Pennsylvania Early Intervention, Child Find, and Preschool Special Education

If your toddler is missing developmental milestones — speech delays, motor difficulties, autism screening results, sensory processing concerns — you don't have to wait until kindergarten to get help. Pennsylvania operates an early intervention system for children from birth to age five, and it comes with meaningful legal protections. But the system has significant gaps, the transition to school age is a procedural minefield, and Black families in Pennsylvania face documented access barriers at the very beginning of the process.

Here's how it works and what you need to know.

Part C: Early Intervention for Birth to Age 3

For children from birth to their third birthday, early intervention services in Pennsylvania fall under Part C of IDEA. Services are coordinated through Pennsylvania's Early Intervention program and delivered through a network of county programs and providers.

Eligibility for Part C services in Pennsylvania includes children who:

• Have a developmental delay of 25% or more in one or more areas (cognitive, communication, physical, social-emotional, adaptive behavior)
• Have a diagnosed condition with a high probability of developmental delay
• Are at risk of developmental delay

Services under Part C are delivered in the child's "natural environment" — typically the home — and are coordinated through an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) rather than an IEP. The IFSP is family-centered: it addresses not just the child's developmental goals but also the family's concerns and priorities.

Part C services may include speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, developmental therapy, feeding therapy, vision services, and service coordination. There is no cost to families for early intervention services in Pennsylvania.

The Child Find Obligation

Child Find is a federal IDEA requirement that applies across all stages — from birth through age 21. It obligates the responsible agency to proactively identify, locate, and evaluate children suspected of having a developmental delay or disability, regardless of whether a family has sought help.

For children under age 3, the responsible agency for Child Find is the Pennsylvania Early Intervention program, operated through county-level offices. For school-age children, Child Find responsibility shifts to the Local Educational Agency (the school district or, in some contexts, the charter school).

What Child Find means in practice: If a pediatrician, childcare provider, or community member suspects a child has a developmental delay, that concern can and should trigger a Child Find referral. Schools and early intervention programs cannot wait for a formal parental request; they are supposed to proactively identify children who need evaluation.

However, research shows that Black toddlers with developmental delays in Pennsylvania are five times less likely to receive Early Intervention services than white peers — a disparity rooted in systemic barriers to developmental screening and healthcare access. If your child has been evaluated and found ineligible but you continue to have concerns, you have the right to appeal that determination.

The Critical Transition: Age 3 to School Age

When a child receiving Part C early intervention services approaches their third birthday, a transition to Part B services must occur. This transition is one of the most procedurally significant — and frequently mismanaged — events in the early intervention system.

Under Pennsylvania law, the transition planning process must begin no later than 90 days before the child's third birthday. The responsible parties (Part C service coordinator, family, and the local Intermediate Unit) must:

• Convene a transition conference involving the family and the school district or IU
• Discuss the child's current IFSP and what Part B services, if any, the child may qualify for
• Complete an evaluation under Part B criteria (since Part C and Part B use different eligibility standards) to determine whether the child qualifies for Preschool Early Intervention services

The key distinction: Eligibility for Part C services does not automatically transfer to Part B eligibility. A child who qualified for Part C services at age 2 may or may not qualify for Preschool Early Intervention at age 3. The criteria differ, and many families are stunned to discover their child is found ineligible for school-age services even though they have been receiving early intervention for a year or more.

Preschool Early Intervention: Ages 3 to 5

For children ages 3 through 5 who qualify for Part B Preschool Early Intervention (PSEI), the responsible LEA in Pennsylvania is the local Intermediate Unit (IU) — not the school district. This is a critical jurisdictional distinction. While the school district will eventually become the LEA when the child reaches kindergarten age, during the preschool years, the IU has legal responsibility for providing FAPE.

PSEI services may be delivered in a variety of settings: the child's home, an early childhood program, a Head Start classroom, or a specialized IU preschool classroom. The placement must reflect the Least Restrictive Environment standard — the IEP team must consider what setting is most like typical early childhood environments while still meeting the child's needs.

Services are documented in an IEP, not an IFSP. The transition from IFSP (Part C) to IEP (Part B) is itself a significant process — the IFSP goals do not automatically translate to IEP goals, and the team must develop new measurable goals based on the Part B evaluation.

The School-Age Transition: Age 5 to 6

When a child served by the IU under PSEI approaches kindergarten age, another transition must occur — this time from the IU as LEA to the school district as LEA. The school district must be involved in transition planning and must take over legal responsibility for the child's IEP when they enroll in kindergarten.

This is another juncture where families experience service gaps. Districts sometimes fail to adopt the IU's IEP seamlessly, conduct new evaluations without adequate transition planning, or place children in settings that do not reflect the child's established programming. If your child is approaching kindergarten and has an active PSEI IEP, start attending transition meetings with the school district as early as the spring before kindergarten entry.

What to Request and When

If your child has developmental delays and is under age 3:

• Contact your county's Early Intervention program to request an evaluation. You can find county contacts at Pennsylvania's Early Intervention website.
• You do not need a physician's referral to request an evaluation.
• The evaluation must be completed within 60 calendar days of your consent.

If your child is approaching age 3 and receiving Part C services:

• Confirm that a transition conference has been scheduled at least 90 days before their third birthday.
• Ask the IU what eligibility criteria they use for PSEI and how the evaluation will differ from the Part C evaluation.
• If your child is found ineligible for PSEI and you disagree, you have the right to request an independent educational evaluation or challenge the eligibility determination.

If your child is in PSEI and approaching kindergarten:

• Request a meeting with the school district's special education director the spring before kindergarten entry.
• Ask to review the district's placement options and confirm how the IU IEP will be transitioned to a district IEP.

The Pennsylvania IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook covers the transition from early intervention to school age, with letter templates for requesting evaluations, appealing eligibility decisions, and navigating the IU-to-district handoff. Get the complete toolkit at /us/pennsylvania/advocacy/.

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