PROVIDENCE – For a second consecutive year, the U.S. Department of Education has determined that the state needs assistance in meeting certain requirements of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as it relates to the state’s early intervention program.
The USDOE noting Rhode Island needing assistance means the state needs to access technical assistance from its teaching assistant centers to help support its work, R.I. Executive Office of Health and Human Services spokesperson Kerri White told Providence Business News.
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Among the reasons the state was found to need additional assistance, White said, was the state did not meet its 45-day timeline in which states must take each child and their family referred for early intervention services through a referral process within 45 days of the referral, per federal guidelines. The referral process, White said, includes outreach/connecting to the family, an intake visit, a multidisciplinary eligibility evaluation, and development of a family service plan. Once these steps are complete, the child begins receiving services based on their identified needs, White said.
Another reason is the state saw “a slight slippage” in child outcomes, White said.
This is the second straight year the federal education department notified Rhode Island as needing assistance with early intervention services. If any state, according to the department’s latest notice, is determined to need assistance for two straight years, the federal education secretary must either advise the state of available technical assistance and/or “identify [Rhode Island] as a high-risk grantee” and “impose specific conditions” on the state’s IDEA Part C grant award.
It is unclear what those specific conditions would be if the USDOE declared Rhode Island as a high-risk grantee. USDOE representatives did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment and White told PBN the RIEOHHS is “currently not aware” of any funding risks or other restrictions against the state based on this performance.
RIEOHHS, White says, has taken corrective action to improve state performance and staffing to address early intervention. Those include offering bonus payments via stipends made directly to current employees, sign-on bonuses for new staff, seeking therapeutic clinics willing to provide services in families’ homes, and providing COVID-19 relief funds for early intervention.
“Rhode Island received this corrective action, which requires us to seek assistance from OSEP’s TA centers, and we are doing this,” White said.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
