Access to Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education educates and empowers families to understand and respond to their children’s developmental needs and supports improved cognition, language, communication, social-emotional skills, school readiness, and long-term outcomes. Unfortunately, data reflect that Maine’s Child Development Services (CDS) system fails to engage a significant number of families. Through a survey and a focus group, the researcher sought to identify barriers to families’ participation in EI / ECSE, from the perspective of CDS providers. Results indicate that families sometimes do not understand of CDS’s role and process; may have differing cultural views on typical child development and the value of intervention; encounter language barriers; and struggle to attend evaluations and meetings during typical “school hours.” Addressing these challenges is key to ensuring two important principles of IDEA: that young children with disabilities are identified, and that their families are full partners in decisions about their education. Recommendations include improving communication with local healthcare and educational partners; strengthening ties with local organizations serving children, including immigrant and refugee groups; providing “family friendly” documentation in multiple languages; and examining how technology and expanded office hours can support family participation.
