Narrative Description of Indicator

To report on the percent of infants and toddlers who receive early intervention services primarily in natural environments, MSDE generated a report from the statewide database, which calculated the frequency of services delivered in all settings for all eligible children with IFSPs on 10/1/21. In addition, MSDE reviewed a report of all services that were not provided in natural environments to determine the presence of justifications on IFSPs and to determine whether the justifications for not providing services in the natural environment were based on the needs of the child.
 
In FFY 2021, the State met its target of 96.00%, achieving 99.19% on this indicator. 23 out of 24 LITPs achieved the State target. The State improved performance on this indicator over time, achieving 98.53% in FFY 2019 and 99.67% in FFY 2020. 
 
Achievement of the target, as well as progress on this indicator, was accomplished by requiring LITPs to complete improvement plans, by providing trainings for LITPs which emphasized increasing the inclusion of infants and toddlers with disabilities in community programs and by aligning IFSP decision-making with supports that enhance the provision of services in the natural environment (NE). Another strategy was the statewide promotion of content on the Elevate Maryland website (elevates.marylandpublicschools.org), including tutorials on evaluation/assessment and IFSP development and implementation. These tutorials include lessons on how to incorporate the NE and functional practices in evaluation/assessment and IFSP development and implementation. MSDE provided technical assistance to LITPs on how to write appropriate justifications when services were not provided in natural environments.