State and Jurisdictional Eligibility Definitions for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities under IDEA. Nectas Notes, Number 5. Revised

This paper discusses how the 50 states and 7 jurisdictions that participate in the Part H program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for infants and toddlers define "developmental delay." A table summarizes all the states' and jurisdictions' definitions and their approaches to serving children at risk of having substantial developmental delay. It identifies three categories of risk for adverse developmental outcomes used by many states: established risk, biological/medical risk, and environmental risk. It notes that many definitions address effects of multiple risk factors. The summary table lists the following for each state: level of developmental delay required for eligibility; whether at-risk infants and toddlers are served; and comments. (Contains 10 references.) (DB)