Special Education-Grants for Infants and Families

To provide grants to States to assist them to implement and maintain a Statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary, interagency system to make available early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their fami

The Grants for Infants and Families program (Part C) awards formula grants to the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Department of the Interior, and Outlying Areas to assist them in implementing statewide systems of coordinated, comprehensive, multidisciplinary, interagency programs and making early intervention services available to children with disabilities, aged birth through two, and their families. Under the program, states are responsible for ensuring that appropriate early intervention services are made available to all eligible birth-through-two-years-old with disabilities and their families, including Indian children and families who reside on reservations geographically located in the state.

Eligible applicants are the following 57 entities: the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Bureau of Indian Education within the U.S. Department of the Interior and the following four outlying area jurisdictions: Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The beneficiaries are infants and toddlers with disabilities aged birth through 2 and their families and at the State's option, children with disabilities ages three through five and their families.

Funds are used to assist States in implementing and maintaining their Statewide systems of early intervention services. Funding may also be used to provide direct services for eligible infants and toddlers with disabilities aged birth through 2 and their families that are not otherwise paid for by other public or private sources, to expand and improve services for infants and toddlers with disabilities that are otherwise available and to provide a free appropriate public education, in accordance with Part B of IDEA, to children with disabilities from their third birthday to the beginning of the following school year. States also have the discretion to provide services to infants and toddlers who are at risk of having substantial developmental delays if they do not receive appropriate early intervention services. At their discretion, States may continue to serve children with disabilities under this program beyond age three until the school year following the child's third, fourth, or fifth birthday or until such children enter or are eligible to enter kindergarten or elementary school, if such children are otherwise eligible for services under the Preschool Grants Program (84.173), and previously received services under the Part C program. 20 U.S.C. 1432(5) and 34 CFR §303.211

Grants are issued each fiscal year. The Federal obligation period is a 15-month period from July 1 through September 30 of the following fiscal year. States have an additional 12-month period to obligate their funds.

Preapplication coordination is required.

State lead agencies designated by the Governor are eligible applicants and must submit an approved application for IDEA Part C funds.

Once the State application is approved, a grant award representing the total State allocation is forwarded to the State lead agency.

The time for reviewing the State's application is determined by the Education Department General Administrative Regulations or EDGAR (in 34 CFR §76.703) (which requires that States have as much time to prepare the application as Education has to review the application) and generally ranges from 45 to 90 days.

The Department must not take final action to disapprove an application until the State is provided reasonable notice and an opportunity for a hearing. The State must request a hearing no later than 30 days after it receives notice of the proposed final determination that the State is not eligible to receive its award.