California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent ResolutionNo. 77


Introduced by Assembly Member Mark Stone

May 20, 2015


Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 77—Relative to California Early Intervention Services Act.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 77, as introduced, Mark Stone. California Early Intervention Services Act.

This measure would recognize that every child who needs comprehensive health and early intervention services and supports in order to achieve his or her developmental potential have those services easily accessible, sufficient, responsive, timely, and of high quality. The measure would further urge the Legislature to leverage existing efforts and statutes to ensure an accountable, results-oriented, and coordinated network of resources in order to provide multidisciplinary early identification and intervention services and supports to California infants and toddlers.

Fiscal committee: no.

P1    1WHEREAS, The period between a child’s birth and third
2birthday is a time of intense and ongoing development across the
3cognitive, motor, language, and social-emotional domains; and

4WHEREAS, Positive health and learning outcomes depend upon
5children continually building new skills and abilities along a
6developmental trajectory of incremental milestones that begins at
7birth; and

P2    1WHEREAS, The Legislature passed Assembly Concurrent
2Resolution 155 in 2014 in recognition that “research over the last
3two decades in the evolving fields of neuroscience, molecular
4biology, public health, genomics, and epigenetics reveals that
5experiences in the first few years of life build changes into the
6biology of the human body that, in turn, influence the person’s
7physical and mental health over his or her lifetime”; and

8WHEREAS, Adversity during the early years can impair
9development, and has a cumulative impact, with children exposed
10to maltreatment and additional risk factors facing increased
11likelihood of having one or more delays in their cognitive,
12language, or emotional development; and

13WHEREAS, Unaddressed developmental delays and disabilities
14result in persistently impaired learning and health outcomes for
15children; and

16WHEREAS, It is estimated that one in four California children
17have moderate or higher risk for a developmental delay, such as
18speech or language impairment, and that nationally one in every
1968 children were affected by autism spectrum disorder in 2014;
20and

21WHEREAS, Latino and African American children are more
22likely to experience barriers in accessing early identification and
23intervention services; and

24WHEREAS, The Legislature has previously established through
25the California Early Intervention Services Act, in Section 95001
26of the Government Code, that “there is a need to provide
27appropriate early intervention services individually designed for
28infants and toddlers ... who have disabilities or are at risk of having
29disabilities, to enhance their development and to minimize the
30potential for developmental delays”; and

31WHEREAS, The California Early Intervention Services Act
32additionally established that “early intervention services for infants
33and toddlers with disabilities or who are at risk of having
34disabilities represent an investment of resources, in that these
35services reduce the ultimate costs to our society, by minimizing
36the need for special education and related services in later school
37years... [and that] maximize the potential of the individuals to be
38effective in the context of daily life and activities;” and

39WHEREAS, Early intervention services include targeted health
40and education supports for infants and toddlers who have delays
P3    1or are at risk of having delays, in order to enhance their
2development, improve school readiness, and minimize the potential
3for later challenges; and

4WHEREAS, The California Early Intervention Services Act
5previously established that “the earlier intervention is started, the
6greater is the ultimate cost-effectiveness and the higher is the
7educational attainment and quality of life achieved by children
8with disabilities”; and

9WHEREAS, Experts like the American Academy of Pediatrics
10recommend routine, regular, formalized developmental and
11behavioral screening for all infants and toddlers as the most
12effective way of identifying children in need of supports and
13services; and

14WHEREAS, Fewer than one-third of California infants and
15toddlers received the recommended developmental and behavioral
16screenings according to 2011-2012 parent reported data; and

17WHEREAS, forty-one percent of parents report having one or
18more concerns about their children’s physical, behavioral or social
19development; and

20WHEREAS, Nearly three out of four California children with
21special health care needs under three years of age do not receive
22early intervention services they could benefit from, and the 2012
23annual report for California’s Early Start program shows that it
24serves fewer infants and toddlers with early intervention services
25than the national average; and

26WHEREAS, A system of universal developmental and
27behavioral screenings should work hand in hand with a robust
28early intervention system, and should be linked by facilitated
29family-focused referral, care coordination, child-centered health
30homes, and information-sharing mechanisms to guide and support
31families while maintaining accountability; and

32WHEREAS, The California Early Intervention Services Act
33previously established that “the State Department of Developmental
34Services, the State Department of Education, the State Department
35of Health Care Services, and the State Department of Social
36Services coordinate services to infants and toddlers with disabilities
37and their families”; and

38WHEREAS, The California Early Intervention Services Act
39additionally established that “families be well informed, supported,
P4    1and respected as capable and collaborative decisionmakers
2regarding services for their child”; now, therefore, be it

3Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
4thereof concurring,
That every California child deserves periodic
5formal assessment of his or her development for the purposes of
6introducing supports and services if needed; and be it further

7Resolved, That every child who needs supports in order to
8achieve his or her developmental potential deserves that those
9services be easily accessible, sufficient, responsive, timely, and
10of high quality; and be it further

11Resolved, That every parent or caregiver shall be fully engaged
12and supported throughout early identification and intervention
13processes; and be it further

14Resolved, That the Legislature leverage existing efforts and
15statutes to ensure an accountable, results-orientated, and
16coordinated statewide network of resources, services, systems, and
17strong local infrastructures, in order to provide family-centered,
18comprehensive, multidisciplinary early identification and
19intervention services and supports to California infants and
20toddlers; and be it further

21Resolved, That the Legislative shall support and promote
22community-driven efforts to coordinate referrals and linkages
23between, and guide families through the complexities of, the early
24identification and intervention systems, through programs and
25models such as Help Me Grow California; and be it further

26Resolved, That the Legislative invest sufficiently in
27comprehensive health and early intervention services and supports
28in order to ensure that they meet the health and learning needs of
29California’s diverse child population, and wisely harness
30governmental and other resources toward these common goals;
31and be it further

32Resolved, That these services and supports build upon existing
33efforts, and be embedded and accessible from the places and people
34that families know and trust, including pediatric practices and other
35health settings, community-based organizations, regional centers,
36Early Head Start programs, First 5s, and other local early childhood
37programs; and be it further

P5    1Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
2of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.



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