First Steps History and Legislative Intent
(Adopted by the State Interagency Coordinating Council on November 19, 2004)
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), in cooperation with the Departments of Social Services, Mental Health, and Health and Senior Services, has joined with thousands of providers of early intervention services and parents across the state to implement Missouri’s system known as First Steps.
In 1989, with the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the U.S. Congress created the opportunity for states to partner with the U.S. Department of Education to create systems of early intervention for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. Since that time, Missouri has participated in this voluntary program.
In creating this system of services, the Congress found that there was an urgent need to:
- Enhance the development of infants and toddlers with disabilities and to minimize their potential for developmental delay.
- Reduce the educational costs to our society, including our nation’s schools, by minimizing the need for special education and related services after infants and toddlers with disabilities reach school age.
- Minimize the likelihood of institutionalization of individuals with disabilities and maximize the potential for their independently living in society.
- Enhance the capacity of families to meet the special needs of their infants and toddlers with disabilities.
- Enhance the capacity of state and local agencies and service providers to identify, evaluate, and meet the needs of historically underrepresented populations (minority, low-income, inner-city, and rural).
Congress also specified in the federal legislation the following roles for providers:
- Consult with parents, other service providers, and representatives of appropriate community agencies to ensure the effective provision of services in that area;
- Train parents and others regarding the provision of those services; and
- Participate in the multidisciplinary team’s assessment of the child and the child’s family, and in the development of integrated goals and outcomes for the IFSP.
Additional information regarding the regulations for Missouri First Steps can be found in the Part C State Plan (insert exact name and web) Missouri Regulations for Part C of IDEA /divspeced/Compliance/Part-C/stateplan/index.html.
For a continued overview of the First Steps system, please follow these links: