The Transition Between Early Intervention Services and Preschool Services: Administrative and Policy Issues

By creating two programs to serve young children with handicaps, P.L. 99-457 divided early childhood services into two age groupings: birth through age 2, served by the Early Intervention Program for Handicapped Infants, Toddlers and Their Families; and age 3 through age 5, served by the Preschool Incentives Grant Program. This article will briefly discuss the issues related to the transition of children between the two new programs that may affect state administration of the program and local agency administration. Recommendations for facilitating the family and child's transition and ensuring continuity in services will be provided.