Rita Furlow, Senior Policy Analyst with the Maine Children's Alliance

The Governor's supplemental budget proposes significant changes for responsibility and oversight of how educational services are provided to young children with disabilities in Maine. For many years, proposals have been submitted to change Child Development Services (CDS), the state’s birth to five system for young children with developmental delays and disabilities. It appears that 2024 may be the year that finally delivers a redesigned system.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the federal law that governs how states and school districts provide early intervention services and special education and related services for children with disabilities from birth to age 21. [1] IDEA authorizes federal grants to states, and through them, local school districts, to provide a “free appropriate public education” (FAPE) to eligible children with disabilities. The law provides partial funding and sets conditions for that funding to ensure the civil rights of students.

There are four parts to the IDEA statute. [2] Part A of the law includes the general provisions, purpose, and definitions. Programs under Part B of the law cover children from ages three to 21. Within Part B, Section 619 of the statute includes provisions specific to serving preschool children ages three to five. Part C of IDEA covers grants to support early intervention services for infants and toddlers, ages birth to age three. Finally, Part D governs discretionary grants to support state personnel development, technology, parent training and information centers (such as Maine Parent Federation), and technical assistance.

The process of locating, identifying, and evaluating children with disabilities and delays to ensure they receive services under the law is referred to as “child find.” Under IDEA, the state entity or school district responsible for “child find” has an affirmative duty to identify and screen children who may need early intervention [3] and/or special education and related services. [4] Children who are suspected of having a disability or developmental delay should be referred for an evaluation to determine if they are eligible for early intervention/special education services.

Members of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee of the Maine Legislature have held numerous hearings and work sessions to consider the Governor’s proposal. This included several presentations from Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin and her staff, a public hearing, and committee work sessions in February and March. The committee agreed to use the language proposed in the Governor’s supplemental budget as the basis for a bill the committee would use to further develop a legislative proposal. LD 345, An Act Regarding Educational Policies and Programs (sponsored by Rep. Brennan) is the concept draft being used for this purpose. A draft of the bill was released on Wednesday, March 21 to subscribers to the Education Committee listserv, and will be reviewed by the Education Committee on Thursday, March 22 ^nd .

Highlights of the proposed legislation developed by the Committee include the following:

• Beginning July 1, 2028, all school administrative units (SAUs) will be responsible for child find and FAPE for eligible children under IDEA Part B;
• CDS regional sites will continue, but transition to regional support and service hubs that will support school districts. The nine regional CDS sites will transition to match the nine school superintendent districts. CDS regional sites will continue to support children under the age of three in Part C early intervention services;
• Creation of a funding formula outside of the Essential Program and Services (EPS) formula that will fund services at 100% of the state share with no local contribution;
• The adoption of an “Extended Part C Option” under IDEA. This provision allows families to keep their eligible child in Part C services until age four. The child would continue to receive services through an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), instead of moving to an Individualized Education Program (IEP) under Part B;
• Implementation will begin on July 1, 2024. The Commissioner of Education may approve SAUs that wish to voluntarily assume “child find” and ensure FAPE for eligible children under IDEA Part B for children ages three through five. These “early adopters” will work with the Department of Education and CDS regional sites on community readiness plans, professional development, and the creation of a memoranda of understand (MOUs) to guide implementation;
• Language to clarify that CDS is responsible for 100% of the cost of compensatory services. When there is a failure to provide FAPE, children should receive future services to compensate for the lack of past services. Families of children who did not receive services due by CDS can request compensatory services;
• Creation of a centralized Medicaid/MaineCare billing system to assist schools with billing for eligible children;
• The option for regional CDS hubs to appoint parent advisory committees in each of the nine regions to support engagement with parents;
• Descriptions of requirements and principles of the regional support and service hubs that will replace regional CDS sites;
• Convening a work group to expand Maine’s Part C eligibility criteria;
• Description of the development of information of retirement options for CDS employees related to the Maine Public Employers’ Retirement System;
• Funding to support the CDS Pathways Project established by CDS to expand and support the early childhood special education workforce; and
• Continuation of reporting requirements for the Department of Education to mirror existing CDS reporting.

The legislation proposed by the administration and further developed by the Education Committee is the strongest proposal we have seen to reform Maine’s early childhood special education and early intervention system. Commissioner Pender Makin reached out to stakeholders in January to discuss the legislation and presented her plan to members of the Education Committee in early February. The addition of language relating to these changes in the Governor’s supplemental budget proposal was also an indication of the administration’s commitment to making changes in 2024. Additional presentations from the Department of Education early in the legislative process have allowed members of the Education Committee to schedule multiple work sessions to further discuss the proposals and develop important amendments that improve the bill.

We are pleased to see strong language to protect children who have not received the special education and related services they need under their IEPs. We are hopeful the language will clearly define the requirements relating to compensatory education and ensure that families can more clearly and easily access needed services.

The transition of CDS regional sites to regional support and service hubs will ensure that staff with expertise in early childhood special education will continue to support children and school districts. We think these hubs could ultimately serve as important links between parents, early childhood providers, and school districts, by filling an important gap in local and regional access to a broader range of early childhood services.

The provision to require the state to develop a centralized billing system to better utilize Medicaid is a critical element for future stability of the system. For too many years the CDS system has been underfunded. As was noted in an independent report from the Public Consulting Group (PCG) on CDS in 2020 , Maine has failed to develop an adequate system to permit CDS and school districts to bill Medicaid/MaineCare for necessary services. As the report stated, “No matter the placement, or designation of lead agency, one theme is consistent across high performing state ECSE programs, and that is adequate funding. The current funding structure leaves federal funds on the table, untouched, which could help offset costs paid by the state for these services.” [5]

While there are some improvements that could be made to strengthen the legislation, we recognize that this will only be the beginning of the transfer of services and responsibility for preschool education from CDS to public schools. It is inevitable that additional changes will be needed as the program is transferred and implemented over the next four years. New legislation will be submitted over time to make these changes.

The proposed legislation almost exclusively addresses changes to Part B services for children ages three to five. Future legislation will still need to address improvements for Part C services for infants and toddlers. Too few children, particularly infants, are identified early in Maine. As was noted in the PCG report, our state has one of the strictest eligibility requirements for Part C services in the country. While the legislation will create a work group to examine these issues, we are disappointed there were no specific changes to amend the state’s eligibility requirement for Part C services.

We hope to see clarifying information about the provision of services for three and four-year-old children in early childhood placements. It is clear that the majority of three-year old children will need to be served in existing early childhood programs. Yet in many parts of the state, there is a lack of available child care options . A 2023 joint policy statement from the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services provides recommendations on how states can create inclusive settings for young children through coordination between the state, schools, Head Start, and local child care programs.

It will be necessary to strengthen the governance of Child Development Services. CDS is directed by staff who are Department of Education employees. Yet, the organization is a state intermediate education unit that lacks a governing board. Creating a board that is appointed by members of the Legislature and the Governor would provide accountability, oversight, and strengthen the organization as it changes its focus. We would also like to see additional parent participation on the federally required state Interagency Coordinating Council. Future data collection, monitoring, and reporting needs to be improved and streamlined to provide accessible information for the public and policy makers.

Most importantly, parent input needs to be considered and their experiences should inform this and future reforms. While we were pleased to see the inclusion of regional parent groups as a part of the legislation, the creation of these groups is only optional in each region. There was no opportunity for members of the public to comment on or address this part of the proposal, as it was only developed during the final hours of discussion by the Committee.

We want to acknowledge and thank the numerous staff at Child Development Services who have spent many years supporting children with disabilities and their families. The lack of funding and support from multiple administrations over the past 20 years has resulted in a system that over time has failed to serve many children and families. It is important to separate systems from the individual people who do their best to work within them.

We appreciate that Commissioner Makin provided information to the Committee early in the legislative session and reached out to meaningfully engage stakeholders. Unfortunately, the public, particularly parents of young children with disabilities, deserved a better public process from the Maine Legislature. Without a full two weeks' notice of a public hearing and access to supporting documents, it was even more challenging than usual for parents and providers to participate and ensure their perspectives and insight were considered in the development of this legislation.

We urge the Legislature to improve a good piece of legislation by ensuring that parents in every region of the state can participate in a regional committee to advise how this important system for children with disabilities can be improved. The Legislature should require that parent participation be a key element of these reforms and provide the financial resources to support parent access and input in the nine regional hubs.

We will post updates and links to the proposed legislation over the next few weeks. We encourage you to find and reach out to your legislator or reach out to members of the Education Committee to share your support or concerns about the proposal. If you would like to see a copy of the current amended bill being considered, email outreach@mekids.org. We anticipate the Legislature will wrap up their work – including this legislation - in mid-April.

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[1] 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. (2020).

[2] The U.S. Department of Education provides a user-friendly version of the IDEA statute and regulations on their website. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/statuteregulations/

[3] 20 U.S.C. § 1435(a)(5)(2020).

[4] 20 U.S.C § 1412(a)(3)(2020).

[5] Public Consulting Group, Maine Early Childhood Special Education Independent Review, Final Phase One Report, October 30, 2020, https://legislature.maine.gov/doc/4609