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 - in field review October 28 - December 15, 2008. DEC invites your comments.
- DEC Position Statement on Developmental Delay as an Eligibility Category - adopted December 2005.
- Developmental
Delay: Review of Research and Future Directions - Proceedings Document
(PDF: 215kb) , Project Forum, NASDSE,
March 2001.
- 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.