First Steps Listserv
Subject: U. S. Department of Education Verification Visit Results for First Steps (Part C)
Source: Heidi Atkins Lieberman, Assistant Commissioner
Intended Audience: System Point of Entry Directors, Service Coordinators, EI Providers and others interested in early intervention services for children ages birth to three (3).
Date: March 10, 2010
Missouri was one of 16 states to receive verification visits from the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) during the 2009-10 fiscal year. The on-site verification visit, conducted the week of September 28, 2009, was a way for OSEP to evaluate how Missouri uses general supervision, data collection, and fiscal management systems and to determine the extent to which they are effective in ensuring compliance and improving performance for our First Steps Program (Part C).
On February 22, 2010 we received the results of OSEP’s verification visit. I am pleased to report that all ten (10) critical elements used to guide OSEP’s evaluation of Missouri’s Part C general supervision, data collection and fiscal management systems were found to be reasonably designed to implement the requirements of IDEA with one exception: the suspension of services for non-payment of Family Cost Participation fees. As required, the DESE is preparing an Assurance Statement to OSEP assuring parents are provided with prior written notice, including information about parental rights and the State’s procedures for reviewing the parents’ ability to pay in the event of changed circumstances, upon the notification that early intervention services will be suspended, as required by Part C regulations.
The complete final report from OSEP can be accessed at http://www.dese.mo.gov/divspeced/Compliance/documents/bcvvltr09-mo.pdf.