Alaska Early Intervention to School: Navigating the Part C to Part B Transition

If your toddler has been receiving early intervention services through Alaska's Infant Learning Program, the transition to school-based special education at age 3 should be smooth and coordinated. In practice, it's one of the most vulnerable points in Alaska's special education system — a narrow window where families can fall through the cracks if the handoff isn't managed carefully.

Here's what the transition is supposed to look like, where it typically goes wrong in Alaska, and what you can do to protect your child's services during the switchover.

Part C and Part B: The Two Systems

IDEA is divided into parts. Part C governs early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities from birth through age 2. Part B governs special education services for children aged 3 through 21.

In Alaska, Part C services are delivered through the Infant Learning Program (ILP). ILP providers operate through non-profits and regional health corporations statewide. They deliver speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, developmental intervention, and family support services to eligible children in their natural environments — typically the home.

When a child turns 3, the legal responsibility shifts from the ILP (Part C) to the local school district (Part B). The child moves from family-centered, home-based services to school-based services. The Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is replaced by an IEP.

This transition is significant, not just administratively. The philosophy changes: Part C services focus on the family and natural environment; Part B focuses on the child's access to education and the general curriculum. Services that were available under the IFSP may not automatically continue under the IEP.

Alaska's Transition Timeline Requirements

The transition from Part C to Part B must begin no later than the child's second birthday. Specifically:

• By age 2 years, 6 months (30 months): The ILP must conduct a transition conference with the family and the receiving school district. This meeting reviews the child's current program, discusses what the school district can offer, and begins planning for the changeover.
• At least 90 days before the child's third birthday: The ILP must notify the school district that a child may be eligible for special education services. This is the formal notification that triggers the school district's evaluation obligation.
• Before the third birthday: The school district must, with parental consent, evaluate the child and develop an IEP (if eligible) so services can begin on the child's third birthday with no gap.

The 90-day evaluation timeline under 4 AAC 52.115 applies here. The district has 90 days from obtaining parental consent to complete the evaluation and, if eligible, develop the IEP and begin services. When the deadline is the child's third birthday, the math is tight: if consent is obtained late in the process, the district must move quickly to meet both the 90-day requirement and the birthday deadline.

What Can Go Wrong in Alaska

Coordination failures between ILP and the district. The ILP and the local school district are separate systems with separate staffing and administrative structures. In urban areas, coordination protocols are better established. In rural communities — particularly where the ILP provider is a regional health corporation and the district is a small administrative unit — communication failures are common. Families have found themselves at their child's third birthday with no IEP in place because the notification was late or the consent process was delayed.

Geography delays the evaluation. Once consent is obtained, the school district must schedule and complete a full evaluation, which in a remote community means getting an itinerant school psychologist, SLP, and OT to the child. In rural Alaska, weather delays and provider scheduling can push this process to the edge of the 90-day limit. If the district misses the deadline, that's a procedural violation — and your child may start school without an IEP.

Services change significantly at the transition. Part C IFSP services are family-centered and often intensive, delivered in the home multiple times per week. Part B IEP services are child-centered and education-focused. A toddler receiving five days per week of developmental intervention at home may not receive the same level of service intensity under the IEP. This doesn't necessarily mean the IEP is wrong — the legal standard is educational appropriateness, not continuation of Part C service levels. But the reduction can be jarring, and parents sometimes don't realize they can advocate at the IEP meeting for the level of services they believe is appropriate.

Rural families may not know the timeline. In small communities, the transition process depends heavily on the ILP coordinator proactively initiating it. If your ILP coordinator doesn't have your child's transition process moving by the time your child is 2.5 years old, ask about it directly. Do not wait for the system to initiate on its own schedule.

What to Do to Protect the Transition

Request the transition conference early. As soon as your child's second birthday passes, contact your ILP coordinator and ask when the transition conference with the school district will be scheduled. It must happen before 30 months. If you're approaching 30 months without a scheduled conference, put the request in writing.

Request evaluation consent paperwork early. The earlier you sign the consent to evaluate, the earlier the 90-day clock starts, and the more likely the evaluation will complete before your child's third birthday. Ask the school district to provide the consent paperwork immediately after the transition conference.

Attend the IEP meeting prepared. Your child's IEP meeting is not just a formality. It determines the services your child will receive. Bring documentation from the ILP: the most recent IFSP, therapy progress notes, and the most recent evaluation reports. Ask the IEP team to explain how the proposed services will address the same needs that Part C services were meeting.

Know that IFSP goals can inform IEP goals. The IEP team does not start from scratch. They should review your child's IFSP and use that information as part of establishing the present level of academic achievement and functional performance. If they're not referencing the IFSP, ask why.

Request extended school year evaluation early. If your child is young and the IEP team anticipates summer regression is a risk, ESY eligibility should be addressed at the first IEP meeting, not deferred until summer is imminent.

Special Considerations for Alaska Native Families

The ILP in many rural communities operates through regional tribal health organizations. The transition from an ILP embedded in a community health corporation to a school district may involve a meaningful cultural shift — from providers who understand the community deeply to a school system that may be less familiar with the family's cultural context.

If this is a concern, you can request at the IEP meeting that the team discuss how the IEP will be culturally appropriate for your child's background. The Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools provide a framework for this discussion, and parents have the right to raise cultural context as a factor in both evaluation and service design.

After the Transition: Ages 3 to 21

Once your child enters Part B services, Alaska provides special education through age 21 (or graduation, whichever comes first). The district's obligation continues even for students who age out of the standard K-12 timeline. Students with significant disabilities who have not met graduation requirements may continue to receive IEP services through age 21.

Tracking the transition from early intervention to school, and from school to adult life, is a long arc that requires consistent parent involvement at every stage. The Alaska IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook at /us/alaska/advocacy/ includes a transition timeline checklist that covers both the Part C-to-Part B handoff at age 3 and the postsecondary transition planning process required by age 16 — so you're not navigating either transition without a roadmap.

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