1. Finding Children with Disabilities
Disclaimer: Speaker notes are included on the majority of the slides. Please use at you discretion.
Handout (LEA 1) – LEAs Child Find Practices – could be used to begin discussion about the LEAs current Child Find practices.
Presentation for Local Education Agency (LEAs)

2. What Is Child Find ?
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) includes the Child Find mandate. Child Find requires all school districts to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities from birth through 21.
The critical nature of timely intervention services cannot be overstated.
It ensures that children with disabilities have access to free, appropriate public education, including special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living.

3. Child Find is a Continuous Process
It is an ongoing process of public awareness activities to identify, locate, and refer as early as possible all young children with disabilities
Who are in need of an Early Intervention Program (Birth to 3 - Part C) or
Early Childhood Special Education (3 to 21 - Part B) services of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

4. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Comprehensive Child Find System ensures that all children who are in need of early intervention or special education services are identified, located, and evaluated.
IDEA requires all states to have a comprehensive Child Find System which ensures that all children who are in need of early intervention or special education services are identified, located, and evaluated.
IDEA Federal Law: Sec Child Find

5. Guiding Principals of IDEA
Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
Appropriate evaluation
Individualized Education Program (IEP)
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Parent participation in the decision making
Procedural safeguards-Parent Rights

6. Lead Agencies in Wisconsin
Part C – Birth to 3
Department of Health Services
County Administrative Agency
Part B – 3 through 21
Department of Public Instruction
Local School Districts
These agencies are responsible for planning and implementing the comprehensive Child Find System.
School districts and county Birth to 3 programs are federally mandated by the Individual with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA) to identify and evaluate young children with disabilities within their attendance area or region.
Children receiving Early Intervention or Special Education services must meet eligibility guidelines according to the IDEA.

7. Child Find Includes All Children
Infants, toddlers and preschoolers Private, public or tribal school children Highly mobile children Homeless children Home Schooled Children Migrant children Wards of the state

8. Local Education Agencies are required to post:
LEA Requirements
Local Education Agencies are required to post:
Model Notice of Child Find Activity: Confidentiality of Personally Identifiable Information
Model Notice to Parents and Individuals Required to Make Referrals
Handout (LEA 2): Local Education Agency Requirements for Child Find
Consider the effectiveness of strategies currently being used in your district.

9. LEA Requirements
3. According to Wisconsin State Statute LEAs shall do all of the following:
Establish written procedures for accepting and processing referrals
Document and date the receipt of each referral
Provide information and in-service opportunities to all of its licensed staff to familiarize them with the agency's referral procedures
Although the law requires in-service to all of its licensed staff, it is encouraged to in-service ALL of it’s staff (secretaries, bus drivers, kitchen staff, etc.)

10. LEA Requirements
At least annually, inform parents and persons required to make referrals about the LEA's referral and evaluation procedures
Within 15 business days of receiving a referral, send to the child's parents a request for consent to evaluate or a notice that no additional data is necessary.
“Business day” means Monday through Friday except for Federal and State holidays.
The above three slides are the legal Child Find requirements for LEA’s.

11. Evaluation Timelines
Handout (LEA3): Evaluation Timelines

12. Individual Educational Program (IEP) & Placement Timelines
Handout (LEA 4): Individual Education Program (IEP) and Placement Timeline

13. Past Practices
1. Children were screened to determine readiness for kindergarten
2. Locally developed screening tools were used
3. Children were screened at “stations” and usually separated from parents
4. Parents had limited involvement in screening
5. Child Development Days were held
Optional discussion question: Have your Child Find practices changed over time?
There was a expectation that children demonstrate “readiness” for kindergarten. Only requirement for children entering kindergarten is they’re 5 year old on or before September 1st.
Locally developed screening tools were not researched based and not necessarily developmentally appropriate.
Stations were usually set-up by domains (language, readiness, motor, etc.).
It was assumed that educators knew more about children’s development than parents.
5. Child Development Days was one way to screen children. It was originally developed over 25 years ago by CESA 10 and was an improvement over prior practices. What made it an improvement was:
The inclusion of community partners who provided information and resources for families with young children.
Parents contributed to the screening by reporting on their child’s development.
Children were observed in a play environment.

14. Current Practices
1. All children should have the opportunity to be screened for multiple purposes
2. Child Find is a continuous process rather than a single event
3. Parents are recognized as experts on their children’s development and may complete a researched questionnaire in lieu of a direct screening
4. Community resources are shared with families of young children
Optional discussion question: What is your current Child Find practice?
Handout (LEA 5): Parents as Accurate Reporters in Screening and Assessment by Brookes Publishing
1. Depending on your community there may be a variety of screening opportunities available (health, vision, lead, developmental)
2. Publishing a single notice in the newspaper about a screening event isn’t a continuous process. Relationship building and information sharing will inform and improve the Child Find Screening process in your community.
3. Parent completed questionnaires allow for parents to report on their child’s development and provides the LEA’s with sufficient and adequate information.
4. Providing parents with available community resources creates a feeling of support for the parents raising children in the community.

15. What is an Informed Referral Network?
A coordinated effort by community partners to: Identify Locate Evaluate all children with a disability
An Informed Referral Network is comprised of community partners working together to serve young children and their families.
Connections with community partners have proven to be the most effective practice in identifying children with special needs.

16. Informed Referral Network
Optional discussion topic: Think of who in our community touches the life of a child. Talk about who are your partners and how are you connected.
Partnerships provide the opportunity to:
learn more about screening young children and
provide information about available community resources

17. Why an Informed Referral Network
Provide Information
Create a Feeling of Support
Disseminate Information about Resources
Build Partnerships
Deepen Relationships
Collaborative Community Councils
Whatever your message, the first step is to clearly define your goals and purpose.
Provide information:
Provide information about typical child development
Inform all parents of preschoolers that Birth to 3 and Special Education Services are available
Inform community leaders about the effectiveness of early intervention
Create a feeling of support:
Create feeling of support for the parents raising children in the community
Disseminate information about resources:
Information about resources and practices that enhance a child’s development
Build partnerships:
Develop a partnership with parents
Deepen relationships
Build relationship with community agencies which serve young children and their families
Collaborative Community Councils:
Develop Collaborative Community Councils – An Informed Referral Network

18. Research
Making connections with community partners has proven to be the most
effective practice in identifying young children with special needs.
Carl Dunst and Patricia Clow 2007
Unfortunately, even though states used public awareness and Child Find activities, most were in the form of non-targeted print materials, such as brochures.
In other words, the largest percentage of these activities used by states involved practices that generally were found ineffective for either:
Changing people’s help-seeking behavior or
Influencing referrals from primary sources

19. Where Do We Start?
Think about the life styles, attitudes and interests of families in your community
Choose those methods which you think will work most effectively and efficiently on a continuous basis
Contact a wide range of community partners to serve as your informed referral network
In planning your district's Child Find activities, consider the community and the people you want to reach.
Some methods, depending on the size of your community may be more appropriate than others.
If some methods prove less effective than others, replace them with new techniques.

20. Public Awareness Publicity Outreach
If you have had the participants complete the Child Find Practices refer to question #1 and use for discussion
Question 1: What does your school district do for Child Find?
An effective and efficient Child Find plan for locating children with special needs MUST include public awareness activities.
Generate publicity that will inform the community about available services, and the importance of early intervention and its cost effectiveness.
Public awareness will serve as an outreach tool to educate parents and those who deal with young children about typical expectations for growth and development.
The result will be appropriate and timely referrals of children for screening or evaluations.
Our message to the community will depend greatly on our goals for a public awareness campaign. We can certainly do more than alert families about the availability of services for children with special needs.
Community contact through public awareness campaigns is an opportunity to: create connections that will build strong foundations for future home/school communication.

21. Informing the Community
Informational Booths/Displays at Events
District/Community Websites/Billboards
Public Service Announcements
District Newsletters
Local/electronic Newspapers
Shoppers
Radio TV
Optional discussion topic: Talk about other ways to inform your community about your Child Find activities/screenings.
Generally the wider the range of media used, the greater the number of people who will be reached.
Informational Booths
Set-up information booths at shopping centers, school and community fairs, screening events, etc.
Displays
Display posters in frequently visited places
(libraries, grocery stores, laundromats, churches, gas stations, stores, casinos)
Notices
Electronic notices, websites, QR Reader, billboard messages
Services Announcements
Local TV and radio stations
Dissemination of Child Find Tri-fold brochures in community (Physician’s office, libraries, WIC office, etc.) – placing labels on back with school district contact information

22. Purposes of Screening Child Find RtI Model
A process utilizing multiple sources of information, including administration of a standardized screening tool, to guide decisions about “next steps” to address individual children's’ needs.
A process utilizing multiple sources of information, including administration of a standardized screening tool, to establish a “baseline” to begin curriculum planning for a group of children.
Definitions are the same – purposes are different
Child Find – “Next Steps” to address individual children’s needs
Response to Intervention (RtI) – “Baseline” to begin curriculum planning for a group of children

23. Child Find and Response to Intervention (RtI)
RtI does not require that children go through a multi-tiered system of supports prior to being referred to special education, thereby delaying and often restricting referral to special services.
Note: This is question #1 under misconceptions and misunderstandings on the power point developed by Gaye Tylka Early Childhood Response to Intervention (RtI) Statewide Coordinator, entitled To the Best of Our Knowledge RtI in EC Settings.
Reference: The Wisconsin Model for Response to Intervention: Applications in Early Childhood Settings. Have copy of booklet to show the audience.

24. Response to Intervention (RTI) Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
Talk to educators
Talk to parents
Collect data!
Try strategies/interventions
Child Find Request for Assistance
MMSD.ORG/CHILDFIND

25. Types of Screening
Newborn Blood Levels Vision/Hearing Developmental/Behavioral Autism Social/Emotional Learning and Development Universal Screening for Instruction (PreK-12)
Resource: Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care from Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics.

26. Screening is Designed To
Educate families about typical child development
Develop/Expand awareness of community resources for young children and their family
Identify young children in need of further evaluation

27. Screening Activities Should Include
Parent and/or care giver involvement Multiple sources of information Sensitivity to the child’s cultural background/primary language Results reviewed by trained personnel and shared with parents

28. Screening Instrument Considerations
Age appropriate
Easily administered
Cost effective
Based on valid, reliable and normative samples
A screener should be:
valid (measure what it is intended to measure) and
reliable (produce the same results if used on the same population
multiple times by different administrators, or with different forms
of the test)

29. Developmental Screeners
Suggested Examples:
Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3)
Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS)
Most developmental screeners identify concerns that may require further assessment.
Including cognitive, language, motor, adaptive, and social
Wisconsin Healthy Children’s Committee identified two quality screening tools:
1. Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) - Brookes Publishing
2. Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) –
Ellsworth and Vandermeer Press
Both ASQ-3 and PEDS are completed by a parent then reviewed by a professional
PEDS is not widely used in Wisconsin
While some have questioned the use of parent-completed screening instruments, considerable evidence can be cited recognizing that such instruments have sound psychometric properties.
Remind audience about handout (LEA5 ): Parents as Accurate Reporters in Screening and Assessment from Brooks Publishing.

30. Where and When Could Child Find Screenings Occur?
Where: Child Care Settings Libraries Family Resource Centers Medical Settings Head Start Schools Home When: Anytime there is a request for screening Monthly, quarterly, yearly In combination w/ other school events (4K/5K registration) In combination with other community events
Optional discussion questions:
1. Where and when are Child Find screenings taking place in your
community?
2. What is going well?
3. What may need to be improved?
4. How does you district deal with individual request for screenings?
5. Does your system include families that move into your school district during the school year?

31. Re-Screening
General Education staff may rescreen Special Education staff can not rescreen
Handout (LEA 6): Guidance for Special Education and Related Services Personnel Assisting Students within General Education Settings
The 3 main issues that guide decision making about general education students receiving instruction by a special education teacher are:
Due Process
Funding
Licensing
General education may collect more information or conduct rescreening.
Special Education Personnel may participate in Child Find Screening but are not allowed to rescreen.
Without referral a violation of due process has occurred.

32. Suspect a Disability? Next steps would include:
Referral-MMSD.ORG/CHILDFIND
Request for Assistance and call (608)
Referral/Evaluation/IEP Process
Determination of a Disability and a need for Special Education
Referral can be made for an evaluation if a potential disability exists
Evaluation or Assessment is an in depth investigation designed to give us comprehensive information about a child’s achievement and the related potential.
Evaluation is used to confirm or dismiss a suspected educational/medical concern.
It can diagnose a specific disability or condition and generally leads to a plan for treatment/instruction.
Refer to Evaluation Timeline handout (LEA3) and IEP and Placement Timeline handout (LEA4)

33. Impairment Areas
Speech and Language Autism Significant Developmental Delay Other Health Impaired Orthopedic Impairment Traumatic Brain Injury Vision Impairment Hearing Impairment Intellectual Disability Specific Learning Disability Emotional/Behavioral Disability

34. Individual Education Plan (IEP) Timeline
Referral-up to15 business days to conduct a Review of Existing Data (RED) meeting and receive signed consent
Evaluation-up to 60 calendar days to conduct an evaluation
Programming-within 30 calendar days to develop the IEP and determine placement

35. In Summary
Child Find is a continuous process of public awareness activities and screening designed to “find” children who may have a delay in development or a disability.

36. Questions?

37. Child Find Resources
Collaborating Partners Wisconsin Birth to Three Program Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Wisconsin CESA Early Childhood Contacts ec.dpi.wi.gov/ec_ecbycesa
Handout (LEA 7) LEA Pamphlet
Handout (LEA 8): Child Find Order Form

38. Children
“We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are formed, his blood is being made, and his senses are being developed. To him we cannot answer ‘Tomorrow’, his name is Today.”
Gabriela Mistral