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The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), as lead agency for Early Intervention is administratively responsible for the implementation of Part C of the Individuals for Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). General supervision of Early Intervention in the Massachusetts system is designed to promote core values and to ensure compliance with federal and state requirements through training, technical assistance and monitoring. Focused Monitoring (FM) is one component of the Massachusetts Monitoring System. The DPH continues to use other data sources to monitor compliance and track improvement, such as the Annual Report/Self Assessment, Data Verification, Dispute Resolution and Local Determinations. A stakeholder’s group representative of the broad range of persons involved in the Early Intervention system including Lead Agency Staff, ICC Chair, provider and parent representatives, and ICC representatives advise the lead agency on the focused monitoring process as well as changes made to that process.

The FM process allows the DPH to utilize resources more efficiently and effectively by identifying Priority Areas and examining information to drill down and provide strategies and technical assistance to support the program to improve performance. The FM process has continued to evolve in the Massachusetts EI system over the last several years. The DPH will be moving away from identifying Priority Areas that are tied to program compliance and use the process and components of FM to gather information about commendable practices that will help guide the DPH in making policy decisions.

Onsite selection will be based on Priority Areas and Data Sources that are collected from each program throughout the year. Priority areas may change from year to year based on current issues and concerns in the Early Intervention system.

The onsite protocols and length of the visit will be individualized for each program based on the priority area. Discussions and interviews with Program Administrative staff prior to the onsite will help shape the onsite activities. The Focused Monitoring team consisting of DPH Regional Specialists, the Focused Monitoring Onsite Facilitator and a Parent Team member will work closely with the program director to discuss the reason for selection, gather information, and identify other data sources that may be helpful in formulating a hypothesis regarding the reason for the trends in the data. Additional members of the DPH staff may be included in parts of or the whole visit as needed around their area of expertise. While onsite, the team will gather information through record reviews, family, staff and community interviews and by meeting with administrative staff.

What can families who receive EI services do?

Families are an integral part of this process in many ways. Family input is extremely important to get a full picture of how a program operates. During each onsite visit families whose children are enrolled in or have recently graduated from that EI program may be asked to volunteer to participate in an interview. This information along with interviews with EI staff, EI administrations and other community providers and file reviews will be used to guide the onsite visit and complete the final report.

For more information, please contact the Parent Leadership Project at 1-877-353-4757.