(1) The department shall have the following responsibilities and duties for children from birth through two years of age who are referred for early intervention services:

(a) To develop and implement, in coordination with community centered boards, service agencies, governmental units, and the departments of education, public health and environment, and health care policy and financing, a statewide plan for public education, outreach, and awareness efforts related to child find and the availability of early intervention services;

(b) To ensure that referrals from the community are accepted and families are assisted in connecting with the appropriate agency for intake and case management services;

(c) To ensure that intake and case management services are provided after a referral has been made by working with community centered boards as the single entry point for a family into the developmental disabilities system, as described in section 27-10.5-102 (3); and

(d) To work with community centered boards, administrative units, and the department of education to assist a child with disabilities as he or she transitions from the developmental disabilities system into the public education system at no later than three years of age as required by IDEA.

(2) To facilitate the implementation of early intervention evaluations that are the responsibility of the department pursuant to this part 7 and to implement an effective and collaborative system of early intervention services, the department shall enter into any necessary interagency operating agreements at the state level and the local level.

(3) To facilitate the implementation of part C child find and early intervention evaluations, and the use of medicaid funds, the department and entities that conduct early intervention evaluations may, when appropriate, share information with the department of education, the department of health care policy and financing, or other entities that conduct early intervention evaluations or that offer child find services pursuant to section 22-20-118, so long as each department or local agency acts in compliance with the federal "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996", 42 U.S.C. sec. 1320d.