[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 45, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 45CFR1308.4]

[Page 159-162]
 
                        TITLE 45--PUBLIC WELFARE
 
CHAPTER XIII--OFFICE OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 
                           AND HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 1308_HEAD START PROGRAM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS ON SERVICES FOR CHILDREN 
 
                   Subpart B_Disabilities Service Plan
 
Sec.  1308.4  Purpose and scope of disabilities service plan.


    (a) A Head Start grantee, or delegate agency, if appropriate, must 
develop a disabilities service plan providing strategies for meeting the 
special

[[Page 160]]

needs of children with disabilities and their parents. The purposes of 
this plan are to assure:
    (1) That all components of Head Start are appropriately involved in 
the integration of children with disabilities and their parents; and
    (2) That resources are used efficiently.
    (b) The plan must be updated annually.
    (c) The plan must include provisions for children with disabilities 
to be included in the full range of activities and services normally 
provided to all Head Start children and provisions for any modifications 
necessary to meet the special needs of the children with disabilities.
    (d) The Head Start grantee and delegate agency must use the 
disabilities service plan as a working document which guides all aspects 
of the agency's effort to serve children with disabilities. This plan 
must take into account the needs of the children for small group 
activities, for modifications of large group activities and for any 
individual special help.
    (e) The grantee or delegate agency must designate a coordinator of 
services for children with disabilities (disabilities coordinator) and 
arrange for preparation of the disabilities service plan and of the 
grantee application budget line items for services for children with 
disabilities. The grantee or delegate must ensure that all relevant 
coordinators, other staff and parents are consulted.
    (f) The disability service plan must contain:
    (1) Procedures for timely screening;
    (2) Procedures for making referrals to the LEA for evaluation to 
determine whether there is a need for special education and related 
services for a child, as early as the child's third birthday;
    (3) Assurances of accessibility of facilities; and
    (4) Plans to provide appropriate special furniture, equipment and 
materials if needed.
    (g) The plan, when appropriate, must address strategies for the 
transition of children into Head Start from infant/toddler programs (0-3 
years), as well as the transition from Head Start into the next 
placement. The plan must include preparation of staff and parents for 
the entry of children with severe disabilities into the Head Start 
program.
    (h) The grantee or delegate agency must arrange or provide special 
education and related services necessary to foster the maximum 
development of each child's potential and to facilitate participation in 
the regular Head Start program unless the services are being provided by 
the LEA or other agency. The plan must specify the services to be 
provided directly by Head Start and those provided by other agencies. 
The grantee or delegate agency must arrange for, provide, or procure 
services which may include, but are not limited to special education and 
these related services:
    (1) Audiology services, including identification of children with 
hearing loss and referral for medical or other professional attention; 
provision of needed rehabilitative services such as speech and language 
therapy and auditory training to make best use of remaining hearing; 
speech conservation; lip reading; determination of need for hearing aids 
and fitting of appropriate aids; and programs for prevention of hearing 
loss;
    (2) Physical therapy to facilitate gross motor development in 
activities such as walking prevent or slow orthopedic problems and 
improve posture and conditioning;
    (3) Occupational therapy to improve, develop or restore fine motor 
functions in activities such as using a fork or knife;
    (4) Speech or language services including therapy and use of 
assistive devices necessary for a child to develop or improve receptive 
or expressive means of communication;
    (5) Psychological services such as evaluation of each child's 
functioning and interpreting the results to staff and parents; and 
counseling and guidance services for staff and parents regarding 
disabilities;
    (6) Transportation for children with disabilities to and from the 
program and to special clinics or other service providers when the 
services cannot be provided on-site. Transportation includes adapted 
buses equipped to accommodate wheelchairs or other such devices if 
required; and

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    (7) Assistive technology services or devices necessary to enable a 
child to improve functions such as vision, mobility or communication to 
meet the objectives in the IEP.
    (i) The disabilities service plan must include options to meet the 
needs and take into consideration the strengths of each child based upon 
the IEP so that a continuum of services available from various agencies 
is considered.
    (j) The options may include:
    (1) Joint placement of children with other agencies;
    (2) Shared provision of services with other agencies;
    (3) Shared personnel to supervise special education services, when 
necessary to meet State requirements on qualifications;
    (4) Administrative accommodations such as having two children share 
one enrollment slot when each child's IEP calls for part-time service 
because of their individual needs; and
    (5) Any other strategies to be used to insure that special needs are 
met. These may include:
    (i) Increased staff;
    (ii) Use of volunteers; and
    (iii) Use of supervised students in such fields as child 
development, special education, child psychology, various therapies and 
family services to assist the staff.
    (k) The grantee must ensure that the disabilities service plan 
addresses grantee efforts to meet State standards for personnel serving 
children with disabilities by the 1994-95 program year. Special 
education and related services must be provided by or under the 
supervision of personnel meeting State qualifications by the 1994-95 
program year.
    (l) The disabilities service plan must include commitment to 
specific efforts to develop interagency agreements with the LEAs and 
other agencies within the grantee's service area. If no agreement can be 
reached, the grantee must document its efforts and inform the Regional 
Office. The agreements must address:
    (1) Head Start participation in the public agency's Child Find plan 
under Part B of IDEA;
    (2) Joint training of staff and parents;
    (3) Procedures for referral for evaluations, IEP meetings and 
placement decisions;
    (4) Transition;
    (5) Resource sharing;
    (6) Head Start commitment to provide the number of children 
receiving services under IEPs to the LEA for the LEA Child Count report 
by December 1 annually; and
    (7) Any other items agreed to by both parties. Grantees must make 
efforts to update the agreements annually.
    (m) The disabilities coordinator must work with the director in 
planning and budgeting of grantee funds to assure that the special needs 
identified in the IEP are fully met; that children most in need of an 
integrated placement and of special assistance are served; and that the 
grantee maintains the level of fiscal support to children with 
disabilities consistent with the Congressional mandate to meet their 
special needs.
    (n) The grant application budget form and supplement submitted with 
applications for funding must reflect requests for adequate resources to 
implement the objectives and activities in the disability services plan 
and fulfill the requirements of these Performance Standards.
    (o) The budget request included with the application for funding 
must address the implementation of the disabilities service plan. 
Allowable expenditures include:
    (1) Salaries. Allowable expenditures include salaries of a full or 
part-time coordinator of services for children with disabilities 
(disabilities coordinator), who is essential to assure that programs 
have the core capability to recruit, enroll, arrange for the evaluation 
of children, provide or arrange for services to children with 
disabilities and work with Head Start coordinators and staff of other 
agencies which are working cooperatively with the grantee. Salaries of 
special education resource teachers who can augment the work of the 
regular teacher are an allowable expenditure.
    (2) Evaluation of children. When warranted by screening or 
rescreening results, teacher observation or parent request, arrangements 
must be made for evaluation of the child's development and functioning. 
If, after referral for

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evaluation to the LEA, evaluations are not provided by the LEA, they are 
an allowable expenditure.
    (3) Services. Program funds may be used to pay for services which 
include special education, related services, and summer services deemed 
necessary on an individual basis and to prepare for serving children 
with disabilities in advance of the program year.
    (4) Making services accessible. Allowable costs include elimination 
of architectural barriers which affect the participation of children 
with disabilities, in conformance with 45 CFR part 84, Nondiscrimination 
on the Basis of Handicap in Program and Activities Receiving or 
Benefiting from Federal Financial Assistance and with the Americans with 
Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101). The Americans with 
Disabilities Act requires that public accommodations including private 
schools and day care centers may not discriminate on the basis of 
disability. Physical barriers in existing facilities must be removed if 
removal is readily achievable (i.e., easily accomplishable and able to 
be carried out without much difficulty or expense). If not, alternative 
methods of providing the services must be offered, if those methods are 
readily achievable. Alterations must be accessible. When alterations to 
primary function areas are made, an accessible path of travel to the 
altered areas (and the bathrooms, telephones and drinking fountains 
serving that area) must be provided to the extent that the added 
accessibility costs are not disproportionate to the overall cost of the 
alterations. Program funds may be used for ramps, remodeling or 
modifications such as grab bars or railings. Grantees must meet new 
statutory and regulatory requirements that are enacted.
    (5) Transportation. Transportation is a related service to be 
provided to children with disabilities. When transportation to the 
program site and to special services can be accessed from other 
agencies, it should be used. When it is not available, program funds are 
to be used to provide it. Special buses or use of taxis are allowable 
expenses if there are no alternatives available and they are necessary 
to enable a child to be served.
    (6) Special Equipment and Materials. Purchase or lease of special 
equipment and materials for use in the program and home is an allowable 
program expense. Grantees must make available assistive devices 
necessary to make it possible for a child to move, communicate, improve 
functioning or address objectives which are listed in the child's IEP.
    (7) Training and Technical Assistance. Increasing the abilities of 
staff to meet the special needs of children with disabilities is an 
allowable expense. Appropriate expenditures may include but are not 
limited to:
    (i) Travel and per diem expenses for disabilities coordinators, 
teachers and parents to attend training and technical assistance events 
related to special services for children with disabilities;
    (ii) The provision of substitute teaching staff to enable staff to 
attend training and technical assistance events;
    (iii) Fees for courses specifically related to the requirements of 
the disabilities service plan, a child's IEP or State certification to 
serve children with disabilities; and
    (iv) Fees and expenses for training/technical assistance consultants 
if such help is not available from another provider at no cost.