History of OSEP-Funded Early Childhood Projects

The almost 40-year history of discretionary projects has been a rich and productive one. Also, as we'll see, they have evolved from a series of discrete projects to a more general collection of targeted efforts.

The Handicapped Children's Early Education Program (HCEEP) — renamed the Early Education Program for Children with Disabilities (EEPCD) in 1990 — was established in 1968 with a mandate to set up model demonstration projects for the delivery of special education and related services to young children with disabilities, from birth through the third grade. In the Congressional hearings that led to passage of the legislation establishing HCEEP, three major needs were identified for early intervention programs:

1. locally designed ways to serve infants, young children, and their families;
2. more specific information on effective programs and techniques; and
3. distribution of visible, replicable models throughout the country.

Two major assumptions guided this program. First, only through early intervention with tested and successful program models can the highest quality services be provided for children with disabilities. Second, the program should provide models of services rather than be a direct service delivery program. HCEEP was intended to provide an opportunity for any public or private nonprofit organization to develop and demonstrate high-quality services for a selected group of children and their families. It also was intended to provide an opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of locally designed approaches and disseminate those ideas across the nation to other agencies that might choose to use the model rather than develop their own program.

Activities during the almost 40 years have been multifaceted. HCEEP began with 24 demonstration projects in 1968 and was extended in 1972 to include outreach projects that would disseminate proven procedures and models, or components of models. Research institutes were added in 1977 to develop and analyze new information about early intervention and methods for enhancing services. During the 1980s experimental projects, inservice training projects, research projects on early childhood program features, and information management projects were added.

Although wide geographic distribution of these projects has been emphasized throughout the program's existence, cohesiveness has been maintained through an emphasis on interagency and interproject networking. This cooperative approach, facilitated by national technical assistance, has fostered a cohesive national program and has helped to develop knowledge and expertise in early childhood special education. To help projects and states achieve their objectives in early childhood services, OSEP has funded technical assistance since 1971, through the Technical Assistance Development System (TADS), the Western States Technical Assistance Resource (WESTAR), the State Technical Assistance Resource Team (START), and the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance System/Center (NECTAS, 1987-2001 and NECTAC, 2001-2011).

The passage of P.L. 99-457 and subsequent amendments to IDEA (P.L. 101-476, P.L. 102-119, P.L. 105-17 and P.L.108-446) has had a significant impact upon HCEEP activities, one of which was the change in the program's name to the Early Education Program for Children with Disabilities (EEPCD) in 1990. This discretionary program was significantly changed by the Amendments to IDEA in 1997, and EEPCD is no longer a unique, freestanding program. Grants under several authorities for IDEA may focus on young children. With the formation of the Institute of Education Sciences in 2002, research projects with an early childhood focus are also funded under the National Center for Special Education Research.

Increasingly, OSEP's early childhood initiatives have placed emphasis on providing support to states in the development and enhancement of comprehensive services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, birth through age 2, and their families, and in the expansion of services for children with disabilities, ages 3 through 5, and their families. Discretionary Grantees are encouraged to coordinate their project activities with the state agency personnel responsible for administering these programs.

NECTAC maintains information on this Web site about the OSEP-funded discretionary projects that focus on early childhood and selected projects funded by the Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences.