Part B, Section 619 Eligibility

The IDEA Amendments of 1997 expanded the age range for which a state might apply the term "developmental delay" from ages 3 through 5 to ages 3 through 9. The regulations further clarified that the age range included any subset of the age range. OSEP's Issue Brief on Developmental Delay answers questions about the implementation of the change. The most recent reauthorization, the IDEA Improvement Act of 2004, clarified that the age range for developmental delay is ages 3 through 9, or any subset of that range, including ages 3 through 5.

State eligibility policies for young children under Part B, ages 3 through 5 and beyond, where noted, are summarized in Eligibility Policies and Practices for Young Children Under Part B of IDEA (PDF: 189kb) (2007). This NECTAC Notes paper includes a table with state by state policies including the use of "developmental delay".

NECTAC routinely updates this information. State Section 619 Coordinators are asked to e-mail us with changes.

Other Resources on this Topic:

• Disability Categories: State Terminology, Definitions & Eligibility Criteria (PDF: 1,389kb) Project Forum, NASDSE, February 2004
• DEC Concept Paper on Developmental Delay as an Eligibility Category (PDF: 334kb) adopted November 2001.
• Developmental Delay: Review of Research and Future Directions - Proceedings Document (PDF: 215kb) , Project Forum, NASDSE, March 2001.
• DEC Position Statement on Developmental Delay as an Eligibility Category (PDF: 145kb) adopted December 2005.
• Louisiana's Developmental Delay Pilot Study (2000) -- links to power point presentation and summary of the study.
• The Implications of Culture on Developmental Delay. (1999) ERIC Digest E589.
• New Mexico's TA Document for the Category of Developmentally Delayed and Use of Professional Judgment (PDF: 1,796kb) (1999) -- Posted with the permission of María Landázuri, former 619 Co-Coordinator for the New Mexico Department of Education.
• Section 619 of Part B of IDEA Child Count Tables: Child Count data is one measure that can assist states in determining performance related to early identification and provision of services to children with disabilities, ages 3-5 years. This data is available for several fiscal years and the reports provide data on the number and percentage of children ages 3-5 served by disability and race/ethnicity.