N.Y. Public Health Law § 2554: Local early intervention coordinating councils

§ 2554. Local early intervention coordinating councils. 1. A local

early intervention coordinating council shall be established in each

municipality. The council shall consist of members appointed by the

early intervention official. At least four members of each council shall

be parents of infants or toddlers with disabilities or of children aged

three through twelve with disabilities. Each council shall also include

at least three public or private providers of early intervention

services, at least one child care provider or representative of child

care providers, the chief executive officers or their designees of the

municipality's departments of social services, health and mental

hygiene, a representative from the local developmental disabilities

services office and a representative from one or more committees on

preschool special education of local school districts in the

municipality. A local body which has been previously constituted may

serve this purpose if it has the appropriate members. The commissioner,

in his or her discretion, may waive one or more of the foregoing

membership composition requirements in those municipalities where such

requirements cannot reasonably be met.

2. The local early intervention coordinating council shall meet, in

open forum, at least four times a year for its first two years of

existence.

3. The council shall advise the early intervention official regarding:

(a) the planning for, delivery and assessment of the early

intervention services for eligible children and their families,

including the transition from early intervention services to services

and programs under section forty-four hundred ten of the education law

and other early childhood programs;

(b) the identification of service delivery reforms needed to promote

the availability of early intervention services within natural

environments;

(c) the coordination of public and private agencies; and

(d) such other matters relating to early intervention policies and

procedures within the municipality as are brought to its attention by

parents, providers, public agencies or others.

4. The council will report annually to the early intervention official

on the adequacy of the early intervention system to ensure the

availability of family centered, coordinated services; and interface

with other existing planning bodies that serve like populations.