Building a Family-Centered Early Intervention System.

This paper examines the legal mandates as well as the definitions and indicators for a family-centered early childhood system of care for children with special needs. Legislation discussed includes the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant (Title V of the Social Security Act). Various definitions of family-centered early intervention systems are presented. The sets of standards and indicators of quality care developed by the Association for the Care of Children's Health, New England Serve, the Family Resource Coalition, and the Consortium of Family Organizations are described, and examples of indicators are listed in the areas of individualized services, health care professional and team characteristics, health care agency or facility responsibilities, state health department responsibilities, and guidelines for community and societal supports. The paper concludes with five recommendations for assuring a family-centered early intervention system. (Contains 27 references.) (JDD)