Addressing challenges at the intersection of early intervention and child welfare.

BACKGROUND: The Keep Children and Families Safe Act amendment to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 2003 mandated children under age three who are involved with Child Welfare (CW) to receive a referral to the system for early intervention (EI). While there is strong rationale for providing developmental services to young children and families impacted by maltreatment, the early implementation of this policy brought about many challenges related to interagency coordination and readiness of providers to provide cross-systems care. Currently, as the system and providers within the system recover from the effects of Covid-19, a predicted increase in need of services may exacerbate historical gaps in the provision of services to families involved with CW. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This policy-focused paper explores issues impacting CW and EI providers who coordinate care between CW and EI services. METHODS: This paper provides a historical examination of these challenges and proposes an approach for improving developmental services for families referred from CW, specifically through the lens of addressing resources and supports available to providers. RESULTS: The proposed approach includes an increase and reprioritization of resources to support provider readiness and well-being. CONCLUSIONS: By focusing on support for providers, the authors propose a reduction of stress and improvement of services at each level of the "well-being" system.

Free Appropriate Public Education in the Time of COVID-19

In the spring of 2020, public schools across the United States were forced to close their campuses due to an emerging public health crisis caused by the detection of the first cases of the COVID-19 virus. Although schools closed their buildings, the delivery of educational services did not stop. This included the ongoing provision of services mandated by federal law under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which establish educational protections, processes, and rights for students with disabilities and their families to ensure educational equity. In this article, we describe the potential legal implications of COVID-19 for schools, students with disabilities, and their families with a focus on challenges faced in rural areas. Strategies for mitigating legal impacts are described.