37.34.604    FAMILY SERVICES: DEFINITIONS FOR STATE FUNDED AND FEDERALLY FUNDED PART H FAMILY EDUCATION AND SUPPORT SERVICES

These definitions apply to state funded family education and support services and to federally funded Part H education and support services.

(1) "Assistive technology devices" means any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities.

(2) "Assistive technology services" means services that directly assist a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device. Assistive technology services include:

(a) evaluating the needs of a child with a disability, including a functional evaluation of the child in the child's customary environment;

(b) purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the acquisition of assistive technology devices for children with disabilities;

(c) selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing assistive technology devices;

(d) coordinating and using other therapies, interventions, or services with assistive technology devices, such as those associated with existing early intervention and rehabilitation plans and programs;

(e) training or technical assistance for a child with disabilities or, if appropriate, that child's family; and

(f) training or technical assistance for professionals including persons providing early intervention or rehabilitation services, or other persons who provide services to, or are otherwise substantially involved in the major life functions of children with disabilities.

(3) "Audiology services" means the identification of children with auditory impairment, using at risk criteria and appropriate audiologic screening techniques. Audiology services include:

(a) determining the range, nature, and degree of hearing loss and communication functions, by use of audiological evaluation procedures;

(b) referral for medical and other services necessary for the habilitation or rehabilitation of children with auditory impairment;

(c) providing auditory training, aural rehabilitation, speech reading and listening device orientation and training, and other services;

(d) providing services for prevention of hearing loss; and

(e) determining the child's need for individual amplification, including selecting, fitting, and dispensing appropriate listening and vibrotactile devices, and evaluating the effectiveness of those devices.

(4) "Family education, counseling, and home visits" means services provided, as appropriate, by family support specialists, and other qualified personnel, including but not limited to, psychologists, professional counselors and social workers, to assist the family of a child in understanding the special needs of the child and how to enhance the child's development.

(5) "Full service" means services, supports and resources furnished to a child and family eligible for federally funded Part H family education and support services or for state funded family education and support services. The child and family are served in accordance with an IFSP, through service coordination provided at a minimum of one staff contact per month. This service provides access to resources and support wrap-around services.

(6) "Health services" means medical services necessary to enable a child to benefit from other family education and support services during the time the child is receiving family education and support services.

(a) Health services include, but are not limited to, clean intermittent catheterization, tracheostomy care, tube feeding, the changing of dressing or colostomy collection bags, other health services, and consultation by physicians with other service providers concerning the special health care needs of children that will need to be addressed in the course of providing other early intervention services.

(b) Health services do not include services that are surgical, medical or medical-health in nature. Excluded services include, but are not limited to, cleft palate surgery, surgery for club foot, the shunting of hydrocephalus, hospitalization or management of congenital heart ailments, the prescribing of medicine or drugs for any purpose, devices necessary to control or treat a medical condition, immunization and regular well-baby care routinely recommended for all children.

(7) "Medical services only for diagnostic or evaluation purposes" means services provided by a licensed physician to determine a child's developmental status and need for family education and support services.

(8) "Nursing services" means the provision of medically necessary nursing care as prescribed by a medical professional. Nursing services include:

(a) assessing health status for the purpose of providing nursing care, including the identification of patterns of human response to actual or potential health problems;

(b) providing nursing care to prevent health problems, restore or improve functioning, and promote optimal health and development; and

(c) administering medications, treatments, and regimens prescribed by a licensed physician.

(9) "Nutritional services" means services to maintain and improve the nutrition of a person. Nutritional services include:

(a) individual assessments in nutritional history and dietary intake, anthropometric, biochemical, and clinical variables, feeding skills and feeding problems, and food habits and food preferences;

(b) developing and monitoring appropriate plans to address the nutritional needs of a child based on the child's individual needs assessment; and

(c) referral to appropriate community resources to carry out nutrition goals.

(10) "Occupational therapy services" means therapy services to address the functional needs of a child related to adaptive development, adaptive behavior and play, and sensory, motor, and postural development. These services are designed to improve the child's functional ability to perform tasks in home, school, and community settings. Occupational therapy services include:

(a) identification, assessment, and intervention;

(b) adapting the environment, and selecting, designing and fabricating assistive and orthotic devices to facilitate development and promote the acquisition of functional skills; and

(c) preventing or minimizing the impact of initial or future impairment, delay in development, or loss of functional ability.

(11) "Physical therapy services" means therapy services to enhance sensorimotor function through therapies addressing musculoskeletal status, neurobehavioral organization, perceptual and motor development, cardiopulmonary status, and effective environmental adaptation. Physical therapy services include:

(a) screening, evaluation, and assessment of the child to identify movement dysfunction;

(b) obtaining, interpreting, and integrating information appropriate to program planning, to prevent, alleviate, or compensate for movement dysfunction and related functional problems; and

(c) providing individual and group services to prevent, alleviate or compensate for movement dysfunction and related functional problems.

(12) "Psychological services" means services to assess a person's mental or developmental status. Psychological services include:

(a) administrating psychological and developmental tests, and other assessment procedures;

(b) interpreting assessment results;

(c) obtaining, integrating, and interpreting information about child behavior, and child and family conditions related to learning, mental health, and development; and

(d) planning and managing a program of psychological services, including psychological counseling for children and parents, family counseling, consultation on child development, parent training, and education programs.

(13) "Social work services" means services to improve a person's social well-being. Social work services include:

(a) making home visits to evaluate a child's living conditions and patterns of parent-child interaction;

(b) preparing social or emotional developmental assessments of the child within the family context;

(c) providing individual and family-group counseling with parents and other family members and appropriate social skill-building activities with the child and parents;

(d) working with problems in a child's and family's living situation where family education and support services are provided that affect the child's maximum utilization of family education and support services; and

(e) identifying, mobilizing, and coordinating community resources and services to enable the child and family to receive maximum benefit from family education and support services.

(14) "Special instruction services" means the design of learning environments and activities to promote the child's acquisition of skills in a variety of developmental areas, including cognitive processes and social interaction. Special instruction services include:

(a) planning curriculum, including the planned interaction of personnel, materials, and time and space, to achieve the outcomes in the child's IFSP;

(b) providing families with information, skills and supports to enhance the skill development of the child; and

(c) working with the child to enhance the child's development.

(15) "Speech-language pathology services" means services to enhance a person's speech and language skills. Speech-language pathology services include:

(a) identifying children with communicative or oropharyngeal disorders and delays in development of communication skills, including the diagnosis and appraisal of specific disorders and delays in those skills;

(b) referral for medical or other professional services necessary for the habilitation or rehabilitation of children with communicative or oropharyngeal disorders and delays in development of communication skills; and

(c) providing of services for the habilitation, rehabilitation, or prevention of communicative or oropharyngeal disorders and delays in development of communication skills.

(16) "Transportation services" means providing the cost of travel, including but not limited to mileage or travel by taxi, common carrier, or other means, and related costs. Related costs include, but are not limited to, parking expenses necessary for a child and the child's family to receive family education and support services.

(17) "Vision services" means services to enhance or to compensate for vision loss. Vision services include:

(a) evaluating and assessing visual functioning, including the diagnosis and appraisal of specific visual disorders, delays, and abilities;

(b) referral for medical or other professional services necessary for the habilitation or rehabilitation of visual functioning disorders, or both; and

(c) training in communication skills, orientation and mobility for all environments, visual, independent living skills, and other skills necessary to activate visual motor abilities.

(18) "Other services" means family education and support services that are identified in the IFSP and that are useful in meeting the developmental needs of the child and the concerns and priorities of the family.

(19) "Respite services" means services to relieve the stress of constant care. Respite care services include, but are not limited to, respite care hours, transportation, and recreation or leisure activities for the child and family. These services are designed to meet the safety and daily care needs of each child and the needs of the child's family so as to reduce family stress generated by provision of constant care to a family member with a developmental disability. Respite services are provided based on the availability of funds.

History: Sec. 53-20-204, MCA; IMP, Sec. 53-20-205, MCA; NEW, 1995 MAR p. 1136, Eff. 6/30/95; TRANS, from SRS, 1998 MAR p. 3124.