crs_reports: R43631

Congressional Research Service reports with summaries, authors, and topic classifications.

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R43631 The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part C: Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities 2026-02-24T05:00:00Z 2026-02-28T13:38:01Z Active Reports Kyrie E. Dragoo Early Childhood Care & Education, Students with Disabilities, Elementary & Secondary Education The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a statute that authorizes grant programs that support special education services. Under the IDEA, a series of conditions are attached to the receipt of grant funds. These conditions aim to provide certain educational and procedural guarantees for students with disabilities and their families. The grant programs authorized under the IDEA provide federal funding for special education and early intervention services for children with disabilities (birth through 21 years old) and require, as a condition for the receipt of such funds, the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) (i.e., specially designed instruction provided at no cost to parents that meets the needs of a child with a disability) and an accessible early intervention system (a statewide system to provide and coordinate early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families). The IDEA also outlines and requires the use of procedural safeguards pertaining to the identification, evaluation, and placement of students in special education services that are intended to protect the rights of parents and children with disabilities. These procedures include parental rights to resolve disputes through a mediation process, and present and resolve complaints through a due process complaint procedure and through state complaint procedures. Originally enacted in 1975, the IDEA has been the subject of numerous reauthorizations to extend services and rights to children with disabilities. The 1986 reauthorization of the IDEA created a grants program that would provide early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families, what is now known as Part C, Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities. The most recent reauthorization of the IDEA was P.L. 108-446, enacted in 2004. Funding for Part B of the IDEA, Assistance for Education of all Children with Disabilities, the largest part of the act, is permanently authorized. Funding for Part C, Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, and Part D, National Activities, was authorized through FY2011. Funding for Part C and Part D programs continues to be authorized through annual appropriations. Part C of the IDEA authorizes a grant program to aid each state in implementing a system of early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. In 2023, approximately 463,000 infants and toddlers with disabilities received early intervention services under Part C of the IDEA. Annual funding to each state for Part C programs is based upon the state’s proportion of the number of children, birth through two years old, in the general population. In FY2025, approximately $15.4 billion was appropriated for the IDEA, $540 million of which was appropriated for Part C, representing 3.5% of total IDEA funding. Part C requires each state to implement a public awareness program and “child find” activities to identify infants and toddlers who may be eligible for early intervention services. To be eligible for early intervention services under Part C of the IDEA, an infant or toddler must meet his or her state’s definition of an infant or toddler with a disability or developmental delay. Once a child is determined to be an infant or toddler with a disability, the early intervention system is to provide an assessment of the needs of both the child and the child’s family. Early intervention coordinators are then to either help the family coordinate services for their child through outside service providers or directly provide early intervention services to the child and the child’s family, depending on the design of the early intervention system in the state. Before a child receiving Part C services turns three years old, the child is to be assessed to determine whether he or she will continue receiving IDEA services, and, if so, whether the child will remain in an extended Part C service arrangement or transition into a special education preschool program funded by Section 619 of Part B of the IDEA. https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R43631/R43631.15.pdf https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/HTML/R43631.html

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