The central role of family support in programs serving young children with disabilities was emphasized in Public Law 99-457. In the ensuing 25 years, much work has been done to describe the principles and practices that characterize effective family support. Less clear is whether and how programs serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers promote…

The article examines the need for new strategies for screening and identification of infants potentially eligible for services under Public Law 99-457. Both traditional and new assessment methods involving the family are required. (Author/DB)

Described are the provisions of U.S. Public Law 99-457 (Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments, 1986), which authorizes early intervention services for handicapped infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and their families. Specific components of the law are detailed, followed by implications for families, service providers, and early childhood…

This paper presents the requirements for family participation on multidisciplinary teams under Public Law 99-457, reviews literature on family participation on teams working with handicapped children, identifies factors that influence team functioning, and suggests how team members can facilitate family involvement. (Author/JDD)

Legislation requires that early intervention services be delivered to young special needs children within the family context. To help rural professionals develop effective partnerships with American Indian families, common family cultural characteristics are outlined: extended family, permissive discipline, respect for children, group orientation,…

The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986 provide for early intervention services to children with special needs and their families. Part of the amendment requires that early intervention programs develop an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for each child. These plans require that families participate in defining the child's…

Contemporary developments concerning the effectiveness of family involvement in early intervention programs are described within the framework of Public Law 99-457 and illustrated with investigations focusing on children at biological risk, children with cerebral palsy, and children with general developmental delays. (Author/DB)

The passage of Public Law 99-457 has both quantitative and qualitative implications for assessment. Educators working with infants and young children must become more familiar with assessment strategies and limitations including psychometrically sound assessment of complex and controversial family variables, and health and environmental risk…

This survey sought to identify the status of state policies on Individual Family Service Plans (IFSP) required by Public Law 99-457. The survey found that every state plans to develop or review IFSP policies, even the three states who said they had existing policies which they thought might currently meet the Part H requirements on service…

Part of a volume which explores current issues in service delivery to infants and toddlers (ages birth to 3) with handicapping conditions, this chapter provides an overview of the relationships among screening, assessment, and curriculum in programming for this population, with attention to the potential impact of Public Law 99-457 and the…

In Part H of Public Law 99-457, the Federal Government agrees to provide modest financial resources to aid the states in planning and developing comprehensive, multidisciplinary, coordinated services for young children with handicaps and their families, and presents mandates for reforms in the service delivery system. This paper identifies the…

This report is the final in a series designed to assist in the planning and development of a comprehensive, coordinated service delivery system for Arizona infants and toddlers who are developmentally delayed or at risk of developing handicapping conditions, and their families, as outlined in Public Law 99-457. It documents the needs of Arizona's…