State and local efforts at interagency collaboration for handicapped children are examined in a report that first describes the mandates of P.L. 94-142, The Education For All Handicapped Children Act. Effective approaches to state-level interagency collaboration in Louisiana, Delaware, Maine, New Jersey, Michigan, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,…

The report details accomplishments of Texas's Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program and describes the program's interagency organization and services. The history of early intervention in Texas is traced and the need for early intervention documented. Interagency cooperation among the departments of health, mental health and mental…

Children with serious mental or emotional disorders require a range of services and supports, as do their families. Yet fragmentation of services and conflicting program rules have long impeded children's and families' access to needed care. This issue brief examines how federal programs and rules have contributed to this fragmentation and…

This booklet focuses on the role of interagency agreements in facilitating the transition of young children and their families from early intervention services to preschool services as children turn 3 years of age. Interagency agreements can be viewed as an "invisible brace" supporting families and staff as they consider many issues in moving from…

The Partnership for Rural Improvement (PRI) designs and tests methods of creating and strengthening cooperation among providers and between providers and users of rural public services. PRI has defined six types of collaboration (voluntary, involuntary, formal, informal, direct, and indirect) and strives for voluntary collaboration among agencies,…

The document reports results of a project by the Minnesota University Affiliated Program to develop a comprehensive description of current case management practices serving persons with developmental disabilities. While multiple sources were surveyed, county case managers, case manager supervisors, and county directors of human service agencies…

This paper discusses the importance of interagency coordination in developing services for young children with handicaps and their families. It suggests strategies to improve the functioning of interagency coordinating councils by considering council membership, role definition, goal commitment, vision of the early intervention system, and use of…

The report describes a regionalized system of community based child health centers developed in Iowa to provide coordinated secondary level health services for children with chronic illness and handicapping conditions. The system is based on two principles: (1) Communities will be given the responsibility for determining which health services are…

To help improve nutrition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides nutrition education through five of its programs: Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP); Food Stamp Program (FSP); Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); National School Lunch Program (NLP); and Child and Adult Care…

The transition of children between the two programs of Public Law 99-457, serving children aged birth through two and age three through five, can impact on state administration and local agency administration of the programs. Recommendations are provided for facilitating the family's and child's transition and ensuring continuity in services.…

This paper notes developments in supported employment practices and the manner in which support organizations, employees with disabilities, and companies interact. The paper then reconceptualizes supported employment and the role of employers. The reconceptualized approach involves such techniques as extending support to employer personnel and…

The executive summary reports on a project to determine the prevalence of disability among American Indians, to identify special problems of American Indians related to vocational rehabilitation, and to survey the extent of cooperative efforts among programs conducted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The summary contains the following…

A survey of 29 federally funded agencies engaged in transition education Inter-Agency Agreements (IAAs) found that planning activities are important in forging IAAs, implementation of IAAs depends upon local initiatives, and collection of information about service overlap and service gaps was considered to be an important activity. (JDD)

This report presents the methodology and findings of a survey of state coordinators implementing Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The survey, conducted to examine the nature and scope of interagency coordination efforts, was completed and returned by 38 coordinators. Nine areas of coordination are addressed: major…

This document reports on the proceedings of a forum on special education, called by Alberta's Minister of Education. The forum was intended to present Alberta Education's preliminary position on the integration of students with special needs and solicit feedback, review concerns raised in the Special Education Review Action Plan, and provide ideas…