Wednesday, September 7, 2011

EIFA Update after OSEP Mega 2011


Dear EIFA Members,

We enjoyed meeting with many of you at the 2011 OSEP Mega Conference!  It was a very busy four days.  Whether you were in D.C., or still back home, we wanted to share with you some updates from the meeting.

ICC PreConference Meeting:
Many EIFA members attended the ICC PreConference Meeting.  Sharon Ringwalt, Darla Gundler and Maureen Casey facilitated the day of meetings.  We reviewed the role of the ICC and then broke into four Open Space Groups:  ICC Operations, Using Technology, Collaborating with Others and Connecting with OSEP.  We want to thank Sheila Zickfoose and Kurt Kondrich who facilitated their groups and reported out on their activites,  and to Julie Broski and Julie Hahn for typing up all the notes.  Don’t forget to visit the ICC Ning site, operated by NECTAC and moderated by Sharon Ringwalt.  The notes from the PreConference Session will be uploaded to that site and converstions can continue online.  At the close of the meeting we discussed plans for next year’s conference.  Those in attendance requested that the ICC overview powerpoint be reworked into a narrated webinar that could be viewed by participants prior to the conference so that the meeting can focus on networking, sharing and discussing how to operate effective ICCs. 

Sharon Walsh gave the Washington Update, while Congress debated the debt-ceiling...

EIFA/ICC/ITCA/619 Joint Meeting:
As we have done in the past, EIFA members, ICC preconference participants, the IDEA Infant Toddler Coordinator’s Association members (ITCA—Part C coordinators)  and the 619 Coordinators members(PreSchool Special Education Coordinators) held a joint meeting during the afternoon portion of the PreConference Day.  Once again Sharon Walsh shared invaluable information about the current state of legislative affairs in Washington, D.C.  It was of course a momentous day as Congress was in session on and off that weekend to deal with the debt ceiling.  We are attaching, for your review, Sharon Walsh’s presentation to the group—some information about the nation’s financial affairs have changed—but most of the information remains true.

EIFA and ITCA Awards Ceremonies:
ITCA awarded a Regional Parent Leadership Award to Malia Corde from New Jersy and a National Parent Leadership Award to to Julie Kingsley-Widman from California.  The EIFA was also proud to award our first Cassie Johnston Memorial Scholarship to Tiffany Wheeler from Washington State.   As many of you remember Cassie Johnston was a founding member in the creation of the EIFA.  As a parent leader in Washington State Cassie mentored many parents from diverse communities in Washington and the scholarship (of up to $200) is intended to continue that work by providing families who attend the OSEP Mega Conference with additional funds to help defray such costs as childcare or meals that are not always reimbursed for parents attending this important conference.  The EIFA also awarded its Family Involvement Advocacy Award to a very deserving Ron Benham, Part C Director of Massachusetts.  Massachusetts, like many other states has been grappling with very difficult budgets these past couple of years.  Grappling with budgetary constraints, legislative mandates and differing views from a variety of stakeholders is no small feat.  The Massachusetts ICC, and in particular, its parent members wished to highlight Ron’s pivotal role as Part C Coordinator for 25 years, his long-standing commitment to Parent Leadership through sponsorship of the Massachusetts Early Intervention Parent Leadership Project and his ability to create an opportunity for all stakeholders to share their perspectives—even when they are opposing—while continuing to insure that infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families have access to high quality early intervention supports and services.  The EIFA once again congratulates Ron, we want him to know we have his back!

IDEA Part D
Your EIFA Board prepared comments for presentation to OSEP staff regarding the early childhood section of Part D of IDEA.  Part D is the investments portion of the law.  Part D funds projects, like TACSEI, Tots- n-Tech and the Parent Training and Information Centers, just to name a few.  See attached comments which participants from the ICC Preconference also used as the basis for the comments at the hearing held that day.  We have attached a pdf copy of the comments submitted by EIFA and EIFA members, which you may use to write your own comments.  Comments are being accepted until August 25, 2011 at OSEPPartDsuggestions@ed.gov.

Meetings with OSEP and NECTAC staff
Your EIFA Board also met with various OSEP staff and NECTAC staff in a collaborative effort to insure continued and enhanced family involvement in OSEP activities.  We discussed the ongoing need to support family leaders to attend national conferences like the OSEP Mega Conference and the ECO Outcomes conference.  We also discussed ways in which family leaders can be supported to have the knowledge and skills necessary to fully participate during Continuous Improvement Visits (formerly Verification Visits or Continuous Monitoring & Improvement Visits) between OSEP and State Part C offices, ICCs and PTIs.   

Part C Regulations
We know you have all been waiting for Part C regulations, and we had all expected that those regulations would be issued during the 2011 OSEP Mega Conference.  It is our understanding from OSEP that the regulations will be published sometime after Labor Day.   In the meantime a number of EIFA members have indicated a willingness to work with the EIFA Board to review the final regulations for their impacts on families.  If you are interested in participating in what we think will be one or two conference calls along with email mark-up of comments and perhaps the drafting of a letter please let us know.  It is our understanding that ITCA will also be having similar discussions and we will have some dialogue about any questions or concerns that remain after the regulations are issued.

EIFA Membership Update Meeting
On Wednesday morning, the EIFA held a Membership update meeting.  We discussed everything you have already read in this memo and shared our Year in a Glance Letter and a copy of the Zero to Three Article on Family Involvement in Part C of IDEA.  As you can see it was a busy few days.  If you were not in attendance we missed you!  We hope you followed our tweets and Facebook posts.  And we look forward to another exciting year.  Your Board has made a commitment to sending you a monthly newsletter, and we hope to hear from you on what matters to you most!

ECO Conference
Don’t forget that NECTAC and the ECO center are sponsoring the Measuring & Improving Child & Family Outcomes, September 18-21, 2011 in New Orleans, LA.    Please visit their website for more information about the Draft Agenda, Registration and Hotel and Travel.


One More Thing
At the conference, Larry Wexler of OSEP shared a wonderful video.  And—we wish we had photos or videos, but we don’t—Ruth  Ryder actually did a great dance to show that, like Larry, she wants to be more than a “lone nut”.  We at EIFA appreciate all of the hard work from OSEP, NECTAC and TACC staff to put on the conference and their continuing work to identify new tools, tips and technologies to support children with disabilities and their families. We also appreciate their willingness to recognize us as their equals as we become their “first followers”!   Again, we hope that EIFA can help you as you partner with professionals in your community and state on behalf of infants and toddlers with disabilities.  

Part C Regulations



The Part C regulations are out! OK, so the final unofficial Part C regulations are out, but they will be published soon and it is time to begin reviewing. The EIFA Board is busy with our pens, highlighers and sticky notes reviewing the final regulations, our comments  our side-by-side, and our financial side-by-side, on the proposed regulations and the current statute (or law). The OSEP Part C website is now live and you can visit that here.


Reviewing.  Our plan is to review the regulations to see what changes were made between the proposed regulations and the final regulations, how OSEP responded to our comments on the regulations and finally to review the overall changes to the regulations.  We cannot do all of this alone!  We are very grateful that we can partner with the Infant Toddler Coordinator's Association (ITCA), the Division of Early Childhood (DEC), and you our members.  We are still planning calls to discuss the changes.  If you want to be a part of those calls, please email us at eifamilyalliance@aol.com

A little history.  Back in 2003 a few of us got together as family leaders and reviewed the proposed changes to IDEA.  We created a table that looked at the regulations from the family perspective and we shared our insights and comments with others.  After IDEA was reauthorized that same group of family leaders got together and created a new table, again sharing our comments with others and reviewing the comments of ITCA, DEC, ASHA, AOTA, APTA and the like.  By the time the proposed regulations were published, the Early Intervention Family Alliance had been formed and we could formally review, comment and share our insights as an organization.  We were able to partner with ITCA and DEC who helped us to look at the regulations from both a family perspective and a system perspective.

Organizing our thoughts.  We plan to organize our review using the following themes:  

  1. Paying for Part C services (Private Insurance, Public Insurance, Parent fees, State financing)
  2. Transition
  3. IFSP (45-day timelines, timely provision of services)
  4. Child Find/Public Awareness/Evaluation/Assessment
  5. Procedural Safeguards/Confidentiality