1. There
is hereby established the State Interagency Coordinating Council
(hereinafter referred to as the State Council), which shall:
a. Advise
and assist the designated lead agency for early intervention
services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their
families in the performance its responsibilities, particularly
the identification of the sources of fiscal and other support
for services for early intervention programs, assignment of
financial responsibility to the appropriate agency, and the
promotion of the interagency agreements;
b. Advise
and assist the lead agency in the preparation of applications
and amendments thereto;
c. Prepare
and submit an annual report to the Governor and to the U.S.
Secretary of Education on the status of early intervention programs
for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families
operated within the State;
d. Advise
and assist the Department of Education regarding the transition
of toddlers with disabilities to preschool services to the extent
such services are appropriate;
e. Advise
and assist the lead agency in the development and implementation
of the policies that constituted the Statewide system;
f. Assist
the lead agency in achieving the full participation, coordination,
and cooperation of all appropriate public agencies in the State;
g. Assist
the lead agency in the effective implementation of the Statewide
system by establishing a process that includes:
1) seeking
information from service providers, service coordinators,
parents, and others about any federal, State, or local policies
that impede timely service delivery; 2) taking steps to ensure
that any policy problems that impede timely service delivery
are resolved; and
3) to
the extent appropriate, assist the lead agency in the resolution
of disputes.
2. The Council
shall be composed of a minimum of fifteen, and maximum of twenty-five
individuals appointed by the Governor who shall be broadly representative
of the population of the State.
These appointments
shall ensure that:
a. At
least 20 percent of the members are parents, including minority
parents, of infants or toddlers with disabilities or children
with disabilities aged 12 or younger, with knowledge of, or
experience with, programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities.
At least one such member shall be a parent of an infant or toddler
with a disability or a child with a disability aged six or younger.
b. At
least 20 percent of the members are public or private providers
of early intervention services.
c. At
least one member is from the State Legislature.
d. At
least one member is involved in personnel preparation.
e. At
least one member is from each of the State agencies involved
in the provision of, or payment for, early intervention services
to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families
and has sufficient authority to engage in policy planning and
implementation on behalf of such agencies.
f. At
least one member is from the State educational agency responsible
for preschool services to children with disabilities and has
sufficient authority to engage in policy planning and implementation
on behalf of such agency.
g. At
least one member is from the agency responsible for the State
governance of insurance, especially in the area of health insurance.
3. The Governor
shall designate a member of the Council to serve as the chair
and vice-chair of the Council. Any member of the Council who is
a representative of the designated lead agency for early intervention
services shall serve as a non-voting member and may not serve
as the chairperson of the Council.
4. The Council
shall meet at least quarterly and in such places as it deems necessary.
The meetings shall be publicly announced, and to the extent appropriate,
open and accessible to the general public. Interpreters for persons
who are deaf and other necessary services must be provided at
Council meetings, both for Council members and participants. The
Council may use federal funds made available to it to provide
these services.
5. The State
Council may draw upon the assistance of the employees of the Department
of Health, Department of Education, Department of Human Services
and of any other department, organization or agency of the State
which may be available to it for these purposes.
6. Subject
to the availability of appropriations, the State Council may adopt
a budget and expend funds as permitted by federal law.
7. No member
of the Council shall cast a vote on any matter which would provide
direct financial benefit to that member or otherwise give the
appearance of a conflict of interest under State law.
8. Except
as provided by federal law, Council members shall serve without
compensation.
9. This
Order shall take effect immediately.
GIVEN,
under my hand and seal this
21st day of May in the Year of Our
Lord, One Thousand Nine Hundred and
Ninety-Three, and of the Independence
of the United States, the Two Hundred
and Seventeenth.
/s/
Jim Florio
Governor