This section defines key terms for the Early Intervention Act and says services coordination must not duplicate case management services families already receive or can get elsewhere.
For purposes of the Early Intervention Act: (1) Collaborating agencies means the Department of Health and Human Services and the State Department of Education; (2) Developmental delay has the definition found in section 79-1118.01; (3) Early intervention services may include services which: (a) Are designed to meet the developmental needs of each eligible infant or toddler with disabilities and the needs of the family related to enhancing the development of their infant or toddler; (b) Are selected in collaboration with the parent or guardian; (c) Are provided in accordance with an individualized family service plan; (d) Meet all applicable federal and state standards; and (e) Are provided, to the maximum extent appropriate, in natural environments including the home and community settings in which infants and toddlers without disabilities participate; (4) Eligible infant or toddler with disabilities means a child who needs early intervention services and is two years of age or younger, except that toddlers who reach age three during the school year shall remain eligible throughout that school year. The need for early intervention services is established when the infant or toddler experiences developmental delays or any of the other disabilities described in the Special Education Act; (5) Federal early intervention program means the federal early intervention program for infants and toddlers with disabilities, 20 U.S.C. 1471 to 1485; (6) Individualized family service plan means the process, periodically documented in writing, of determining appropriate early intervention services for an eligible infant or toddler with disabilities and his or her family; (7) Interagency planning team means an organized group of interdisciplinary, interagency representatives, community leaders, and family members in each local community or region; (8) Lead agency or agencies means the Department of Health and Human Services, the State Department of Education, and any other agencies designated by the Governor for general administration, supervision, and monitoring of programs and activities receiving federal funds under the federal early intervention program and state funds appropriated for early intervention services under the Early Intervention Act; and (9) Services coordination means a flexible process of interaction facilitated by a services coordinator to assist the family of an eligible infant or toddler with disabilities within a community to identify and meet their needs pursuant to the act. Services coordination under the act shall not duplicate any case management services which an eligible infant or toddler with disabilities and his or her family are already receiving or eligible to receive from other sources. History: Laws 1991, LB 701, § 4; Laws 1993, LB 520, § 8; Laws 1996, LB 900, § 1048; Laws 1996, LB 1044, § 211; Laws 1997, LB 346, § 1; Laws 1999, LB 813, § 2; Laws 2000, LB 1135, § 9; Laws 2006, LB 994, § 56; Laws 2007, LB296, § 140.