) teacher sh are responsibility and
combine their
expertise to meet the needs of all children in the classroom. The ECSE teacher may
be in the
classroom for all or some of the school day. For example, a Virginia Preschool
Initiative classroom
of 18 preschoolers include s six children with IEPs, with an ECSE teacher and a
PreK teacher both
supporting the classroom all day with one paraprofessional assigned to the
classroom.
Programs and schools should also have structures in place to support teams of
early childhood educ ators,
providers, and specialized service personnel to come together to oversee
children’s goals, coordinate
services, connect children and families with additional services as needed, and
help families navigate
services for their children. For inclusion to be effective, it is critical to
allocate staff time for coordination
and collaboration between the professionals who work with young children. This
facilitates
comprehensive coordinated servi ces, enables staff to understand their roles and
responsibilities and the POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH
40 roles and responsibilities of others to facilitate children’s learning and
development. As programs, schools,
and LEAs examine the staffing structures and policies across their syste ms and
communities, they should
identify exemplars of collaborative teaming as models and ensure that there are no
disparities across the community in how staffing structures and policies facilitate
access to inclusive opportunities and
collaboration . Additionally, TA can encourage collaboration and problem -solving
among personnel from
early childhood programs, schools, and LEA , and can also support early childhood
educators and
providers in increasing the quality of early learning experiences and care for all
children while supporting
children with disabilities. TA services should be coordinated so that everyone is
aware of the goals
developed through the TA, strategies for meeting the goals, and progress towards
them.
STATE SPOTLIGHT : RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Is land’s State 619 coordinator and a Head Start executive director partnered
to address a
need to serve children with IEPs in Head Start and pre- K classrooms in Woonsocket
using an
itinerant model. This approach promotes collaboration and coordination betwee n
the classroom
teacher and the special education teacher. As a result, Head Start teachers learned
new skills from
the itinerant special education teachers being in the classroom and children
received services
throughout the week by the teacher or the spe cial education staff. In turn, the
district provided
Head Start with two classrooms in one of their schools because they wanted to learn
about
Head Start’s comprehensive services model as well as enhance family engagement.
7. Ensure Access to Specialized Supports
T o support the use of evidence- based inclusion practices, the inclusion
leadership team, early childhood
programs, schools, and EIS providers, LEAs should work collaboratively to identify
and provide early
childhood educators and prov iders with access to State and local TA and
consultative services delivered
by experts like early interventionists, inclusion specialists, early childhood
mental health consultants, behavior consultants, early childhood special educators,
developmental specialists, teachers of the deaf
and hard of hearing, teachers of the blind or visually impaired, orientation and
mobility specialists, and
related services providers. These specialized support s should be culturally and
linguistically responsive to
meet the diverse needs of early childhood educators and providers and the children
and families they
serve. Consultative specialists can collaborate with early childhood educators
and providers to adapt the
program’s environment, activities, and instructional support s to promote full
participation of all children
with disabilities; develop strategies to meet children’s IFSP and IEP goals ;
implement behavior support
plans for children who require th em; and connect children, families, and staff to
additional support
services, as needed. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
41 LOCAL SPOTLIGHT : FLORIDA
Eckerd Youth Alternatives in Hillsborough County, Florida , used its Early Head
Start- Child Care
Partnership grant to work with a local family child care (FCC) provider to serve a
6-month -old
infant born with a disability and his family. T o support the infant’s development
and learning, the
Early Head Start staff and FCC provider worked together to plan for and implement
accommodations to the FC C environment to address the child’s physical needs,
choosing
appropriate furniture, toys, learning materials, and outside play equipment to meet
his needs and
those of all five children in the FCC. The Early Head Start program supported the
FCC care
provi der to learn how to use the new equipment most effectively and how to
integrate these
opportunities throughout the day. The child’s physical therapist provided services
at the FCC,
modeling how to support the child’s development within daily activities.
8. Enhance Support s for the Workforce
The personnel who work in early childhood systems and programs should be well -
compensated and
supported so that they can gain competence and confidence in implementing evidence
-based inclusion
practices and an understand ing of the science of inclusion , which in turn will
lead to personnel holding
high expectations for children with disabilities and therefore foster ing their
devel opment , learning, and
sense of belonging . A critical component of enhancing workforce capacity at all
levels is promoting early
childhood educator and provider health and wellness and ensuring that staff at all
levels are compensated
fairly and work reasonable hours with breaks. The inclusion leadership team should
facilitate s trong
relationships with community -based service providers to offer staff benefits and
other supports , including
health and mental health supports. As part of strategic planning efforts, inclusion
team leaders should
promot e staff wellness efforts that can reduce job stress and strengthen
providers’ capacity to form
strong and nurturing relationships with children and families.
The inclusion leadership team should also work across early childhood programs and
school systems ,
and with IHEs and the State leadership team to ensure that the necessary
infrastructures and supports
are in place to provide prepar ation and ongoing , shared PD for all staff —
including LEA administrators,
early childhood program directors, school principals, family child care
providers , early childhood
educators and providers, early interventionists, early childhood special
educators, related services
providers, other specialized providers, and aides —to support the full
participation of children with
disabilities in early childhood programs . The ongoing PD should include
opportunities for practice -
based coaching and m entoring , to support the use of evidence -based inclusion
practices with fidelity .
Programs with dedicated PD funds such as LEAs, EIS providers, and Head Start
programs should
promote shared PD and ensure that PD on evidence- based inclusion practices is
open to local early
childhood partners from child care and family child care settings, in addition to
thei r own staff. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN
42 • LEA Administra tors, Early Childhood Directors, Principals , and Family Child
Care
Network Leaders are critical to high- quality inclusive early childhood program s
and schools .
These leaders establish priorities, policies and procedures; set the culture and
climate of the
district, school, program or network ; oversee staff development and morale;
provide continuity
when staff turnover occurs ; and take an active role in shifting perceptions of
inclusion through
public awareness within the community . Beyond local leadership teams, key system l
eaders
should establish local learning communities with other local early childhoo d and
school leaders to
share lessons learned, brainstorm challenges, and collaborate on solutions. Leaders
should also
establish policies that require all staff to engage in PD specific to adopting a
culture of inclusion
and supporting the individualized learning and developmental needs of children with
disabilities.
They should also ensure that staff have specific time set aside for in -service
training , practice -
based coaching and mentoring, and to engage in reflection, planning, problem -
solving, and peer
learning on issues related to inclusion. Leaders should participate in regular PD
opportunities
that include:
 Putting structures in place to support the implementation of evidence- based
inclusion practices;
 Implementing program -wide multi -tiered systems o f support, such as the Pyramid
Model , a framework for positive behavior intervention and support;
 Establishing a culture that is inclusive of all children and families;
 Enacting strong polices for inclusion ;
 Building collaborative relationships and formal agreements of understanding; and
 Budgeting and resource allocation strategies that support inclusion.
• Early Childhood Educators and Providers are essential to ensur e that all
children are afforded
high- quality early learning experiences and nurturing caregiving and early
learning environments .
Supported by specialists and their LEA, school, or program leaders, EIS providers ,
early
childhood educators and providers should possess the competencies to meet the d
evelopmental
and learning needs of all children , including their social- emotional development
and mental
health . Through intentional preparation, PD, and coaching and mentoring supports,
such as
through consultation provided by infant and early childhood mental health
consultants, early
childhood educator s and providers can effectively serve all children ’s
individual needs.
The Early Childhood Education Environment Indicators offer key elements that are
necessary for
implementing high -quality inclusive practices in early childhood settings and can
guide PD.
Professional development o pportunities offered to early childhood staff should
always include
how the content applies to and can be individualized for children with
disabilities. LEAs, schools,
and early childhood programs should strive to support the ir workforce and
strengthen their
capacity in:
 Implementing individualized instructional strategies that build on children’s
strengths and
interests to reach developmental and learning goals for all children; POLICY
43  Understanding universal
design and the principles of
universal design for learning
(UDL) ;xvi
 Using accessible materials and
making adaptations,
accommodations, and modifications to instruction and within activities —such as
center -based play , learning
groups, outdoor play, or snack time —to fully support the participation of all
children ;
 Integrating IFSP and IEP goals into children’s learning across everyday routines
and
learning activities ;
 Implementing D ivision for Early Childhood (DEC) Recommend ed Practices , which
provide guidance to practitioners and families about how to prom ote children ’s
development and improve learning outcomes ;
106
 Promoting language development and language acquisition, including sign language
and native language development for bilingual children;
 Promoting social -emotional and behavioral development and mental health , by
promoting behavioral screening and referral, implementing positive behavior
supports
and trauma -informed practices f acilitating social learning opportunities and
peer -
mediated interventions between children with disabilities and their peers , and
address ing
challenging behaviors and mental health needs appropriately ;
 Forming strong, supportive, nurturing relationships with and among children and
their families;
 Documenting and sharing developmental progress with families and other service
providers;
 Conducting ongoing developmental monitoring, universal developmental and
behavioral screenings at recommended ages, and any needed follow -up;
 Engaging in collaborative partnerships with early interventionists, early
childhood special
educators, related services providers, infant and early childhood mental health
consultants, and other specialized providers;
 Coordinating with community -based service providers, includi ng local
disability support
agencies , children’s medical homes , health providers, and home visiting programs;
xvi Universal design is the philosophy of developing and designing physical

environments to be accessible to the greatest extent possible, to the people
who use them, without the need for adaptation. Universal design for learning is an
educational framework based on the learning sciences, which
informs the design and development of flexible instructional practices, materials,
and tools that address the variability of all learners. RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the
implementation of UDL. These guidelines offer a set
of concrete suggestions that can be applied to
ensure tha t all learners can access and participate in
meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.
Additionally, the IRIS Center has a module on
implementing the principles of UDL. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH
44  Promoting the health and well -being of children, including understanding the
needs of
children with special health care needs and providing documentation in medical
action plans ;
 Having a strong understanding of cultur al diversity and competencies in
culturally and
linguistically responsive practice, and in employing self- reflective strategies to
asses s
interactions with children and families; and
 Supporting successful transitions from infant and toddler programs to
preschools, and
from preschools to kindergarten .
• Early Interventionists, Early Childhood Special Educators, and R elated Service s
Personnel
play a unique role in supporting young children’s access to and full participation
in inclu sive early
childhood programs. Because the racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of
personnel has the
potential to positive ly affect all children’s development and learning, i
nclusion leadership teams
should implement preparation, recruitment, and retention strategies that support a
well -trained,
effective, and diverse workforce that provides services to children with
disabilities and their
families . Early interventionists, ear ly childhood special educators, related
services providers, and
other specialized providers should be given opportunities to build their
competencies on how to
co-teach , coach early childhood teachers , work within interdisciplinary teams,
and implement
evidence -based inclusion practices across early childhood settings and within
everyday routines .
Through intentional preparation, PD ,
and coaching and mentoring supports,
they can move past a focus on working with children in separate settings or
pulling children out of their early
childhood settings for specialized
interventions and instruction. Ongoing
PD with early childhood educators and
providers should include specialized
service providers . Professional
development should be aligned to the DEC early intervention ist and early childhood
special educat or personnel standards.
In addition to having strong competencies in providing intervention and
instructional support to
children with disabilit ies, leaders should ensure that these professionals have
the capacity to:
 Implement inclusive practices;
 Understand the goals, curricul a, and approach es used in the early childhood
program;
 Build culturally and linguistically responsive relationships and partnerships
with early
childhood educators , other providers, and families ;
 Use evidence -based consultation and coaching models , both in -person and
remotely ; RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The Early Childhood Personnel Center Curriculum
Modules on Professional Standards are designed for
IHE faculty and PD providers to facilitate the
integration of the Initial Practice -Based Professional
Preparation Standards for Early
Interventionists/Early Childhood Special Educators
into courses and PD opportunities. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH
45  Share knowledge and expertise with families and early childhood educators and
providers to enhance their confidence, competence, and capacity to support the
overall
development , learning , and inclusion of all children ;
 Co-teach in an early childhood program; and
 Build trusting relationships with families and w ork with them to identify
inclusive options
in the community and appropriate services and supports based on the unique needs of
their ch ild.
STATE SPOTLIGHT : DELAWARE
Delaware has created an Early Childhood Inclusion Guide that identifies
recommendations for
implementing effective inclusion of young children with disabilities into early
learning programs.
The document is divided into five sections: (1) Principles and Policies, (2)
Strategies for Working
with Families, (3) Accommodations, Modifications, and Supports, (4) When You Are
Concerned
About a Child’s Development, and (5) Inclusion Resources and Supports. State and
local
administrators use the document to structure PD to ensure best practices are
embedded in their
inclusive early learning programs.
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT : COLORADO

Wiggins, Colorado , is a rural community in the eastern portion of the State that
provides special
education with a mixed service delivery model across State- funded preschool,
community child care
and family home child care. Professional development has been delivered in cross -
sector trainings for
all partners who serve children in the community. Additionally, coaching is
provided by a trained
community coach to implement inclusive practices from the Early Childhood Education
Environment
Indicators of High -Quality Inclusion . Providers across sectors who serve children
with disabilities are
creating a video library of high -quality inclusive practices in order to implement
an ongoing community
of practice. Community child care leaders have created a monthly newsletter
featuring:
(1) administrator supports for high -quality inclusion, (2) provider training and
opportunities for
coaching, and (3) other local TA focused on early childhood inclusion. POLICY
46 9. Assess and Improve the Quality of Inclusion in Early Childhood
Programs through Data Collection and Use
Improving access to and participation in high -
quality inclusive early childhood programs
requires a clear understanding of what
programs are available and where children receive supports and services. Data at
the
local level can support decision -making and
quality improvement efforts related to
inclusion practices, child and family
experiences, and the program and classroom environment. The inclusion leadership
team should collaborate with early childhood programs, schools ,
and EIS providers, LEAs , and S tate agencies administering early childhood
programs (e.g., CCDF) to
provide guidance and information on suggested measures and procedures to identify
data that may be
helpful to review and to guide data collection and its use as well as ensuring
privacy and confidentiality of
the data. Early childhood programs may need to develop written agreements t hat
permit data sharing
and identify relevant data .
This should include measures and procedures for formative assessments that monitor
children’s progress
in meeting their developmental and learning goals in inclusive settings. Programs
should pair a ssessments
of children’s progress with environmental assessments of their early childhood
classrooms , child care
settings , and home -based programs to ensure there are appropriate accommodations
and supports for
children’s access and participation to enable them to reach their goals. T o ensure
full participation in
activities and routines and improve outcomes for children with disabilities,
programs should also examine their use of curricula, universal design for learning,
and the fidelity with which educ ators and providers
implement evidence- based inclusion practices. In addition to collecting and using
data to make decisions
and improve the quality of learning environments for children with disabilities,
programs should assess families’ sense of belonging , engagement and satisfaction
with the program and services , and perception s
of inclusion. Leaders should also examine the data to identify if there are any
disparities among children’s
outcomes and families’ experiences based on disability, level of support need,
race and ethnicity, language,
or income level. Additionally, programs should collect ongoing data on educators’
and providers’
perceptions of inclusion, their placement decisions within IFSP and IEP meetings ,
feelings of competence
and co nfidence in including children with disabilities and their families, and
their satisfaction with the
support they receive from administrators . Programs can use results of all
assessments to guide TA and
PD efforts to further enhance inclusion practices. RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems
has developed and compiled a number of resources ,
including federal guidance, on practices and policy
regarding the privacy and confidentiality of early
childhood data. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN
47 LOCAL SPOTLIGHT : MICHIGAN
The Bay -Arenac Intermediate School District (ISD) in Michigan has been working to
improve high -
quality inclusive opportunities for all children. The Assistant Director of Early
Childhood Education
and her staff oversaw the process of creating a vision statement, included in their
Early Childhood
handbook, to guide the work. Bay -Arenac ISD seeks to provide care and education
for the
youngest members of their community, children, and to support the efforts of
families with young
children in creating happy lifelong learners. They have specifically focused on
decreasing the
number of children enrolled in separate early childhood special education
classrooms, reducing the
number from 11 classrooms district -wide to four. T o support this wo rk, Bay-
Arenac ISD created a
position for a Preschool Inclusion and Equity Specialists (PIES) and hired two
people who provide
practice -based coaching on evidence -based inclusion practices. They have also
created and hired a
support staff person for this e ffort. The PIES work with the State prekindergarten
program and
use monthly coaching collaborative meetings to coordinate the supports provided to
teachers.
They use the Inclusion Classroom Profile as a foundation of their coaching and also
use the
Inclusi on Classroom Profile as a yearly assessment to monitor the quality of their
inclusive early
preschool programs. The district also shares the PIES with their elementary
programs to support
alignment between inclusive practices in preschool programs and the early
elementary grades.
10. Support the T ransition into the Early Elementary School Grades
A smooth and successful transition to
kindergarten relates directly to children’s
academic and social success in the early
elementary school grades . The inclusion
leadership team, early childhood programs,
schools, and the LEA should partner to
develop a community transition plan to
support seamless transition s from early
childhood programs and services to the early
elementary school grades for children with
disabilities . A commitment to inclusion across
all systems should serve as the foundation of
the transition plan . Continuity of services and supports for children with
disabilities can only be achieved
when families , leaders, and educators across settings work together to share
information , create
alignment betwee n systems , and develop shared policies, procedures, and
practices. The inclusion
leadership team should support the development of formal agreements between early
childhood
programs, schools, and LEAs . These agreements should include how the systems and
programs will
engage in joint evidence- based transition practices ; promote planning time
between early childhood
educators and kindergarten teachers; share information on the child’s strengths,
and the RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
The Head Start Early Childhood Knowledge and
Learning Center has a number of resources that
provide practical strategies that educators can
implement during the key components of the
transition process. In addition, the Early Childhood
T echnical Assistance Center has a practice brief on
supporting the transition of children with disabilities
into kindergarten. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN
48 accommodations, special education and related services needed; share child data
and records, including
IEPs; and engage in joint PD to improve transitions. The transition plan should
also identify how systems
and programs will support families in understanding their rights and how to prepare
for their child’s
transition , and how they will support families ' adjustment once their child ren
enter kindergarten. LEAs
should have procedures in place for IEP teams to support children’s transition
into inclusive kindergarten
environments . These procedures should include how to plan for transition in the
IEP ; a decision -making
framework on whether IEP teams will develop and implement a single IEP that will
transition with the
child in to kindergarten or develop a preschool IEP and later assemble t he school
-age IEP team to develop
a subsequent school -age IEP for the child’s kindergarten year; and how to ensure
that special education
and related services are not interrupted in the preschool to kindergarten
transition. POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY
CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
49 CONCLUSION
Equal opportunity is one of America’s most cherished ideals. Being fully included
as a member of society
is the first step to equal opportunities throughout life and is every person’s
right —a right supported by
our laws. As the country continues to move forward on the critical task of
expanding access to high -
quality early childhood programs for all young children, it is imperative that
children with disabilities be
included at the onset of each of these efforts so they can have equal opportunities
to benefit ful ly from
these experiences . Inclusion supports children with disabilities in reaching their
full potential. By building
the foundations for learning needed to succeed in school , inclusion helps
children with disabilities b e as
productive as possible as adults, increas ing their employment and earnings , and
lead healthier lives .
We must strengthen our early childhood system and address barriers to inclusion of
children with
disabilities in order to achieve the vision that all young children with
disabilities have access to high -quality
inclusive early childhood programs that provide individualized and appropriate
support so they can fully
participate alongside their peers without disabilities, meet high expectations ,
and achieve their full
potential . We must have shared responsibility and commitment and robust
collaboration among all levels
of the system to achieve th is vision . All early childhood programs and services,
including public and
private preschool, center, and family -based child care, Head Start, home visiting
and IDEA programs—in
partnership with public education systems, S tate CCDF and other S tate-level early
childhood program
leaders , families , and communities —play an important role in building a nationw
ide culture of inclusion
for all children with disabilities and their families. By striving toward this
vision and implementing the se
recommendations, we can move forward as a country in honoring the rights of all our
youngest children
and living up to the American ideal of equal opportunity for all. POLICY
50 RESOURCES TO SUPPORT INCLUSION
Icons Key
Family
Educator/Provider
Legal
State/Policymaker
Health
FEDERAL POLICY RESOURCES
Department of Education
U.S. Department of Education, Dear Colleague Letter on Implementation of IDEA
Discipline Provisions
and Questions and Answers: Addressing the Needs of Children with Disabilities and
IDEA’s Discipline
Provisions (Jul. 19, 2022)
This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) and Q&A addresses disparities in the use
of discipline for children with disabilities and the implementation of IDEA’s
discipline provisions. This guidance supports SEAs’ and LEAs' efforts to fulfill
their obligations to appropriately meet the needs of children with
disabilities.
U.S. Department o f Education, Supporting Students and Avoiding the Discriminatory
Use of Discipline
under Section 504 and accompanying Fact Sheet (Jul. 19, 2022)
This guidance and accompanying fact sheet describes schools’ responsibilities
under
Section 504 to ensure nondiscrimination against students based on disability when
imposing student discipline. Specifically, the guidance explains how compliance
with
Section 504’s requirement to provide a free appropriate public education to
students with disabilities can assist schools in effectively supporting and
responding to behavior that is based on a student’s disability and that could lead
to st udent discipline.
PROGRAMS
51 U.S. Department of Education, Updated Dear Colleague Letter on Preschool Least
Restrictive
Environments (Jan. 9, 2017)
This DCL reaffirms the Department’s position that all young children with
disabilities should have access to inclusive high -quality early childhood
programs where they are provided with individualized and appropriate
supports to enable them to meet high expectations. The DCL reviews the variety of
presch ool placement
options in which a FAPE could be provided and provides updated guidance on LRE.
U.S. Department of Education, OSEP Memorandum 16 -07 Multi -Tier System of Supports
and Preschool
Services (Apr. 29, 2016)
This memorandum affirms that a Response to Intervention process cannot be used
to delay or deny an evaluation for preschool special education services under
the IDEA.
U.S. Department of Education, Non- Regulatory Guidance Early Learning in the Every
Student Succeeds
Act: Expanding Opportunities to Support our Youngest Learners (October 2016)
This guidance provide s SEAs and LEAs with information to assist them in meeting
their
obligati ons under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). It outlines
how ESEA
can support early childhood education, including supporting young children with
disabilities.
U.S. Department of Education, Understanding the Confidentiality Requirements
Applicable to IDEA
Early Childhood Programs (October 2016)
This guidance helps early childhood programs under stand the requirements of IDEA
and FERPA and identif ies options for data sharing to support young children
with disabilities.
Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services
U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Dear
Colleague
Letter on IDEA Services in Head Start (Oct. 2, 2022).
This DCL affirms that State and local educational agencies and Head Start
programs have responsibilities for implementing IDEA to ensure that children with
disabilities enrolled in Head Start programs receive a FAPE in the LRE.
PROGRAMS
52 U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Dear Colleague Letter on Social Emotional Development and Mental Health (June 14,
2022)
This DCL provides recommendations to S tate, territorial, tribal, and local
policymakers and administrators of systems, agencies, and programs
responsible for young children’s health and well -being, social- emotional
development, and early learning.
Department of Health and Human Services
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Delivering Service in School -Based
Settings:
A Comprehensive Guide to Medicaid Services and Administrative Claiming (May 18,
2023)
This guidance details new flexibilities and consolidates existing guidance to
improve the delivery of covered Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance
Program services to enrolled students in school -based settings. In addition
to the guidance, there is an informational bulletin .
Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice, Commonly Asked Questions about Child Care Centers and
the ADA
(Feb. 28, 2020).
This document provides answers to common questions about how the
Americans with Disabilities Act applies to child care centers.
U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Departm ent of Justice , Dear Colleague
Letter on
English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents (Jan. 7, 2015)
This joint guidance is designed to assist S EAs, school districts, and all public
schools in meetin g their legal obligations to ensure that English Learners can
participate meaningfully and equally in educational programs and services.
PROGRAMS
53 Federally Funded Resources and National Centers to Support Inclusion
Department of Education
Office of Special Education Programs
The Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy)
DaSy assists States to collect, report, a nd analyze high -quality Part C and Part
B
Section 619 data by helping States build a strong data infrastructure, use data for
program improvement and accountability, and develop leaders to build a data culture
with active partner engagement. DaSy has resources on using data to examine
inclusion of children with
disabilities across early childhood programs.
Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR)
CPIR serves as a central resource for parent centers that serve families of
children
with disabilities. The site includes a list of all parent centers in States, which
provide
information and training to families of children with disabilities on their rights
under
IDEA and other relevant laws and ways to participate effectively in their child’s
education and development.
Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Center for Equity (ECIPCE)
ECIPCE works to increase the capacity of institutions of higher education a nd
professional organizations and associations to prepare a racially, ethnically,
culturally,
and linguistically diverse generation of professionals who can advance equity in
early
childhood intervention.
Early Childhood P ersonnel Center (ECPC)
ECPC assists States in building and implementing comprehensive systems of
personnel development in early childhood, for all per sonnel serving young children
with disabilities and their families. Resources include curriculum modules , a
video
library of practices in early intervention and special education, and crosswalks
of national
personnel standards.
PROGRAMS
54 Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA)
The ECTA Center supports State IDEA Part C and Part B, sec tion 619
programs in developing more equitable, effective, and sustainable State and
local systems, that support access and full participation for each and every
young child with a disability and their family. Resources to support implementation
of high -quality
inclusion include topic pages on evidence- based practices , family engagement ,
and inclusion . There are
also resources on making least re strictive environment decisions and exemplars of
inclusion at the State
and local levels . Contact information for IDEA State Part C and Part B agencies
is available on
the website.
IDEA Data Center (IDC)
IDC works with States to improve IDEA data collection and reporting and supports
States as they analyze and use data to make programmatic improvements. IDC has
resources on reporting preschool educational environment data and using the data
for program improvement.
IRIS Center
The IRIS Center develops and disseminates online resources about evidence- based
instructional and behavioral practices to support the education of all children,
particularly those with disabilities. Resources are designed for faculty, PD
providers, or independent
learner s and describe evidence -based instructional and intervention practices.
Resources include
instructional modules on a variety of topics, including inclusive early childhood
programs , inclusive school
environments , and accommodations .
National Center on Accessible Educational Materials for Learning (AEM Center)
The AEM Centers provides technical assistance, coaching, and resources to increase
the availability and use of accessible educational materials and technologies for
learners with disabilities across the lifespan. The AEM Center has resources
that describe how agencies, programs, and services can work together to improve the
accessibility of
early learning environments for children with dis abilities.
National Center on Deaf -Blindness (NCDB)
NCDB works with State deaf -blind projects and other partners to improve
educational results and quality of life for children who are deaf -blind and
their families.
PROGRAMS
55 National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations
NCPMI assists States and programs in their implementation of sustainable systems
for the implementation of the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional
Competence in Infants and Y oung Children within early intervention and early
childhood programs with a focus on promoting the social, emotional, and behavioral
outcomes of young
children birth to five, reducing the use of inappropriate discipline practices,
promoting family
engagement , using data for decision -making , integrating early childhood and
infant mental health
consultation and fostering inclusion . Resources include training modules,
training kits, videos, practical
strategies, and research syntheses.
National Center on Inclusion Toward Right ful Presence
This national center assists S EAs and LEAs to successfully implement and sustain
evidence- based inclusive practices and policies that support students who
currently
participate in alternate assessments in K -12 education.
STEM Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education Center (STEMIE)
STEMIE focuses on developing and enhancing the knowledge base on engagement in
STEM learning opportunities for young children with disabilities and implement
technical assistance and PD to increase engagement for young children with
disabilities in STEM opportunities. STEMIE has an inclusion framework to ensure
young children with
disabilities can fully participate and engage in STEM learning opportunities and
experiences.
TIES Center
TIES is a national technical assistance center on inclusive practices and policies
that
supports the movement of students with disabilities from less inclusive to more
inclusive environments. Resources include learning modules, tip sheets, and
planning
tools, including an inclusive education road map .
PROGRAMS
56 Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Comm unity Living
ADA National Network
The ADA National Network provides information, guidance , and training
on how to implement the ADA. The network consists of 10 Regional ADA
Centers located throughout the United States and an ADA Knowledge
T ranslation Center which provides techni cal assistance about Titles II and III of
the ADA and Section 504
of the Rehabilitation Act. The Network has resources on the implementation of
disability laws in
public schools.
Community of Practice for Supporting Families of Individuals with Intellectual &
Developmental Disabilities
The Community of Practice for Supporting Families of Individuals with Intellectual
&
Developmental Disabilities exists to enhance and drive policy, practice, and
system
transformation to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
within the
context of their families and communities. States work to develop syst ems of
support for families
throughout the lifespan of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
and their families , and
receive technical assistance, products, opportunities for shared learning, and
support from a
National T eam to integrate innovative practices into existing and ongoing state
systems change efforts .
LifeCourse Nexus Training and Technical Assistance Center
LifeCourse Nexus is a community of learning that brings people together to work
towards
transformational change within organizations, systems, and communities to support
“good lives for all people.” The Charti ng the Life Course Framework was developed
by families to
help individuals with disabilities and families of all abilities and all ages
develop a vision for a good life,
think about what they need to know and do, identify how to find or develop
supports, a nd discover what
it takes to live the lives they want to live. The LifeCourse Nexus provides
workshops and technical
assistance to shape and support innovation in policy, practice, procedure, and
culture.
State Protection and Advocacy Systems (P&As)
P&As work at the State level to protect individuals with disabilities by
empowering
them and advocating on their behalf. There are 57 P&As in the United States and its
territories that provide advocacy and legal services on education issues and work
to
ensure that students receive an appropriate education in an inclusive setting.
PROGRAMS
57 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Learn the Signs. Act Early . (LTSAE)
LTSAE has resources for tracking children’s de velopmental milestones from birth
through age five and referring to children if there are concerns about a child’s
development. Act Early Ambassadors expand the reach of the LTSAE program and
support their respective State’s work toward improving early identification of
developmental delays and
disabilities, including autism.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
School -Based Services Technical Assistance Center (TAC)
The TAC will assist and expand the c apacity of State Medicaid agencies, LEAs , and
school -based entities to provide greater assistance under Medicaid to ensure
children
have the health services and supports necessary to build resilience and thrive.
Health Resources and Services Administration
Early Childhood Systems Programming
The Health Resources and Services Administration ( HRSA ) invests in a portfolio of
Early Childhood Systems programs and partnerships to support States and
communities, health and other service systems, and service providers to wo rk
effectively and efficiently as a team in support of families with young children.
Family -to-Family Health Information Centers (F2Fs)
F2Fs provide support and information to families of children with special health
care needs
(CYSHCN) and the professionals who serve them. A map is available that lists the
F2Fs and
affiliate organizations in States, territories, and those serving tribal
communities that connect
parents of CYSHCN.
National Center for a System of Services for Children and Youth with Special Health
Care Needs
The National Center works to advance and strengthen the system of services for
CYSHCN, their families and caregivers at the community, S tate, and national
levels.
PROGRAMS
58 National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education
(NRC)
The NRC maintains a database of national health and safety standards for early
care
and education settings ( CFOC ), including Caring for Our Children with Special
Health
Care Needs , and standards related to inclusion, medication administration, health
coordination, and care -plans.
National Resource Center for Patient/Family -Centered Medical Home
National Resource Center for Patient/Family -Centered Medical Home focuses on
improving the health and well- being of, and strengthening the system of services
for,
children and youth with special health care needs and their familie s by enhancing
the
patient/family -centered medical home.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Interagency Autism Coordinating Council (IACC)
The IACC’s Federal Agency Resources on Autism page includes a list of federal
departments and
agencies that provide funding, programs, and support for issues related to autism
and other
developmental disabilities.
Office of Child Care
National Child Care Technical Assistance Network (CCTAN)
The CCTAN brings together resources from the Office of Child Care, the Office of
Head Start, and their health partners to offer Child Care Development Fund
Administrators and their partners information, tools, trainings , and other s
upports.
The network includes resources on inclusive environments and building
relationships with families
including Infant/T oddler Resource Guide, a topic page on Creating Inclusive
Environments and Learning
Experiences for Infants and T oddlers (available in English and Spanish) , a
resource guide for Developing
Integrated Strategies to Support the Social and Emotional Wellness of Children ,
and a Learning Suite t o
support States, territories, and T ribes in their efforts to strengthen the
professional competence and
capacity of Infant/T oddler specialists, consultants, mentors, coaches, and
caregivers. CCTAN also includes
a brief on Child Care Health Consultation: Investing in Health and Early Learning
Systems to Improve
Child Outcomes .
PROGRAMS
59 National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance (NCECQA)
NCECQA supports State and community leaders and their partners in the planning
and implementation of rigorous approaches to quality in all early care and
education
settings for children from birth to school age. NCE CQA has a fact sheet on
Children
with Special Needs and Inclusion Practices in Q RIS, and brief s on Increasing
Access to Inclusive
Environments and Inclusion of Young Children with Disabilities: A Critical Quality
Indicator for Early
Childhood Education .
National Technical Assistance Center for Preschool Development Grants Birth to Five
(PDG B -5 TA)
The PDG B -5 TA supports States, territories, and T ribes in building, enhancing,
a nd
expanding birth through 5 mixed delivery systems and high -quality B -5 programs
and
services. The Center provides technical assistance through a variety of formats
including a national convening, peer learning opportunities, workshops, webinars,
toolkits , resource
documents and individual consultations. The Center has a webpage that houses
resources on
Including Children with Special Needs .
Office of Early Childhood Development
Early Childhood Behavioral Health Initiative
This initiative includes resources to support parents and caregivers, early care
and
education program staff and administrators, as well as State, territory and Tribal
leaders and programs to a dvance the integration of behavioral health support
services for children and early childhood programs.
Office of Head Start
Head Start Early Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC)
ECLKC includes resources that describe Head Start and Early Head Start regulatory
requirements, and resources from the Offic e of Head Start’s funded national
centers.
The Children With Disabilities Resources webpage includes webinars, practice
briefs,
interactive learning modul es, training modules and resources, and supports for a
variety of learning
environments. The Family Advocacy Resources webpage includes resources for
families as well as
resources for Head Start family services staff in helping families learn about
their rights and their child’s rights, communicate concerns, ask questions, and
serve as their child’s advocate throughout the early
intervent ion and special education journey.
PROGRAMS
60 National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning (NCEDTL)
NCECDTL advances best practices in the identification, development, and promotion
of the
implementation of evidence-based child development and teaching and learning
practices that
are culturally and linguistically responsive and lead to positive child outcomes
across early
childhood programs. They also support strong PD systems.
National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety (NCHBHS)
NCHBHS designs evidence -based resources and delivers innovative training and
technical
assistance to build the capacity of Head Start and other early childhood programs
to support
children’ s healthy development and school success; promote the safety of children,
families,
and staff; provide inclusive, culturally and linguistically responsive services;
address disaster preparedness, response, and recovery; mitigate adversity through
trauma -informed care; and advance health equity by
improving child and family well- being.
National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagem ent (NCPFE)
NCPFCE provides training and technical assistance for Head Start and Early Head
Start staff
who work with families, and PD in the areas of staff- family relationship
building; family
employment, career pathways, and financial stability; equity and inclusiveness i n
family
engagement; and parent leadership, advocacy, and transitions.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Center of Excellence for Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation
(IECMHC)
IECMHC provides technical assistance to programs, communities, States,
territories,
and tribal communities, and PD to individual mental health consultants to increase
access to high- quality mental health consultation throughout the country.
Resources
and technical assistance are available for menta l health consultants, program
managers, and policymakers .
National Family Support Technical Assistance Center (NFSTAC)
NFSTAC focuses on supporting families and caregivers of children, regardless
of their age,
who experience serious mental illness or substance use challenges. NFSTAC
provides training
and technical assistance using a lifespan approach that focuses on mental
health and substance
use and addiction challenges.
PROGRAMS
61 Associations and Organizations with Resources to Support Inclusion
American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Children with Disabilities (COCWD)
COCWD is community comprised of physicians and others who care for or have an
interest in children and youth with disabiliti es and special health care needs.
They
have a number of policy statements and reports to improve the health of children
with disabilities and special health care needs including, A Blueprint fo r Change:
Guiding Principles for a
System of Services for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs and Their
Families and Bright
Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and
Adolescents/AAP
Periodicity Schedule .
Child Care Aware (CCA)
CCA is a research and advocacy group that houses a child care search engine to
help
families find child care. CCA has also provided information about health and
safety,
curriculum, and developmentally appropriate practices in early care and
education settings.
Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
CEC is a membership -based organization that works to improve the e ducational
success of children and youth with disabilities and gifts and talents.
Division for Early Childhood (DEC)
DEC is an international membership organization within CEC for those who work
with or on behalf of young children with disabilities and other special needs and
their families. DEC su pports policies and advances evidence -based practices that
support
families and enhance the optimal development of young children who have or are at
risk for developmental delays and disabilities. Resources for faculty and other PD
providers to use in work with
practitioners include training modules and associated resources designed to
promote practitioners’
abilities to make evidence -based decisions.
Easter Seals
Easter Seals provides services, education, outreach, and advocacy so that people
living with
disabilities can live, learn, work, and play in our communities. Easter Seals ABCs
of Choosing
Child Care is a list of questions to help families research child care facilities.
Easter Seals also
has a free, confidential online screening tool: Ages and Stages Questionnaire,
Third Edition (ASQ -3) This
screening tool helps families guide and keep track of their children’s growth and
development during the first five years.
PROGRAMS
62 Help Me Grow (HMG) National Cente r
HMG National Center serves as a national resource to support the implementation
of Help Me Grow systems throughout the cou ntry. HMG assists States in identifying
at-risk children, and helps families find community -based programs and services.
HMG is a system for improving access to existing resources and services for young
children from birth to
age eight. The website has Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive! resources to promote
universal developmental
and behavioral screening.
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
NAEYC is a professional membership organization that works to promote high -
quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8, by connecting
early childhood practice, policy, and research. They have the Early Childhood
Workforce
Initiative to support state PD systems and the Po wer to the Profession , a
national collaboration that
defines the early childhood education profession . NAEYC and DEC have a Joint
Position Statement on
Early Childhood Inclusion and NAEYC has a number of resources on inclusion.
ZERO TO THREE (ZTT)
ZTT is a membership organization that works to ensure babies and
toddlers benefit from the family and community connections critical to their well-
being and development. ZTT develops practical resources that help
parents connect more positively, deeply , and continuously with their babies;
provides professionals with
knowledge and tools that help them support healthy early development; and assists
policymakers in advancing comprehensive and coherent policies that s upport and
strengthen families, caregivers, and
infant toddler professionals.
Introduction
This booklet is for parents, caregivers,
and representatives of children younger
than age 18 who have disabilities
that may make them eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
payments. It is also for adults with
disabilities since childhood (prior to age 22) who might be entitled to Social
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
benefits. We call this SSDI benefit a “child’s” benefit because it’s paid on a
parent’s Social Security earnings record.
This booklet will help you decide if you,
your child, or a child you know may be
eligible for SSI or SSDI.
Supplemental Security Income
payments for children with
disabilities
SSI provides monthly payments
to people with limited income and
resources who are 65 or older, or blind,
or have a disability. Children younger than age 18 are eligible if they have
a medical condition or combination of
conditions that meets Social Security’s definition of disability. Their income and
resources must fall within the eligibility
limits. The amount of the SSI payment differs from state to state because
some states add to the SSI payment.
Your local Social Security office can tell you more about your state’s total SSI
payment.
1
SSI rules about income
and resources
We consider a child’s income and
resources when deciding if they are
eligible for SSI. We also consider the income and resources of family members
living in the child’s household. These
rules apply if your child lives at home. They also apply if your child is away at
school but returns home from time to
time and is subject to your control.
Your child’s income and resources, or the
income and resources of family members
living in the child’s household, may exceed the amount allowed. If so, we
will deny the child’s application for SSI
payments.
We limit the monthly SSI payment to $30
when children are in a medical facility
and health insurance pays for their care.
SSI rules about disability
Your child must meet all the following
disability requirements to be considered
medically eligible for SSI:
• The child, if not blind, must not be working or earning more than $1,550
a month in 2024. The child, if blind,
must not be working or earning more than $2,590. This amount usually
changes every year.
• The child must have a medical
condition or a combination of
conditions, that results in “marked and
severe functional limitations.” This
2means that the condition(s) must very
seriously limit the child’s activities.
• The child’s condition(s) must have been disabling or be expected to be disabling
for at least 12 months; or the condition(s)
must be expected to result in death.
Providing information about your
child’s condition
When you apply for SSI payments for
your child based on a disability, we will
ask you for detailed information about the child’s medical condition. We will
ask about how it affects the child’s
ability to perform daily activities. We will also ask you to give permission to the
doctors, teachers, therapists, and other
professionals who have information about your child’s condition to send the
information to us.
Please provide any of your child’s
medical or school records that you have.
This will help speed up the decision-
making process.
What happens next?
We send all the information you give us
to the Disability Determination Services
(DDS) office in your state. Doctors and other trained staff in that state agency
will
review the information. They will request
your child’s medical and school records and any other information needed to
decide if your child meets our criteria
for disability.
3The state agency may not be able to
make a disability determination using
only the medical information, school
records, and other facts they have. If so, they may ask you to take your child for
a
medical examination or test. We will pay
for the exam or test.
We may make immediate SSI
payments to your child
The state agency may take 6 to 8
months to decide if your child meets our
criteria for disability. For some medical conditions, however, we make SSI
payments right away, for up to 6 months,
while the state agency decides if your child meets the criteria for immediate
payment.
Some of the conditions include:
• Total blindness.
• Total deafness.
• Cerebral palsy.
• Down syndrome.
• Muscular dystrophy.
• Severe intellectual disability (child age
4 or older).
• Symptomatic HIV infection.
• Birth weight below 2 pounds, 10 ounces — We evaluate low birth
weight in infants from birth to
attainment of age 1 and failure to thrive in infants and toddlers from
birth to attainment of age 3. We
use the infant’s birth weight as documented by an original or certified
4copy of the infant’s birth certificate
or by a medical record signed by
a physician.
Your child may get SSI payments right
away. If the state agency ultimately
decides that your child’s disability is not
severe enough for SSI, you won’t have to pay back the SSI payments that your
child received.
SSI disability reviews
After your child starts receiving SSI, the
law requires that we review their medical
condition from time to time to verify that
their disability still meets our criteria. We must do this review at each of the
following times:
• At least every 3 years for children
younger than age 18 whose
conditions are expected to improve or
for which improvement is possible.
• By age 1 for babies who are getting SSI payments because of their low
birth weight. If we determine their
medical condition isn’t expected to improve by their 1
st birthday, we may
schedule the review for a later date.
We may perform a disability review even if your child’s condition isn’t expected to
improve. When we do a review, you
must present evidence that your child’s
disability still severely limits their daily activities. You must also demonstrate
that your child has been receiving
treatment that’s considered medically necessary for their medical condition.
5What happens when your child
turns age 18
In the SSI program, a child becomes an
adult at age 18. We use different medical
and non-medical rules when deciding if an adult can get SSI disability payments.
For example, we don’t count the income
and resources of family members, except of a spouse, when deciding
whether an adult meets the financial
limits for SSI. We count only the adult’s and spouse’s income and resources. We
also use the disability rules for adults
when deciding whether an adult has a disability.
• If your child is already receiving SSI payments, we must review the child’s
medical condition when they turn age
18. We usually do this review during the 1-year period that begins on your
child’s 18th birthday. We will use the
adult disability rules to decide whether your 18-year-old is eligible for SSI.
• If your child wasn’t eligible for SSI before their 18th birthday because
you and your spouse had too much
income or too many resources, they may become eligible for SSI at
age 18.
For more information, read Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) (Publication
No. 05-11000) .
6Social Security Disability
Insurance benefits for adults
with disabilities since childhood
The SSDI program pays benefits to
adults who have a disability that began
before they became 22-years-old. We
consider this SSDI benefit a “child’s” benefit because it is paid on a parent’s
Social Security earnings record.
For an adult with a disability to become
entitled to this “child’s” benefit, one of
their parents must:
• Be receiving Social Security
retirement or disability benefits.
• Have died and had worked to earn enough to be eligible for Social
Security benefits.
Children who were receiving benefits
as a minor child on a parent’s Social
Security record may be eligible to
continue receiving benefits on that parent’s record upon reaching age 18, if
they are determined to have a disability.
We make the disability determination using the disability rules for adults.
SSDI Disabled Adult Child (DAC)
benefits continue as long as they have a disability. Marriage of the DAC may
affect eligibility for this benefit. Your
child doesn’t need to have worked to get these benefits.
7How we determine if your
child over age 18 is entitled to SSDI benefits
If your child is age 18 or older, we will
evaluate their disability in the same
way we would determine disability for any adult. We send the application
to the DDS in your state that makes
the disability determination for us. For detailed information about how
we determine disability for adults,
read Disability Benefits (Publication
No. 05-10029) .
Applying for SSI payments or
SSDI benefits and how you
can help
You will need to complete an application
for SSI payments or SSDI benefits for
your child and a Child Disability Report.
The report collects information about the
child’s disability and how it affects their
ability to function. You can complete a
Child Disability Report online . Once you
submit it, one of our representatives will contact you by phone to begin the
application process. You can also call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 to apply
or schedule an appointment. If you are applying for SSI payments for your child,
you should have their Social Security
number and birth certificate with you. If
you are applying for SSDI benefits for your child based on a parent’s earnings
record, please have:
8• The Social Security number of
the parent receiving retirement or
disability benefits, or the deceased
parent on whose record the SSDI claim is being filed.
• The child’s Social Security number and birth certificate.
You can help us make a determination by doing the following:
• Tell us as much as you can about your child’s medical condition(s).
• Give us the dates of visits to doctors or hospitals, including the patient
account numbers for any doctors
or hospitals. Also include any other information that will help us get your
child’s medical records.
• Provide us with copies of any medical
reports or information you have in
your possession.
NOTE: You don’t need to request
information from your child’s doctors.
We will contact them directly for reports
or information that we need to make a decision about your child’s disability.
If your child is younger than age 18 and
applying for SSI, you must provide records that show your income and resources.
You must also provide information on
the income and resources of your child and others in the household. We also
will ask you to describe how your child’s
condition affects their ability to perform daily activities. In addition, we will
ask for
the names of teachers and any school
9records, day care providers, and family
members who can provide information
about how your child functions.
In many communities, special
arrangements have been made with
medical providers, social service
agencies, and schools to help us get the evidence we need to process your
child’s claim. Your cooperation in getting
records and other information, however, will help us finish our job more quickly.
Employment support
programs for young people
with disabilities
We have many ways to encourage
young people who are receiving SSI
payments or SSDI benefits and want to
go to work.
Under SSI:
• When we figure your child’s monthly
SSI payment, we don’t count most
of your child’s income. If your child is
younger than age 22 and is a student who regularly attends school, we
exclude even more of their earnings
each month. In 2024, students younger than age 22 may exclude
$2,290 of their monthly earnings,
with an annual limit of $9,230, when calculating their income for SSI.
These limits may increase each year.
• With a Plan to Achieve Self-Support
(PASS), a child who is age 15 or older
can save some income and resources
to pay for education and other things
10needed to work. We don’t count the
saved income and resources when
we figure the amount of your child’s
payment. Read more about PASS at www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/wi/
pass.htm.
• Because of a medical condition(s),
your child may need certain items
and services to work, such as a
wheelchair or a personal assistant. When figuring your child’s SSI
payment, we won’t count some or all
the amounts paid for these items and services in your child’s earnings.
• A child older than age 15 may get help with rehabilitation and training.
• Medicaid coverage will continue even if your child’s earnings are
high enough to stop the monthly SSI
payment as long as the earnings are under a certain amount.
Under SSDI:
• An adult diagnosed with a disability before age 22 can get the same
help with work expenses explained
above for a child receiving SSI. They can also get help with rehabilitation
and training.
• Benefit payments may continue as
long as your child is not engaging
in substantial work. For 2024, we
consider your child to be doing substantial work if their monthly
earnings are over $1,550 for non-blind
beneficiaries ($2,590 if they are blind).
11You can get more information
about these programs by reading
www.ssa.gov/redbook or by calling us
toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 .
Medicaid and Medicare
Medicaid is a health care program
for people with limited income and
resources. In most states, children who
get SSI payments can receive Medicaid coverage, and in some cases, this
comes automatically with SSI eligibility.
In other states, you must sign up for it. Some children can get Medicaid
coverage even if they aren’t eligible for
SSI. Check with your state Medicaid agency or your state or county social
services office for more information.
Medicare is a federal health insurance
program for people age 65 or older and
for people who have been getting SSDI
for at least 2 years.
There are 2 exceptions to this rule. Your
DAC can get Medicare sooner if they
have:
• End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure requiring a kidney
transplant or maintenance dialysis).
• Lou Gehrig’s disease (Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis).
12Children’s Health
Insurance Program
The Children’s Health Insurance
Program enables states to provide
health insurance to children from
working families with incomes too high for Medicaid, but too low to afford private
health insurance. The program provides
coverage for prescription drugs, vision, hearing, and mental health services,
and is available in all 50 states and the
District of Columbia. Your state Medicaid agency can provide more information
about this program or you can get more
information about coverage for your children at www.insurekidsnow.gov or
by calling 1-877-543-7669 .
Other health care services
When your child gets SSI, we’ll refer you to places where you can get health care
services for them. These services are
under the Children with Special Health Care Needs provision of the Social
Security Act. State health agencies
usually manage these programs.
States call these services by many
different names, including Children’s
Special Health Services, Children’s Medical Services, and Handicapped
Children’s Program. Most programs
provide services through clinics, private offices, hospital-based outpatient
and inpatient treatment centers, or
community agencies.
13Even if your child doesn’t get SSI, one of
these programs may be able to help you.
Local health departments, social service
offices, or hospitals should be able to help you contact your local Children with
Special Health Care Needs program.
Contacting Us
The most convenient way to do business
with us is to visit www.ssa.gov to
get information and use our online services. There are several things you can do
online: apply for benefits; start
or complete your request for an original
or replacement Social Security card ;
get useful information; find publications ;
and get answers to frequently asked
questions .
When you open a personal
my Social Security account, you have
more capabilities. You can review your Social Security Statement , verify
your earnings, and get estimates of future benefits. You can also print a benefit
verification letter, change
your direct deposit information (Social
Security beneficiaries only), and get a replacement SSA-1099/1042S. If you
live outside the United States, visit
www.ssa.gov/foreign to access our
online services.
If you don’t have access to the internet,
we offer many automated services by telephone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, so you may not need to speak
with a representative.
14If you need to speak with someone, call
us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 or at our
TTY number, 1-800-325-0778 , if you’re
deaf or hard of hearing. A member of our staff can answer your call from 8
a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.
We provide free interpreter services upon request. For quicker access to a
representative, try calling early in the
day (between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time) or later in the day. We are less
busy later in the week (Wednesday to
Friday) and later in the month.
151
Introduction
This booklet explains some of your rights and
responsibilities when you receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
benefits.
We suggest you take time now to read this booklet,
and then put it in a safe place so you can refer to it in the future.
If you also receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
payments, read What You Need to Know When You Get Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) (Publication
No. 05-11011).
About your benefits
When your payments start
Under the law, your payments can’t begin until you have
a disability for at least 5 full months. Payments usually start with your 6th month
of disability. However, there is no waiting period if your disability results from
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and you are approved for SSDI benefits on or
after July 23, 2020.
When we tell you that you’ll be receiving disability benefit
payments, the notice explains how much your disability benefit will be and when
your payments start.
NOTE: If your family members are eligible for benefits
based on your work, they’ll receive a separate notice and booklet.
How long payments continue
Generally, your disability benefits will continue as
long as your medical condition has not improved and you can’t work. Benefits won’t
necessarily continue indefinitely. Because of advances in medical science and
rehabilitation techniques, many people recover 2
from serious accidents and illnesses. We’ll review
your case periodically to make sure you still have a qualifying disability.
You’re responsible for telling us if any of the following occur:
•Your ability to work changes.
•You return to work.
•Your medical condition improves.
NOTE: Other changes you need to report to us are
described in the “What you must report to us” section.
If you disagree with a decision we make
If you have any questions about your payment amount, or
any other information we may send to you, please contact us. If you were recently
denied Social Security benefits for medical or non-medical reasons, you may request
an appeal. Your request must be in writing and received within 60 days of the date
you receive the letter containing our decision.
The fastest and easiest way to file an appeal of your
decision is by visiting www.ssa.gov/disability/appeal .
You can file online and provide documents electronically to support your appeal.
You can file an appeal online even if you live outside of the United States.
You can also call us and ask for the appeal form (Form
SSA-561).
If you still aren’t satisfied, there are further steps you can
take. Read Your Right to Question the Decision Made on Your Claim (Publication No.
05-10058) .
You have the right to hire an attorney or anyone else to represent you. This
doesn’t mean you must have an attorney or other representative, but we’ll be glad
to work with one if you wish. For more information about getting a representative,
read Your Right to Representation
(Publication No. 05-10075) .3
When and how your benefits are paid
Social Security benefits are paid each month. Generally,
the day on which you receive your benefits depends on the
birth date of the person on whose work record you receive
benefits. For example, if you receive disability or retirement
benefits, your payment date will be determined by your
birth date. If you receive benefits
as a spouse, your benefit
payment date will be determined by your spouse’s birth date.
Electronic payments
You must receive your payments electronically. If you
didn’t sign up for electronic payments when you applied,
we strongly urge you to do it now.
Direct deposit is a simple, safe, and secure way to receive
your benefits. Contact your bank to help you sign up. Or,
you can sign up for direct deposit by contacting us.
Another option is the Direct Express® card program. With
Direct Express®, deposits from federal payments are
made directly to the card account. Signing up for a card
is quick and easy. Call the toll-free Treasury Electronic
Payment Solution Contact Center at 1-800-333-1795 . Or,
sign up online at
www.godirect.org or ask one of our
representatives if you need help signing up.
If you receive your checks by mail
If your check is not delivered on its due date, wait 3
workdays before reporting the missing check to us. The
most common reason checks are late is because a
change of address wasn’t reported.
If your check is lost or stolen, contact us immediately.
Your check can be replaced, but it takes time.4
To be safe, you should cash or deposit your check as
soon as possible after you receive it. You shouldn’t sign
your check until you are at the place where you’ll cash it.
If you sign the check ahead of time and lose it, the person
who finds it could cash it.
A government check must be cashed within 12 months after
the date of the check or it will be voided. After a year, if you’re
still entitled to the payment, we’ll replace the voided check.

Returning benefits not due
If you receive a check that you know isn’t due, take it to
any Social Security office or return it to the U.S. Treasury
Department at the address on the check envelope. You
should write VOID on the front of the check and enclose
a note telling why you’re sending the check back. If you
have direct deposit and receive a payment you should not
have gotten, call or visit your local S
ocial Security office.
We’ll tell you how you can return it.
If you knowingly accept payments that aren’t due to you,
you may face criminal charges.
Paying taxes on your benefits
Some people who get Social Security benefits have to pay
taxes on their benefits. About one-third of our current
beneficiaries pay taxes on their benefits. You’ll be
affected only
if you have substantial income in addition to
your Social Security benefits.
•If you file a federal individual income tax return and your
income is more than $25,000, you have to pay taxes.
•If you file a joint return, you may have to pay taxes ifyou and your spouse have a
combined income that ismore than $32,000.
•If you’re married and file a separate return, you’llprobably pay taxes on your
benefits.
For more information, contact the Internal Revenue Service.5
How we will contact you
Generally, we use the mail or call you on the phone
when we want to contact you, but sometimes a Social Security representative may
come to your home. Our representative will show you their identification before
talking about your benefits. For your protection, call your local Social Security
office to ask if someone was sent to see you before you let the representative into
your home.
A special note for people who are blind
You can choose to receive notices from us in one of the
following ways. Just let us know which you prefer.
•Standard print notice by first-class mail.
•Standard print notice by certified mail.
•Standard print notice by first-class mail and a follow-uptelephone call.
•Braille notice and a standard print notice byfirst-class mail.
•Microsoft Word file on a data compact disc (CD) and astandard print notice by
first-class mail.
•Audio CD and a standard print notice by first-class mail.
•Large print (18-point size) notice and a standard printnotice by first-class mail.
To select one of these options, please contact us using one of the following
methods:
•Visit our website at www.ssa.gov/notices, and followthe steps provided.
•Call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 . If you are deaf
or hard of hearing, you may call our TTY number at1-800-325-0778 .
•Write or visit your local Social Security office.6
If you’d like to receive notices in another way, please call
us at 1-800-772-1213 , or visit your local Social Security
office so we can begin processing your reques
t. If we’re
unable to approve your request, we’ll send the reason in
writing to you and tell you how to appeal the decision.
If you have a question about a Social Secur
ity notice,
you may call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 to ask for the
notice to be read or explained to you.
Cost-of-living adjustments
Each January, your benefits will increase automatically
if the cost of living has gone up. For example, if the cost
of living has increased by 2%, your benefits also will
increase by 2%. If you receive your benefits by direct
deposit, we’ll notify you in advance of your new benefit
amount. If you receive your benefits by check, we’ll
include a notice explaining the cost-of-living adjustment

with your check.
When you reach full retirement age
If you’re receiving SSDI benefits, your disability benefits
automatically convert to retirement benefits, but the

amount remains the same.
If you also receive a reduced surviving spouse benefit,
be sure to contact us when you reach full
retirement age,
so that we can make any necessary adjustment in your
benefits.
NOTE:
For more information about full retirement age,
read Retirement Benefits
(Publication No. 05-10035) .7
Other benefits you may be able to get
SSI
If you have limited income and resources, you may be
able to get SSI. SSI is a federal program that provides monthly payments to people
age 65 or older and to people who are blind or have a disability. If you get SSI,
you also may be able to get other benefits, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
For more information about SSI, read Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) (Publication No. 05-11000).
A word about Medicare
After you receive disability benefits for 24 months, you’ll
be eligible for Medicare. You will get information about Medicare several months
before your coverage starts. If you have permanent kidney failure requiring regular
dialysis or a transplant or you have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), you may
qualify for Medicare almost immediately.
Help for low-income Medicare beneficiaries
If you get Medicare and have low income and few
resources, your state may pay your Medicare premiums and, in some cases, other
“out-of-pocket” medical expenses. These expenses may include deductibles and
coinsurance. Only your state can decide if you qualify. To find out if you do,
contact your state or local welfare office or Medicaid agency. Also, more
information is available from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services by
calling the Medicare, toll-free number, 1-800-MEDICARE
(1-800-633-4227 ). If you’re deaf or hard of hearing, call
TTY 1-877-486-2048 .8
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
You might be able to get help through the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. Visit
www.fns.usda.gov/snap to find
out how to apply. For more information, read Nutrition
Assistance Programs (Publication No. 05-10100) or
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Facts
(Publication No. 05-10101) .
What you must report to us
Please notify us promptly by phone, mail, or in person whenever a change occurs
that could affect your benefits. We explain the changes you must report to us in
the
next pages.
Family members receiving benefits based on your work
also should report events that might affect their payments.
Information you give to another government agency may
be provided to us by the other agency, but you also must report the change directly
to us.
NOTE: If we find that you gave us false information on
purpose, we’ll stop your benefits. For the 1st violation, your benefits will stop
for 6 months; for the 2nd violation, 12 months; and for the 3rd, 24 months. Also,
if you don’t report a change, it may result in your being paid too much. If you’re
overpaid, you’ll have to repay the money.
Have your Beneficiary Notice Control (BNC) number
handy when you report a change. Your BNC will be on any letter we send you about
your benefits. You also should be prepared to give the date of the change, and if
different, the name of the person about whom the report is made.9
If you work while receiving disability payments
You should tell us if you take a job or become self-
employed, no matter how little you earn. Please let us know how many hours you
expect to work and when your work starts or stops. If you still have a qualifying
disability, you’ll be eligible for a trial work period, and you can continue
receiving benefits for up to 9 months. Also, tell us if you have any special work
expenses because of your disability (such as specialized equipment, a wheelchair or
even prescription drugs). Tell us if there’s any change in the amount of those
expenses.
If you receive other disability benefits
Social Security benefits for you and your family may be
reduced if you also are eligible for workers’ compensation (including payments
through the black lung program). These benefits may also be reduced if you are
eligible for disability benefits from certain federal, state, or local government
programs. You must tell us if any of the following occur:
•You apply for another type of disability benefit.
•You receive another disability benefit or a lump-sumsettlement.
•Your benefits change or stop.
If you’re offered services under the Ticket to
Work program
We may send you a “ticket” that you can use to get
services to help you go to work or earn more money. You may take the “ticket” to
your state vocational rehabilitation agency or to an employment network of your
choice. Employment networks are private organizations that have agreed to work with
us to provide employment services to beneficiaries with disabilities. Your
participation in the 10
Ticket to Work program is voluntary and we provide the
services to you at no cost. For more information, read Your Ticket to Work
(Publication No. 05-10061) .
If you move
When you plan to move, tell us your new address and
phone number as soon as you know them. Also, please let us know the names of any
family members who are getting benefits and who are moving with you. Even if you
receive your benefits by direct deposit, we must have your correct address so we
can send letters and other important information to you. Your benefits will be
stopped if we’re unable to contact you. You can change your address with a personal
my Social Security account.
To create a personal my Social Security account, visit,
www.ssa.gov/myaccount.
Be sure you also file a change of address with your
post office.
If you change direct deposit accounts
If you change financial institutions or open a new account,
be sure to say that you want to sign up for direct deposit. You can also change
your direct deposit online if you have a personal my Social Security account. Or,
we can
change your direct deposit information over the telephone. Have your new and old
bank account numbers handy when you call us. They’ll be printed on your personal
checks or account statements. Changing this information takes us about 30-60 days.
Don’t close your old account until you make sure your benefits are being deposited
into the new account.
If you’re unable to manage your benefits
Sometimes people are unable to manage their money.
When this happens, we should be notified. We can arrange to send benefits to a
relative or other person who agrees to use the money to take care of the person 11
for whom the benefits are paid. We call the person who
manages someone else’s benefits a “representative
payee.” For more information, read A Guide for
Representative Payees (Publication No. 05-10076) .

NOTE: People who have “power of attorney” for
someone don’t automatically qualify to be the person’s
representative payee.
To help protect what’s important to you, we now
offer the option to choose a representative payee in
advance. Advance Designation allows capable adult and
emancipated minor applicants and thoes who receive
Social Security benefits, SSI, and Special Veterans
Benefits to choose one or more persons to serve as their
representative payee in the future. If you need a
representative payee to assist with the management of
your benefits, we will first consider your advance
designees, but we must still fully evaluate them
and
determine their suitability at that time.
If you get a pension from work not covered by
Social Security
If you start receiving a pension from a job for which you
didn’t pay Social Security taxes — for example, fr
om the
federal civil service system, some state or local pension
systems, nonprofit organizations, or a foreign government
— your Social Security benefit may be reduced. Also, tell
us
if the amount of your pension changes.
If you get married or divorced
If you get married or divorced, your Social Security
benefits may be affected, depending on the kind of benefits you receive.
If your benefits are stopped because of marriage or
remarriage, they may be started again if the marriage ends.12
If you get: Then:
Your own disability benefits Your benefits will continue.
Spouse’s benefits Your benefits will continue if you
get divorced and you are age 62 or over, unless you were married less than 10
years.
Benefits for a surviving spouse with a disability (including divorced surviving
spouses)Your benefits will continue if you remarry when you are age 50 or older.
Any other kind of benefits Generally, your benefits will stop when you get married.
Your benefits may be started again if the marriage ends.
If you change your name
If you change your name — by marriage, divorce, or court
order — you need to tell us right away. If you don’t give us this information, your
benefits will be issued under your old name. If you have direct deposit, payments
may not reach your account. If you receive checks, you may not be able to cash them
if your identification is different from the name on your check.
If you care for a child who receives benefits
If you receive benefits because you are caring for a
disability beneficiary’s child who is younger than age 16 or has a disability, you
should notify us right away if the child leaves your care. You must give us the
name and address of the person with whom the child is living.
A temporary separation may not affect your benefits if you
continue to have parental control over the child. However, your benefits will stop
if you no longer have responsibility for the child. If the child returns to your
care, we can start sending your benefits to you again.13
Your benefits usually stop when the youngest, unmarried
child in your care reaches age 16, unless the child has a disability.
If you become a parent after entitlement
If you become the parent of a child or an adopted child
after entitlement let us know so that we may determine if the child qualifies for
benefits.
If a child receiving benefits is adopted
When a child who is receiving benefits is adopted by
someone else, let us know the child’s new name, the date of the adoption decree,
and the adopting parent’s name and address. The adoption will not cause the child’s
benefits to stop.
If you have an outstanding warrant for your arrest
You must tell us if you have an outstanding arrest warrant
for any of the following felony offenses:
•Flight to avoid prosecution or confinement.
•Escape from custody.
•Flight-escape.
You can’t receive regular disability benefits, or any underpayments you may be due,
for any month in which there is an outstanding arrest warrant for any of these
felony offenses.14
If you’re convicted of a crime
Tell us right away if you’re convicted of a crime. Regular
disability benefits, or any underpayments that may be due, aren’t paid for the
months a person is confined for a crime. However, any family members who are
eligible for benefits based on that person’s work may continue to receive benefits.
Monthly benefits or any underpayments that may be due
usually aren’t paid to someone who commits a crime and who is confined to jail,
prison, penal institution, or correctional facility. This applies if the person has
been found either:
•Not guilty by reason of insanity or similar factors(such as mental disease, mental
defect, or mentalincompetence).
•Incompetent to stand trial.
If you violate a condition of parole or probation
You must tell us if you’re violating a condition of your
probation or parole imposed under federal or state law. You can’t receive regular
disability benefits or any underpayment that may be due for any month in which you
violate a condition of your probation or parole.
If you leave the United States
If you’re a U.S. citizen, you can travel to or live in most
foreign countries without affecting your Social Security
benefits. There are, however, a few countries where we can’t send Social Security
payments. These countries are Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. However, we can
make exceptions for certain eligible beneficiaries in countries other than Cuba and
North Korea. For more information about these exceptions, please contact your local
Social Security office.15
Let us know if you plan to go outside the United States
for a trip that lasts 30 days or more. Tell us the name of the country or countries
you plan to visit and the date you expect to leave the United States.
We will send you special reporting instructions and tell
you how to arrange for your benefits while you’re away. Be sure to notify us when
you return to the United States.
If you aren’t a U.S. citizen, and you return to live in
the United States, you must provide evidence of your
noncitizen status to continue receiving benefits. If you work outside the United
States, different rules apply in determining whether you can get your benefits.
For more information, read Your Payments While You are
Outside the United States (Publication No. 05-10137) .
If your citizenship status changesIf you aren’t a U.S. citizen, let us know if you
become a
U.S. citizen or if your status changes. If your immigration status expires, you
must give us new evidence that you are still in the United States lawfully.
If a beneficiary dies
Let us know if a person receiving Social Security benefits
dies. Benefits aren’t payable for the month of death. That means, for example, if
the person died any time in July, the check received in August (which is payment
for July) must be returned. If direct deposit is used, also notify the financial
institution of the death as soon as possible so it can return any payments received
after death.
Family members may be eligible for Social Security
survivors benefits when a person getting disability benefits dies.16
If you’re receiving Social Security and Railroad
Retirement benefits
If you’re receiving both Social Security and Railroad
Retirement benefits based on your spouse’s work, and your spouse dies, you must
tell us immediately. You’ll no longer be eligible to receive both benefits. You’ll
be notified which survivor benefit you’ll receive.
Benefits for children
If you’re receiving benefits on behalf of a child, there are important things you
should know about his or her benefits.
When a child reaches age 18
A child’s benefits stop the month before the child reaches
age 18, unless the child is has a disability or is a full-time elementary or
secondary school student and unmarried. About 3 months before the child’s 18th
birthday, you’ll get a letter explaining how benefits can continue. We’ll also send
a letter to the child and a student form.
If your child’s benefits stopped at age 18, they can
start again if they have a disability that begins before they reach age 22 or
become a full-time elementary or secondary school student before reaching age 19.
The student needs to contact us to reapply for benefits.
If your 18-year-old child is still in school
An 18-year-old can receive benefits until age 19 if they
continue to be a full-time elementary or secondary school student. When your
child’s 19th birthday occurs during a school term, benefits usually can continue
until completion of the term, or for 2 months following their 19th birthday,
whichever comes first. 17
You should tell us immediately if your child marries, is
convicted of a crime, drops out of school, changes from
full-time to part-time attendance, is expelled, suspended, or
changes schools. You should also tell us if your child has an
employer who is paying for your child to attend school.
In general, a student can keep receiving benefits during a
vacation period of 4 months or less if they plan to go back
to school full time at the end of the vacation.
If your child
has a disability
Your child can continue to receive benefits after age
18 if they have a disability that begins before age 22.
Your child also may qualify for SSI. Contact us for
more information.
If you have a stepchild and get divorced
If you have a stepchild who is getting benefits based
on your work, and you divorce the child’s parent, you
must tell us as soon as the divorce becomes final. Your

stepchild’s benefits will stop the month after the divorce
becomes final.
Reviewing your medical condition
All people receiving disability benefits mus t have their
medical conditions reviewed from time to time. We call
this review a continuing disability review. If evidence
shows that your condition has medically improved and
you can return to work, your disability benefits may stop.
Frequency of continuing disability reviews
The frequency of reviews depends on the nature and
severity of your medical condition and whether it’s
expected to improve.
•If improvement is expected, your 1st review generally
will be 6 to 18 months after the date your disability
began.18
•If improvement is possible, but can’t be predicted, we’ll
review your case about every 3 years.
•If improvement is not expected, we’ll review your caseevery 7 years.
What happens during a continuing disability
review?
We’ll send a letter to you telling you that we’re conducting
a medical review. Soon after you receive the notice, someone from your local Social
Security office will contact you to explain the review process and your appeal
rights. The Social Security representative will ask you to provide information
about your medical treatment and any work that you may have done since you started
receiving disability benefits.
A team consisting of a disability examiner and a doctor
will review your case and request your medical reports. If needed, we may ask you
to have a special examination. We’ll pay for the examination and some of your
transportation costs.
When we make a medical decision, we’ll send you a
letter. If we decide that you still have a qualifying disability, your benefits
will continue.
If we decide you no longer have a qualifying disability and
you disagree with our decision, you may file an appeal. If you decide not to appeal
the decision, your benefits will stop 3 months after we decide that your disability
ended.
For more information, read Your Right to Question the
Decision Made on Your Claim (Publication No. 05-10058) .
Helping you return to work
After you start receiving disability benefits, you may want
to try working again. There are special rules, called work incentives, that can
help you keep your cash benefits and 19
Medicare while you test your ability to work. For more
information about the ways we can help you return to work, read Working While
Disabled—How We Can Help
(Publication No. 05-10095) . Detailed information about
work incentives can be found in our Red Book (Publication
No. 64-030) . Also visit our website, www.ssa.gov/work.
Achieving a Better Life Experience
(ABLE) Account
An Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account is
a tax-advantaged savings account for an individual with a disability. You can use
an ABLE account to save funds for many disability-related expenses. Anyone,
including the account owner, family, and friends can contribute to the ABLE
account. The account owner of an ABLE account must meet one of the following:
•Be receiving SSI based on disability or blindness that
began before age 26.
•Be in SSI suspense due solely to excess income or
resources and otherwise be eligible for SSI based on
disability or blindness that began before age 26.
•Be receiving disability insurance benefits, childhood
disability benefits, or surviving spouse’s benefits based
on disability or blindness that occurred before age 26.
•Have a certification that disability or blindness occurred
before age 26.
•Have conditions on Social Security’s “List of
Compassionate Allowances Conditions” which are
deemed to meet the requirements for a disability
certification if the was present and produced marked
and severe functional limitations before the date on
which the individual attained age 26.20
The money that you have in your ABLE account (up to
and including $100,000) does not count as a resource under SSI rules. You can use
money in an ABLE account to pay for certain qualified disability expenses, such as
those for education, housing, transportation, employment training, employment
support, assistive technology, and related services.
To learn more about ABLE accounts, please visit the
Internal Revenue Service’s website at www.irs.gov/
government-entities/federal-state-local-governments/able-accounts-tax-benefit-for-
people-with-disabilities .
Please note: Social Security provides this section as a courtesy to help notify you
of ABLE accounts. However, Social Security is not affiliated with and does not
endorse any ABLE account provider or its services.
Protection of your personal information
We keep personal and confidential information — names, Social Security numbers,
earnings records, ages, and beneficiary addresses — for millions of people.
Generally, we’ll discuss your information only with you. When you call or visit us,
we’ll ask you several questions to help us verify your identity. If you want
someone else to help with your Social Security business, we need your permission to
discuss your information with that person.
We urge you to be careful with your Social
Security number and to protect its confidentiality whenever possible.
We’re committed to protecting the privacy of your records.
When we’re required by law to give information to other government agencies that
administer health or welfare programs, such as Medicaid and the SNAP, those
agencies aren’t allowed to share that information with anyone else.21
Contacting Us
There are several ways to contact us, such as online,
by phone, and in person. We’re here to answer your questions and to serve you. For
nearly 90 years, we have helped secure today and tomorrow by providing benefits and
financial protection for millions of people throughout their life’s journey.
Visit our website
The most convenient way to conduct business with us is
online at www.ssa.gov . You can accomplish a lot.
•Apply for Extra Help with Medicare prescription drugplan costs.
•Apply for most types of benefits.
•Start or complete your request for an original orreplacement Social Security
card .
•Find copies of our publications .
•Get answers to frequently asked questions .
When you create a personal my Social Security account,
you can do even more.
•Review your Social Security Statement .
•Verify your earnings .
•Get estimates of future benefits
•Print a benefit verification letter .
•Change your direct deposit information (Social Security
beneficiaries only).
•Get a replacement SSA-1099/1042S .
If you live outside the United States, visit www.ssa.gov/foreign to access our
online services.22
Call us
If you cannot use our online services, we can help you by
phone when you call our National toll-free 800 Number. We provide free interpreter
services upon request.
You can call us at 1-800-772-1213 — or at our TTY
number, 1-800-325-0778 , if you’re deaf or hard of hearing
— between 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., Monday through
Friday. For quicker access to a representative, try calling early in the day
(between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time) or later in the day. We are less busy later
in the week (Wednesday to Friday) and later in the month . We
also offer many automated telephone services, available 24 hours a day, so you may
not need to speak with a representative.
If you have documents we need to see, they must be
original or copies that are certified by the issuing agency.

Voicerag

Uploaded by

Voicerag

Uploaded by

POLICY STATEMENT ON INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

vii As used in this document, c ulturally and linguistically responsive practices

ix Religious organizations, and entities controlled by religious organizations

xi Application of this principle does not anticipate or permit imposing caps or

xiii Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) is a multi- level

xv Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including its implementing

xvi Universal design is the philosophy of developing and designing physical

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT : COLORADO

still entitled to the payment, we’ll replace the voided check.

include a notice explaining the cost-of-living adjustment

automatically convert to retirement benefits, but the

Representative Payees (Publication No. 05-10076) .

must tell us as soon as the divorce becomes final. Your

You might also like