Child Find Federal Requirements
Both Part C and Part B, Section 619 of IDEA contain explicit requirements for states to actively identify children and determine their eligibility for services.
Part C
Regulations for Part C of IDEA require each state to have a comprehensive child find system for the purposes of identifying, locating, and evaluating all infants and toddlers with disabilities ages birth–2 as early as possible. The system must be consistent with Part B, and also meet additional requirements.
The lead agency—with the assistance of the state interagency coordinating council—ensures that the system is coordinated with all other major efforts to locate and identify young children by other state agencies and programs including:
- Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Programs;
- Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT);
- health;
- Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP);
- Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EDHI);
- education;
- Early Head Start;
- child protection and child welfare programs, including foster care and CAPTA;
- programs that provide services under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act; and
- child care programs, and tribal agencies.
Relevant regulations include:
- 34 CFR §303.21 — Infant or toddler with a disability
- 34 CFR §303.117 — Central directroy
- 34 CFR §303.301 — Public awareness program — information for parents
- 34 CFR §303.302 — Comprehensive child find system
- 34 CFR §303.303 — Referral procedures
Part B
Regulations for Part B of IDEA require states to have policies and procedures to ensure that all children with disabilities are identified, located, and evaluated, regardless of the severity of their disability. This includes children who are:
- living on an Indian reservation;
- migrant or homeless;
- wards of the state; or
- attending private schools.
Relevant regulations include:
- 34 CFR §300.8 — Child with a disability
- 34 CFR §300.111 — Child find