The Texas Collaborative Planning Process

The Texas Collaborative Planning Process

Please note: With the passage of P. L. 105-17, the Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997, the Texas ECI program revisited its policies and made minor revisions to accommodate the new provisions in the federal statute. Please see "Required Services" and "Service Options" sections of the Texas Policies and Procedures Manual (PDF: 1,426kb) for more information.

In Texas prior to 1992, half of the early intervention services for infants and toddlers were provided in center-based settings in which only children with disabilities were present. The Interagency Council on Texas Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) determined that full participation in Part C ultimately would mean that Texas would have to revise state policy to ensure that services were delivered in natural environments to the maximum extent appropriate. Services were being delivered based on service delivery models of local programs which had been in existence for long periods of time. The same service alternatives were not available for children in all parts of the state.

The Council asked the ECI Advisory Committee (State ICC) to examine the policy and service delivery issues related to the organization of the state system, service delivery models, and locations in which services were delivered. Its report was completed in September 1993, and included a recommendation to the Council to require all local programs to develop inclusion plans that demonstrated the provision of service delivery in natural and inclusive settings.

Parallel to this policy change and in order to better utilize limited ECI resources, the state began, in 1994, a process that resulted in the assignment of service area to one ECI provider. The assignment of each service area to a single provider required programs to enroll all eligible children in their service area and to make all services in the array available. This action eliminated specialization by disability, a service concept that ran counter to inclusion and natural environment philosophies. The Council adopted the recommendation and initiated a 4-year process to move the state system -- in which center-based services with other children with disabilities was the sole option for many children -- to a system in which services to over 27,000 children are delivered in natural and inclusive environments.

The process resulted in policies and expenditures that were intended to make the Texas philosophy about natural environments better understood. The new philosophy required changes in more than just where early intervention services were provided. New policies and funding mechanisms were needed. The new policies focused on partnering with families to integrate intervention into the families' daily routines. ECI believes that early intervention achievement of outcomes could only be accomplished when providers fully understood each component of the IFSP process.

Initially, many providers viewed the natural environment initiative as a move to close center-based or specialized facilities and as the newest "fad" in service delivery. Training and technical support for this initiative has allowed providers to recognize that natural environments embodies philosophical intent essential to a truly family-centered process. This family-centered process never removes the family from their natural environment but rather, works with the family to make their environment more responsive to the child's needs. Service providers are challenged to value the family's typical routine so that they make their supports and services "fit" the family instead of requiring the family "fit" the program. Because the implications of natural environment policies were so broad, policies regarding referral and intake, assessment, IFSP development, required services and options, and service coordination were revised.

Because the new policies required major philosophical and programmatic changes on the part of many providers, the state Part C office implemented an incremental process by which programs could achieve compliance with all new policies. The process required providers to develop and submit a natural environment plan in their FY 1997 funding application that detailed how they would achieve full compliance with all policies by September 1998. In the interim, all programs will be monitored according to their individual natural environments plan, which must address training needs, community development work, potential long-term resource needs, and strategies for addressing these needs. Training and technical assistance were provided to assist local providers in making program and philosophical changes.

Including stakeholders in the development of the policies and procedures and implementing an incremental natural environments compliance plan has resulted in changes in the Texas service delivery system beyond what was expected. Data shows that 95.5% of all services now are provided in natural environments and only 4% of services are provides in early intervention centers. Service providers, for the most part, have made monumental changes in their staffing patterns and program practices that typify the spirit and intent of the federal regulations and Texas policies and procedures.

(M. Elder, Executive Director, Texas ECI Program, personal communication, July 19, 1997)