Colorado § 26.5-3-404 - Child find - responsibilities - interagency operating agreements.

§ 26.5-3-404. Child find - responsibilities - interagency operating agreements.

(1) The department shall perform the following responsibilities and duties for infants and toddlers who are referred for early intervention services:

(a) Develop and implement, in coordination with certified early intervention service brokers, 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) Ensure that referrals from the community are accepted and families are assisted in connecting with the appropriate agency for intake and case management services, as defined in section 25.5-10-202;

(c) Facilitate the implementation of early intervention evaluations that are the responsibility of the department pursuant to this part 4 and implement an effective and collaborative system of early intervention services. The department shall enter into any necessary interagency operating agreements at the state and local levels for such facilitation and implementation.

(d) 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, 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, as amended, and the federal "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974", 20 U.S.C. sec. 1232g, as amended, and all federal regulations and applicable guidelines adopted thereto.

(2) As of July 1, 2022, the department shall administer part C child find pursuant to this part 4.

(3) On or before July 1, 2022, the department shall establish a state-level interagency operating agreement, referred to in this section as the "agreement", with the department of education concerning the coordination of transitions of children from part C child find to part B child find. In developing the agreement, the department and the department of education shall involve stakeholder participation, including representatives from administrative units and part C entities. The agreement must also include:

(a) The definition of a child who is potentially eligible for part B;

(b) The processes for a parent of a child to opt out of required notifications;

(c) The required notification concerning a child who is potentially eligible for part B;

(d) A process for resolving disputes between an administrative unit and a part C entity concerning the satisfaction of agreement requirements, including remedies and sanctions;

(e) A process for resolving disputes between the department and the department of education concerning systemic and statewide issues related to agreement requirements;

(f) The development and delivery of standardized communication materials for a parent of a child who is potentially eligible for part B, including information concerning eligibility, referral, evaluation, and service delivery;

(g) The development and delivery of standardized training for part C and part B providers, including information concerning eligibility, referral, evaluation, and service delivery for the programs;

(h) The process for transferring a child's assessment, IFSP, and other necessary information to an administrative unit for consideration of a part B evaluation and eligibility determination, if a parent has provided written consent;

(i) (I) Processes to ensure timely notification to the administrative unit if a child is potentially eligible for part B. At a minimum, timely notification must occur not later than when a child is two years and six months of age; except that timely notification must occur not later than when a child is two years and three months of age if a child has a low incidence diagnosis including, but not limited to, visual impairment, including blindness; hearing impairment, including deafness; or deaf-blind.

(II) If a child is determined to be eligible for part C when the child is older than the ages described in subsection (3)(i)(I) of this section, timely notification must occur not later than ten business days after the eligibility determination.

(j) A process for including an administrative unit representative in a transition conference for a child who transitions from part C to part B;

(k) A process for including an early intervention services provider in the development of an IEP, as defined in section 22-20-103 (15), if requested by the parent of the child; and

(l) A process for timely transferring data that is required by law between the department and the department of education.

(4) The department and the department of education shall review and revise the agreement to account for any changes to state or federal law, as necessary. At a minimum, the agreement must be reviewed once every five years. In the review and revision of the agreement, the department and the department of education shall involve stakeholder participation, including representatives from administrative units and part C entities.

Source: L. 2022: Entire article added with relocations, (HB 22-1295), ch. 123, p. 619, § 3, effective July 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 27-10.5-704 as it existed prior to 2022.