16-103. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Allocation" means state and federal funds designated for coordination of program functions in the seven (7) regions.

(2) "Applications" mean the documents submitted by the regional infant toddler committees to the infant toddler council, detailing the budget request for the regional committee activities and comprehensive component plans for the planning and coordination of programs authorized in this chapter.

(3) "Awards and contracts" mean the state and federal funds designated by the lead agency for projects relating to planning, resource development, or provision of direct service.

(4) "Council" means the state interagency coordinating council established in section 16-105, Idaho Code.

(5) "Early intervention services" mean those services which are provided under public supervision by qualified personnel, in conformity with the individual family service plan (IFSP), and are designed to meet the developmental needs of eligible children as defined in this chapter. These services are selected and provided in collaboration with the families; and, to the extent appropriate, are provided in types of settings in which infants and toddlers without disabilities would participate. These services, necessary to enable the child to benefit from the other early intervention services, include:

(a) audiology;

(b) case management services, including transitions;

(c) family training, counseling or home-based services;

(d) health services including dental;

(e) medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes only;

(f) nursing services;

(g) nutrition services;

(h) occupational therapy;

(i) physical therapy;

(j) psychological services;

(k) respite care;

(l) social work services;

(m) special instruction/developmental therapy;

(n) speech and language pathology services; and

(o) transportation including the cost of travel (e.g., mileage, or travel by taxi, common carrier, or other means) and related costs (parking expense) that are necessary to enable an eligible child and the child’s family to receive early intervention services.

(6) "Early intervention system" means the management structure established in this chapter, comprised of the interdependent continuum of services and activities for the provision of a statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary, interagency program for young children who have a disability or are at risk.

(7) "Health and safety standards" mean those standards which address the facilities where early intervention services are offered, excluding the child’s home. Such standards may include but are not limited to the dimensions or size of a facility, communicable disease, social environment, nutrition, immunization, and fire codes.

(8) "Include" means that all items named are not all of the possible items that are covered whether like or unlike the ones named.

(9) "Individualized family service plan (IFSP)" means a written plan designed to address the strengths and needs of an infant or toddler with disabilities and the family that meets the requirements of section 16-109, Idaho Code.

(10) "Infants and toddlers at risk" mean children who are in need of screening and tracking services to monitor their development because they have:

(a) Medical or biological risk factors, which refer to prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal events which increase the probability of delayed development or result in disability (e.g., low birth weight, prematurity, abnormal neurological findings); or

(b) Environmental risk factors, which refer to high-risk environmental influences that may affect development or result in disability (e.g., adolescent parent, poverty, psychiatric stress or known history of child abuse or neglect).

(11) "Infants and toddlers with disabilities" mean children age birth to thirty-six (36) months who need early intervention services because:

(a) They are experiencing developmental delays, as measured by diagnostic instruments and procedures (referenced in administrative rules) in one (1) or more of the following areas:

(i) physical development;

(ii) cognitive development;

(iii) communication, language, speech and hearing development;

(iv) psychosocial development;

(v) self-help skills;

(vi) sensory skills; or

(b) They are at risk of experiencing developmental delay due to established risk factors, which refer to diagnosed disorders where the condition is known to ultimately affect development or result in disability (e.g., the congenital anomalies associated wih [with] Down syndrome or hydrocephaly).

(12) "Lead agency" means the department of health and welfare.

(13) "Multidisciplinary team" means a group comprised of the parent(s) or legal guardian and the professionals described in this chapter, as appropriate, who are assembled for the purposes of assessing the developmental needs of an infant or toddler, developing the IFSP, and providing the infant or toddler and the family with the early intervention services as detailed in the IFSP design to meet the individual family needs.

(14) "Program standards" mean those standards which address the coordination and provision of early intervention services. Such standards may include, but are not limited to, service year, length of program, personnel qualifications, staff/child ratio, caseload, maximum class size, and length of day.

(15) "Qualified" means that a person has met the highest standards of state approved or recognized certification, licensing, registration or other comparable requirements that apply to the area in which the person is providing early intervention services.

(16) "Region" means one of the seven (7) administrative regions of the lead agency.

(17) "Regional committee" means an interagency coordinating committee established within each of the seven (7) administrative regions of the lead agency to facilitate interagency coordination at the regional level and provide applications for regional committee activities, planning and direction for regional program activities.

(18) "Screening and tracking services" mean the identification of infants and toddlers delayed or at risk of delay using standardized procedures, and the entry of demographic information into an automated system for periodically monitoring the child’s services or need for services.

(19) "Service providers" mean those individuals or programs that deliver services to eligible infants and toddlers and their families in compliance with the applicable standards of state and local licensing and operational rules and regulations.

History:

[16-103, added 1991, ch. 253, sec. 1, p. 622.]