Referral Requirements under CAPTA and IDEA

Conference Calls on Vulnerable Young Children hosted by OSEP's Part C Identification Community of Practice and the NECTAC Vulnerable Populations Initiative. Several of these specifically discuss states' experiences with referrals of children from child welfare to the early intervention system.

IDEA 2004 Early Identification and Child Find- Part 1, presented at the December 2005 OSEP National Early Childhood Conference, reviews the requirements of IDEA 2004 and relevant federal legislation (i.e. Child Abuse, Protection & Treatment Act, McKinney-Vento Act) that relate to child find and public awareness efforts, for Part C and Section 619 of Part B.

Enrolling Young Children Who Have Been Maltreated into Part C presented at the same conference describes findings about rates of developmental problems among children under the age of three who have been maltreated and strategies for promoting collaboration between child welfare and Part C agencies.

NECTAC's Fact Sheet: Vulnerable Young Children (May 2008) (PDF: 253kb) - This fact sheet provides data on infants, toddlers and young children who are experiencing high stress as a result of risk factors such as substantiated abuse or neglect, foster care placement, homelessness, exposure to family violence and prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol. (posted 5/16/2008)

NECTAC's Minibibliography on The Impact of Abuse, Neglect and Foster Care Placement on Infants, Toddlers and Young Children (2005) (PDF: 131kb)

NECTAC's Minibibliography on Policy Issues and Intervention Strategies for Young Children Prenatally Exposed to Drugs or Alcohol: Selected Resources (2005) (PDF: 108kb)

Implications of the Referral of Children Under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) Conference Call Series, September - October 2004

Project Forum funded by OSEP at the National Association of State Directors of Education published:

• Quick Turn Around (QTA) Brief on Foster Care and Children with Disabilities February 2005, (PDF: 177kb)
• Brief Policy Analysis, Implications of the CAPTA Requirement for Referrals from Child Welfare to Part C January 2007 (PDF: 128kb)
• Brief Policy Analysis, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Several State Initiatives January 2007 (PDF: 156kb)

Other OSEP projects focusing on child find screening for infants and toddlers who are environmentally at risk:

• Interagency Collaboration for Colorado Part C Child Find
• ACES: Access for Children to Early Services

The Children's Bureau at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families issues an annual report on national information about child maltreatment known to States' Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies. The Child Maltreatment 2007 report is now available online.

The Children's Bureau has an Information Memorandum on Modifications to the CAPTA State Grant Program by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-36). See also the Child Welfare Policy Manual, section 2.1I on CAPTA, Assurances and Requirements, Referrals to IDEA, Part C, for questions and answers related to this policy.

The Children's Bureau has established a Child Welfare Information Gateway. This gateway consolidates and expands upon the services formerly provided by the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse to provide easy access to programs, research, statistics, laws and policies, and training resources on a wide range of topics, including child abuse prevention, family preservation and support. See the Gateway's Web page on Child Welfare & IDEA Part C. See also, Long Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect (2008) and Addressing the Needs of Young Children in Child Welfare: Part C - Early Intervention Services (2007). The Children's Bureau funds a number of National Resource Centers relevant to this topic.

In 2005, the Children's Bureau awarded four 5-year grants to develop model policies and procedures on the provisions of CAPTA related to substance-exposed infants. Funded projects are: (1) Denver Department of Human Services: Colorado Systems Integration Model for Infants (C-SIMI) Project; (2) Massachusetts Department of Public Health: A Helping Hand: Mother to Mother; (3) St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center: Healthy Connections Substance-Exposed Newborns Program; and (4) University of Oregon: Family Early Advocacy and Treatment. For more information, see Implementing CAPTA Requirements to Help Substance-Exposed Newborns (2008)

The National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW) is an initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services and jointly funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Children's Bureau's Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN).

• Substance-Exposed Infants: State Responses to the Problem. (2009). NCSACW.
  This report provides a review and analysis of States’ policies regarding issues such as prevention, intervention, identification, and treatment of prenatal substance exposure, including services for the infant, the mother, and the family.

The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, is a multi-year national study of children who are at risk of abuse or neglect or are in the child welfare system. NSCAW reports make available for the first time nationally representative longitudinal data from first-hand reports on children, parents, other caregivers, caseworkers and teachers involved with the child welfare system.

The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health, with funding from the federal Administration for Children and Families, addresses child welfare issues, linking with other organizations, to strengthen mental health services for children and families, and to promote stronger partnerships with families in the child welfare system. Publications, products and conference calls are available on this site, including A Family's Guide to the Child Welfare System (2005), a resource to answer questions families face when they become involved with the child welfare system.

The AAP's National Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent Care has developed the following policy statements related to children in foster care: Health Care of Young Children in Foster Care (2002) and Developmental Issues for Young Children in Foster Care (2000). See also the AAP's Web page on Child Abuse and Neglect and the AAP's policy statements on Maltreatment of Children with Disabilities (2007) and Evaluation of Suspected Child Physical Abuse (2007).

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University has published webcasts and presentations online from the National Symposium on Early Childhood Science and Policy, which was held on June 26 - 27, 2008. Topics addressed include the impact of adverse early experiences on brain development, the characteristics of effective early childhood programs, delivering high-value services to vulnerable young children, and more.

The Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED) has published its final report, Developmental Status and Early Intervention Service Needs of Maltreated Children (April 2008), which provides information on the developmental status and early intervention service needs of children under age three who are substantiated for maltreatment. It is based on an analysis of the National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study (NEILS) and the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW).

The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) provides public policy, research, and advocacy; information and training on Indian child welfare; and community development services to a broad national audience including tribal governments and programs, state child welfare agencies, and other organizations, agencies, and professionals interested in the field of Indian child welfare. NICWA is the only national Indian organization, either public or private, that is focused on child abuse and neglect issues that impact Indian children and families. NICWA also works to support compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 and other key legislation to support American Indian children and families.

The Urban Institute has published a policy brief, Vulnerable Infants and Toddlers in Four Service Systems (2007), which examines the characteristics of vulnerable young children in four service systems: Early Head Start; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; the Child Welfare System; and the IDEA Part C Early Intervention Program. Data suggest that the children and families in these systems have notable similarities. The authors suggest that policy initiatives to support young children’s development might benefit from integrating common lessons from the different systems' research findings.

ZERO TO THREE: the National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families, in collaboration with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED) has released a literature review entitled Developmental Problems of Maltreated Children and Early Intervention Options for Maltreated Children (2007), which examines common developmental problems that occur as a result of maltreatment in infants and toddlers under the age of 3 and the positive impact of early intervention for these vulnerable young children. The ZERO TO THREE Public Policy Center has published an article entitled From Science to Public Policy: Early Intervention for Abused and Neglected Infants and Toddlers (2006) and also provides fact sheets, promising practices and other publications on child abuse and neglect. ZERO TO THREE’s Court Teams for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers Project focuses on developing a coordinated response to improve outcomes for very young children in foster care.