Instructions
Provide sufficient detail to ensure that the Secretary and the public are informed of and understand the State's systems designed to drive improved results for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families and to ensure that the Lead Agency (LA) meets the requirements of Part C of the IDEA. This introduction must include descriptions of the State's General Supervision System, Technical Assistance System, Professional Development System, Stakeholder Involvement, and Reporting to the Public.
Intro - Indicator Data
Executive Summary
Illinois is pleased to indicate with the submission of the FFY21/SFY22 State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report that in this reporting year, the state continues to move forward in ensuring the citizens are afforded appropriate and viable services with a focus on those required by law. Illinois continues to engage stakeholders in reviewing APR data and planning for improvement. Illinois has also received much needed technical assistance and support from the Office Special Education Program (OSEP) State Lead and our Early Childhood Technical Assistance partners to develop strategies for addressing our longstanding noncompliance and responding to new legislative requirements. We have also worked with the OSEP funded technical assistance centers, the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy) and the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA), to improve data quality and the child outcomes summary process. We are also working with them to identify specific strategies for correcting longstanding noncompliance at several Child and Family Connections (CFC) offices. Illinois continues to enhance systems and practices to address the compliance indicators and has dedicated efforts to supporting practice in Illinois' Early Intervention (EI) system which will be demonstrated in future APRs.
Additional information related to data collection and reporting
Illinois' data continue to be impacted by COVID-19. The everchanging conditions and staffing limitations impacted both the completeness and reliability of our data. As anticipated, the effects of COVID continue to impact both the indicators that use October as a representative month as well as those that use a full year of data (Indicators 3 and 4). We continue to meet with technical assistance providers from DaSy and ECTA to refine and further develop a process for investigating and addressing longstanding noncompliance for the three compliance indicators. We have begun cross-training Bureau personnel on the requirements for correction and have re-engaged our TA providers with standing calls to address this issue. While we were able to implement portions of the plan, e.g. subsequent reviews of data subsets and initial reviews of program requirements, we were not able to engage CFCs in the enhanced level of support we had hoped to provide. Both lead agency staff and program resources continued to be needed to address the changing needs of the program due to the pandemic. Program staff continue to report high levels of stress and challenges with staff recruitment. In addition, the lead agency, itself, was experiencing vacancies that challenged available resources. For these reasons, we were concerned about adding additional activities/responsibilities to already stressed systems and knew that we wouldn't be able to move our process forward in the way we had anticipated.
General Supervision System
The systems that are in place to ensure that IDEA Part C requirements are met, e.g., monitoring systems, dispute resolution systems.
The Illinois Department of Human Services (Department) serves as Illinois' Lead Agency. The Bureau of Early Intervention (Bureau) has staff allocated for general administration and supervision for compliance with the requirements set forth in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C. Illinois enacted the Early Intervention Services System Act (Act) (325 ILCS20 et. seq.) which establishes a statewide system of coordinated, comprehensive, interagency and interdisciplinary programs to be used in planning, implementation, coordination and evaluation of the statewide system of locally based early intervention services. As authorized and required by the Act, the Department promulgated detailed rules and regulations to reflect the intent of federal regulations contained in IDEA Part C. They are set forth in the Illinois Administrative Code (89 IL Admin. Code 500 et. seq.).
The Department, through its EI Bureau, sets and disseminates policies and procedures for the provision of EI services through administrative rule, the Child and Family Connections Procedure Manual, the EI Provider Handbook, administrative contracts and payee agreements, and the State of Illinois Infant/Toddler & Family Rights under IDEA booklet. In FFY21, there were several substantive changes to policy and procedure. This was largely related to legislation that was passed to extend EI services past children's third birthday for a subset of children. We worked closely with our OSEP lead and other partners to make these changes. We are continuing to work with these same partners to address additional changes that will be required due to two other pieces of legislation.
There are 25 Child & Family Connections (CFC) offices covering all geographic areas of Illinois, and Cornerstone remains the statewide data system that collects and stores child and family information, generates authorizations for services, and interfaces with other systems to track and produce payments. The Bureau relies extensively on this data system to monitor the performance of the 25 CFC offices. Data from this system is shared monthly with the CFC offices so they can use the data to make improvements. The Bureau issues letters sharing Findings of Noncompliance with each CFC on an annual basis. Additionally, each CFC office has a Determination Scorecard based on their performance. The CFC's Scorecard guides monitoring, technical assistance, training and CAP reporting.
The Illinois EI Monitoring Program (http://www.earlyinterventionmonitoring.org/) conducts monitoring activities of the CFC offices and EI direct service providers. During FFY21, CFC offices and credentialed and/or enrolled service providers were monitored through offsite file reviews. All 25 CFC offices and 65 percent of the approximately 1600 EI payees that billed for services during the preceding fiscal year were subject to the compliance monitoring process. Any payees not monitored in a given year are the highest priority for monitoring in the subsequent fiscal year review cycle (assuming they are still an active payee). Additionally payees may be monitored more frequently based on prior non-compliance or the direction of the Bureau.
EI Monitoring additionally provides each CFC office a focused verification monitoring review at a minimum of once every three years or upon the request of the Bureau. The focused verification monitoring review includes 1) file review(s) to verify improvement of noncompliance identified within the past six months, 2) file review(s) to gather data and provide technical assistance on areas of needed improvement at the direction of the Bureau of Early Intervention (e.g. functional outcomes), and 3) CFC Program Manager and CFC Service Coordinator exit meetings and linkage to resources. Through file reviews and annual monitoring visits (conducted virtually in FFY21), the EI Monitoring Program assesses compliance with determinations relating to administrative processes and procedures. During this review, the EI Monitoring Program identifies any areas of noncompliance, documents the correction of noncompliance, and provides technical assistance as necessary. The provision of technical assistance is an integral part of the monitoring process, and issues are addressed immediately upon the completion of an onsite monitoring visit. Payees who were previously monitored could be scheduled for subsequent compliance monitoring based upon the outcome of the previous review. The EI Monitoring Program randomly selects 10% of the EI payee's caseload for file reviews.
Dispute Resolution is handled by staff in the Bureau. Resources are provided to parents both as they enter and while they are engaged in Early Intervention to assist them in understanding their rights for Dispute Resolution. Online forms and contact information are part of the process that makes information available through various avenues. Translation for Spanish-speaking families is also available. The Bureau accepts and dispositions all Dispute Resolutions, including Mediation and Due Process Hearings. The Bureau has an inter-agency agreement with the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services for impartial and unbiased officials to organize Due Process Hearings when needed. The State adopted Mediation and Due Process procedures in 34 CFR §300.506 through §300.512 and developed procedures that meet the requirements of §303.440. Several legal staff within the Department are available to facilitate the development and negotiation of all resolution session agreements. An electronic database is in place to track Due Process complaints.
The Department contracts with the EI Central Billing Office, CBO, (http://www.eicbo.info/) to process paper and electronic service provider claims and to create provider claim summaries as part of the fee-for-service delivery system; generate vouchers; submit Medicaid claims to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS); and, prepare and forward claims for federal matching funds. In addition, the CBO maintains insurance coverage information, including waivers and exemptions, provides insurance billing services, and invoices, collects and updates the family participation fee accounts (which has included issuing all families fee credits during the pandemic). They also provide the family with an Explanation of Benefits (EOB), which accounts for all monthly provider claims to families. The EI Monitoring Program safeguards the rights of families to receive appropriate services and supports by investigating parent billing complaints submitted to the Bureau or to the EI Central Billing Office regarding the appropriate billing of services.
Technical Assistance System:
The mechanisms that the State has in place to ensure the timely delivery of high quality, evidence-based technical assistance and support to early intervention service (EIS) programs.
Illinois' system for technical assistance encompasses the Bureau and its contract entities. The Bureau supports technical assistance as a key function described in the contracts with the local CFC offices, the EI Training Program, the EI Monitoring Program, the EI Clearinghouse, the EI Central Billing Office, and the EI Credentialing program. The Bureau's website and its contractual partners' websites ensure the availability of Illinois-specific as well as national information and resources to EI providers, the CFCs, stakeholders and families. These vital partners support the delivery of high quality and evidence-based technical assistance. Monthly meetings with the EI Contracted Partners ensures they are able to provide informed support during their interactions with EI participants, providers, local community partners and families currently being served or those interested in the program. Illinois benefits from its relationships with state and national leaders in early childhood development and education whom contribute a wealth of knowledge and expertise.
Each CFC office houses Local Interagency Council (LIC) activities to provide technical assistance to its provider community. The needs are assessed through current events and/or needs assessments. The technical assistance is supported through responses to phone calls and emails, provider meetings, and activities of the LIC. In addition, each CFC office has a required contract with a developmental pediatric consultant for specific services to implement quality assurance activities such as periodic participation in IFSP meetings, consultation on requests for IFSP service changes, technical assistance and training to EI providers and service coordinators to address local system needs, specific disabilities, specific family situations, and outreach to primary referral sources. Each CFC also houses a social emotional consultant for the purposes of reflective consultation to the CFC Program Manager, individual or group consultation as well as coordination of activities including overseeing the implementation of social emotional screening and specialized assessment and/or offering support to IFSP teams when needed.
Most functions of the EI Monitoring Program and the EI Central Billing Office are described in the General Supervision System section. Other partners, such as the EI Training Program, the EI Clearinghouse, and Provider Connections are described in the Professional Development section. All are very important sources of technical assistance for the Illinois EI system. In addition, the EI Training Program's contract includes an EI Ombudsman position. The Ombudsman works with the Bureau, CFC offices and EI providers to ensure fidelity with EI laws, rule, policies, practices and procedures, and promotes the highest attainable evidence-based practices that support the key principles of Illinois' Early Intervention Program. Illinois' EI Ombudsman is also thoroughly involved in multiple, national activities centered on early childhood development including such activities as the workgroup for establishing the Division for Early Childhood's (DEC) Recommended Practices and the aRPy Ambassador program through the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center.
To best support our CFCs, Bureau staff meet monthly with CFC managers to provide clarification to policies and procedures and address questions and concerns. During the pandemic, an additional monthly meeting was added for additional support to the CFCs. This additional meeting continued throughout FFY21. EI contract partners are also welcome to help support the CFCs during these monthly calls. Also during the pandemic and throughout FFY21, updates were posted on Partners' websites to keep stakeholders informed about changing conditions and system responses. EI contractual administrative entities (outside of the CFCs) and Bureau staff also meet monthly to leverage resources, coordinate efforts, and identify additional strategies to meet system needs for technical assistance. Designated Bureau staff provide responses to all inquiries from CFC offices and EI Providers usually via the telephone or email. Informational memos are posted on all available EI websites (DHS and contractual partners) and distributed via email to CFC managers. Updates to manuals and/or documents are provided to all partners and posted on partners' websites to help support the population we serve.
The Bureau continues to request and receive technical assistance from a number of national and regional resources, including the ECTA, DaSy, and OSEP. The Bureau staff have participated in several cross-state learning collaboratives and other learning communities and have also benefited from technical assistance partners' assistance in the development and implementation of the SSIP. The Bureau has continued to receive technical assistance from their OSEP State Lead to support resolution of long standing noncompliance and development of policies and procedures related to extended services. We continue to work with OSEP staff to address two new legislative initiatives that impact our policies and procedures.
In response to our Needs Assistance determination, Illinois has availed itself of many technical assistance opportunities. Given our historical difficulties resolving longstanding noncompliance, Illinois has participated in ongoing technical assistance with DaSy and ECTA. They are working with us to establish effective monitoring for compliance and results. The TA continues to help us examine aspects of our transition process, including local program's staff understanding of system requirements, written program guidance about requirements, available data for monitoring compliance with requirements, incentives/penalties tied to performance, and performance data. This technical assistance allows us to develop a process for examining noncompliance across all the compliance indicators. The process developed so far involves: beginning with program understanding of tasks/responsibilities, understanding what has been tried to address the issue, discussing what has or has not been successful and why, reviewing contributing factors resources, conducting root cause analyses, and considering available system supports to address the root causes. This technical assistance has been critical in improving our understanding of how to assess the current status of findings, the general supervision components that exist to support improved practice, the options for addressing individualized needs to help support best practice, and the importance of consistent approaches for developing and monitoring improvement plans at the effected CFCs. We continue to work with our TA partners to clarify the steps in the process and identify needed resources.
Professional Development System:
The mechanisms the State has in place to ensure that service providers are effectively providing services that improve results for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
The Early Intervention Services System Act (Act) (325 ILCS20 et. seq.) and the Illinois Administrative Code (89 IL Admin. Code 500 et. seq.) require and define a system of personnel development and personnel standards to ensure that EI providers are effectively providing services that improve results for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. EI families, service providers, and primary referral sources have access to a wealth of information provided through various EI specific websites as well as through online (both synchronous and asynchronous) and limited face-to-face training opportunities.
For credentialing matters, Illinois contracts with the EI Provider Connections office (http://www.wiu.edu/ProviderConnections/) to coordinate the credentialing process and the enrollment of service providers in compliance with state and federal requirements. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), our Medicaid state lead, implemented an enrollment system for all Medicaid providers in Illinois. This system greatly impacted the EI providers and CFC offices who provide services to Medicaid-eligible children. This system continues to evolve and is intended to support EI's ability to maximize reimbursements and provider compliance. The EI CBO submits reimbursement claims on the program's behalf as part of our fee-for-service system. A dedicated Bureau staff member and EI Provider Connections staff meet quarterly to address system issues and support the smoothest transition to the new system for EI providers.
EI Provider Connections processes credential and enrollment applications to comply with the HFS system and maintains a system of credentialing which ensures new providers are qualified and prepared with appropriate pediatric experience and education to provide services to infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities and their families. This office ensures that individuals providing EI services have documentation on file of all applicable licenses, degrees, education and/or certification, EI systems overview training, background checks, documentation of consultation, and all other requirements. In addition, they provide technical assistance on the credentialing and enrollment process and verify that the individuals maintain competencies through documentation of ongoing professional development at credential renewal every three years.
Illinois also contracts with the University of Illinois Early Intervention Training Program (EITP) (http://eitp.education.illinois.edu/) to provide a comprehensive system of personnel development, using a variety of methodologies that have included face-to-face, virtual, and online training modules, and to coordinate with other entities to offer a broad calendar of EI training events. These efforts ensure that service providers and CFC staff enter the EI system with an understanding of the basic components of the EI services system, evidence-based practices, and Illinois' EI key principles. Additional and ongoing efforts are in place to focus on continually expanding competencies and to provide information on evidence-based practices, specifically in four core knowledge areas: development of young children, working with families of young children with developmental disabilities and delays, intervention strategies and activities, and assessment of young children. The EITP also works to coordinate with other professional entities to provide training on transition services for children exiting the EI system. The EITP develops, publishes and distributes a quarterly newsletter for EI service providers and uses social media to reinforce important system messages/information. The EITP coordinates the family outcomes process which includes a project coordinator that oversees the survey process for all families who have exited the EI program. The coordinator also facilitates the Child and Family Outcomes Workgroup and represents the EI program on all child and family outcomes activities. The EITP is a primary partner in the SSIP work.
The EI Clearinghouse (http://www.eiclearinghouse.org/) collects research-based and best-practice early intervention information to share with families to support their children's growth and development. They provide current, up-to-date information and reference materials for parents to learn more about typical child development and specific disabilities, and for educators and EI professionals to improve competencies in the evaluation and treatment of children with developmental disabilities and delays. Additional resources in English and in Spanish are available to EI families, providers, stakeholders and primary referral sources. The Clearinghouse is tasked with maintaining Illinois' EI Central Directory, operating and maintaining a free EI lending library, generating parent newsletters, information notes, podcasts, and resource links to support evidence-based practices, and providing general contact and program information. The EI Clearinghouse serves as a communication link between the EI Program and the families served by the program through a family friendly, bilingual (English-Spanish) website. The EI Clearinghouse has made a large purchase of technology items to lend to families. This allows more families to access services in a way that would not have been possible without this technology. The Clearinghouse also convenes a Parent Advisory Council to provide input on system improvement activities.
Broad Stakeholder Input:
The mechanisms for soliciting broad stakeholder input on the State's targets in the SPP/APR and any subsequent revisions that the State has made to those targets, and the development and implementation of Indicator 11, the State's Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP).
Illinois works to solicit broad stakeholder input via its various advisory bodies and workgroups. We continue to prioritize family membership on the Illinois Interagency Council on Early Intervention (IICEI), on the State Systemic Improvement Plan Leadership Teams, as well as all other workgroups. The IICEI, is a Governor-appointed advisory board that meets the federal requirements for a State Interagency Coordinating Council. The membership of the council includes parents, public and private service providers of the Early Intervention (EI) system, a member from the State legislature, a personnel preparation representative, and representatives from various designated State agencies and programs. Its membership also includes representatives from advocacy organizations, Child and Family Connections (CFC) managers, and a designee from the Illinois Early Learning Council. The IICEI discusses programmatic and Bureau-specific challenges and opportunities, reviews and approves the annual performance report (APR), helps determine the setting of State Performance Plan (SPP)/APR target values, and advises the Bureau in the overall performance of the program. The IICEI also, as needed, creates ad-hoc workgroups composed of both council and other subject-matter experts on a variety of subjects to help develop recommendations for consideration by the Bureau.
Child and Family Outcomes Workgroup: The Child and Family Outcomes workgroup is a stakeholder group that is tasked with the goal of reviewing processes that improve outcomes for children and families, as well as the quality of child and family outcomes data. The workgroup includes representation from families, the EI Bureau, EI providers, CFC managers, EI Ombudsman and the EI Training Program (EITP). The Child and Family Outcomes Workgroup focuses its efforts to:
- Ensure that valid and reliable data are collected with consistency by field staff;
- Improve the validity of data reported on child and family outcomes;
- Improve response rates for Family Outcomes surveys, to increase representativeness and validity;
- Promote public awareness and training of child and family outcome measures;
- Explore options for linking child and family outcomes data;
- Support data review and analysis;
- Set baseline and target values; and
- Develop and implement improvement activities.
CFC Managers: Illinois has 25 CFC offices that serve as the regional points of entry, and each CFC office is responsible for the implementation of the Early Intervention Services System within its specific geographic region. A CFC Program Manager is hired by each CFC and they are the point of contact to disseminate information to CFC staff and their community, as appropriate. CFCs are responsible for ensuring all referrals to the Early Intervention Services System receive a timely response in a professional and family-centered manner. Other responsibilities of the CFCs include: child find activities; family-engaged intake; coordination of evaluation/assessment and eligibility determination activities for children; for eligible children- oversight of the development of timely individualized family service plans (IFSP); ongoing service coordination; and transitioning activities before a toddler exits the program or reaches three years of age when potentially eligible for Part B. CFC managers meet monthly with EI Bureau staff to review policies and procedures, provide statewide and local perspectives, offer feedback to the APR and SSIP, identify system challenges, and provide input on improvement strategies.
In addition, there are multiple stakeholder groups that participate in the development of the State's Systemic Improvement Plan. These include the large SSIP stakeholder group, the leadership team workgroup, the local leadership teams, and the performance support workgroup.
Apply stakeholder input from introduction to all Part C results indicators. (y/n) YES
Number of Parent Members: 15
Parent Members Engagement:
Describe how the parent members of the Interagency Coordinating Council, parent center staff, parents from local and statewide advocacy and advisory committees, and individual parents were engaged in setting targets, analyzing data, developing improvement strategies, and evaluating progress.
Family members are an integral part of most of the system-created workgroups. There are also parent members on the Interagency Coordinating Council (ICC), the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) large stakeholder group (and local leadership teams), and the Outcomes Workgroup. The total above represents one parent who participates on the ICC, one parent who participated in the SSIP large stakeholder meeting, three parents who participate on the SSIP leadership teams, and ten parents who participate on the Clearinghouse's parent advisory council. All of these family members have been involved in discussions about some aspect of target-setting, data analysis, improvement strategies, and evaluation. For example, prior to setting targets last year, the ICC had two different discussions on target-setting, data analysis, improvement strategies, and evaluation. Minutes of these discussions can be found on the IDHS website. Since ICC meetings are open to the public, families who wish to provide input may contact the Bureau directly or reach out to their family representative on the ICC. The SSIP large stakeholder group has also been involved in target-setting, data analysis, improvement strategy generation, and evaluation. This group includes parents, parent center staff, and advocates. The Outcomes workgroup also participates in target setting, data analysis, improvement strategy generation and evaluation. In addition, the EI Clearinghouse has convened a parent advisory body to ensure that materials prepared for families are meaningful and to solicit input on programmatic changes and activities. The EI Clearinghouse, Early Intervention Training Program, and Family Matters (a Parent Training and Information Center) partnered to offer a series of webinars on the family outcomes survey. The intent of these offerings was to not only raise awareness of the survey but also to provide information to parents that would allow them to better understand and evaluate the items within the survey.
Activities to Improve Outcomes for Children with Disabilities:
Describe the activities conducted to increase the capacity of diverse groups of parents to support the development of implementation activities designed to improve outcomes for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
The IDHS is currently engaging in agency-wide activities to address equity and inclusion. As part of these efforts, the Bureau of Early Intervention engaged national equity experts to examine system practices that may be contributing to inequities. Racially diverse families from three CFCs participated in focus groups and interviews to share their perspectives on system challenges and to recommend activities that would address these challenges. Recommendations from this work are currently being reviewed by the Bureau and include ideas for capacity-building.
In addition, the Bureau has committed to diverse parent representation on any new workgroups that are convened and to examine membership of current workgroups with a focus on diversity when replacing members. As noted above, system workgroups (and the parents that serve on them) have an integral role in many aspects of our Annual Performance Report activities. In addition, the EI Clearinghouse is currently working to expand accessibility to system information by creating family videos and translating system materials into languages beyond English and Spanish.
In addition to these items, the state has also worked to increase the capacity of diverse groups of parents by providing training and resources to help them learn about the system as well as their role in developing implementation activities. As noted last year, IICEI members, which includes parents, received an orientation webinar, participated in required trainings for board/council members, and reviewed information contained in the target setting guide.
Soliciting Public Input:
The mechanisms and timelines for soliciting public input for setting targets, analyzing data, developing improvement strategies, and evaluating progress.
The primary mechanism for soliciting public input for setting targets, analyzing data, developing improvement strategies, and evaluating progress occurred through the ICC meeting in January. This meeting was open to the public and included discussion of all of these elements. The public were given the opportunity to submit direct comments/questions for consideration via the chat for the virtual meetings or could contact their representative on the ICC to share comments/questions/input. In addition, the draft report was sent to the CFC Managers for their review and input prior to submission.
Making Results Available to the Public:
The mechanisms and timelines for making the results of the target setting, data analysis, development of the improvement strategies, and evaluation available to the public.
The mechanisms and timelines for making these results publicly available are similar to general reporting to the public. The Illinois Annual Performance Report and the State Systemic Improvement Plan reports are used to annually report to the public on the targets, data, improvement strategies, and evaluation. The APR is posted on the Department's website no later than 120 days following the State's submission. A hard copy of the APR is also available for public review at each of the 25 CFC offices. The SSIP report is also posted on the Department's and contractual partners' websites. Progress on the SSIP is communicated through a SSIP Quarterly Summary which is widely distributed to stakeholders. The SSIP work is also described in the contract partners' quarterly newsletters. The Illinois APR, SSIP, 618 data, Annual Federal Grant Applications, and Monthly Statistical reports are available online at: http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=36192.
Reporting to the Public:
How and where the State reported to the public on the FFY 2020 performance of each EIS Program located in the State on the targets in the SPP/APR as soon as practicable, but no later than 120 days following the State's submission of its FFY 2020 APR, as required by 34 CFR §303.702(b)(1)(i)(A); and a description of where, on its website, a complete copy of the State's SPP/APR, including any revision if the State has revised the targets that it submitted with its FFY 2020 APR in 2022, is available.
The Illinois Annual Performance Report and the State Systemic Improvement Plan reports are used to annually report to the public on the EI performance targets. The APR is posted on the Department's website no later than 120 days following the State's submission. A hard copy of the APR is also available for public review at each of the 25 CFC offices. Most APR indicators include a table that compares the performance of each CFC office with statewide performance and target values. Charts showing all EIS programs' performance for FFY21 can be found at this link: https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/6480/136715403.
The SSIP reports (Phases I, II and III (in progress)) are also posted on the Department's and contractual partners' websites. Progress on the SSIP is communicated through a SSIP Quarterly Summary which is widely distributed to stakeholders. The SSIP work is also described in the contract partners' quarterly newsletters.
Document Posting: The Illinois APR, SSIP, 618 data, Annual Federal Grant Applications, and Monthly Statistical reports are available online at: http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=36192. The EI Training Program website has links to the EI Reports and informational notices located at https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/6039/114615.
Intro - Prior FFY Required Actions
The State's IDEA Part C determination for both 2021 and 2022 is Needs Assistance. In the State's 2022 determination letter, the Department advised the State of available sources of technical assistance, including OSEP-funded technical assistance centers, and required the State to work with appropriate entities. The Department directed the State to determine the results elements and/or compliance indicators, and improvement strategies, on which it will focus its use of available technical assistance, in order to improve its performance.
The State must report, with its FFY 2021 SPP/APR submission, due February 1, 2023, on: (1) the technical assistance sources from which the State received assistance; and (2) the actions the State took as a result of that technical assistance.
OSEP notes that the State submitted verification that the attachment(s) complies with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Section 508). However, one or more of the Introduction attachment(s) included in the State's FFY 2020 SPP/APR submission are not in compliance with Section 508 and will not be posted on the U.S. Department of Education's IDEA website. Therefore, the State must make the attachment(s) available to the public as soon as practicable, but no later than 120 days after the date of the determination letter.
Response to actions required in FFY 2020 SPP/APR
The state has received technical assistance from ECTA, DaSy, and CIFR. Some of the technical assistance was used to help us respond to recent legislative changes, e.g. timely service delivery, and the rest was to help us create a process for addressing longstanding noncompliance, the only area in our compliance matrix where we received a zero. We have been meeting regularly with ECTA and DaSy staff to ensure that we understand the requirements for correcting longstanding noncompliance, to modify and improve our process for supporting correction, and to identify programs that will implement this new approach. The Bureau has also been engaged with TA from CIFR and worked to complete our Single Line of Responsibility (SLOR) protocol, which has given us some insight into our options for enacting fiscal penalties for long standing noncompliance.
Attachments to the submission were made available to the public at the links cited earlier: https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=143592. We have also created a link ( https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/6480/136715403) for supplements to this year's submission to avoid the issue of attachments that are not 508 compliant.
Intro - OSEP Response
The State attached its 2022 Annual Report Certification of the State Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC) Form. The State must submit its 2023 SICC form to confirm that the SICC is supporting the State's submission of the FFY 2021 SPP/APR.
The State's determinations for both 2021 and 2022 were Needs Assistance. Pursuant to sections 616(e)(1) and 642 of the IDEA and 34 C.F.R. § 303.704(a), OSEP's June 22, 2022 determination letter informed the State that it must report with its FFY 2021 SPP/APR submission, due February 1, 2023, on: (1) the technical assistance sources from which the State received assistance; and (2) the actions the State took as a result of that technical assistance. The State provided the required information.
Intro - Required Actions
