How Early Intervention Works in Arkansas

Starting Through Arkansas's First Connections Central Intake Unit

A family does not need a pediatrician's referral or a completed diagnosis to start early intervention in Arkansas. Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act entitles infants and toddlers, birth through age two, with a disability or delay to evaluation and services, delivered where a family already spends its time 1Ref 1U.S. Department of Education (2024).IDEA Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities (Part C).That IDEA Part C provides early intervention services to children birth through age 2 with disabilities or developmental delay and their families, delivered in natural environments..

In Arkansas, referrals go to First Connections' Central Intake Unit, operated by the Department of Human Services' Division of Developmental Disabilities Services, the state's designated Part C lead agency 2Ref 2Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (federally funded) (2024).Part C of IDEA.That each state designates its own Part C lead agency responsible for the statewide early-intervention system, applied to Arkansas's Department of Human Services.. A parent, relative, child-care provider, or physician can refer a child directly, and a parent can make the referral without anyone else's sign-off. Arkansas explicitly allows a family to refer its own child, rather than requiring a professional to initiate contact first 3Ref 3Center for Parent Information and Resources (OSEP-funded) (2023).Part C of IDEA: Early Intervention for Babies and Toddlers.That a family can refer its own child for a Part C evaluation directly, without a professional initiating the referral.. Once a referral is logged, a service coordinator is assigned to guide the family through evaluation, eligibility, and, if the child qualifies, the IFSP process, and that coordinator remains the family's point of contact for as long as the child stays enrolled.

Who Qualifies: Arkansas's 25 Percent Standard, a Diagnosed Condition, or Clinical Judgment

A child qualifies for First Connections with a developmental delay of 25 percent or more of the child's chronological age in one or more of five domains: cognitive, physical, communication, social-emotional, or adaptive development. A child also qualifies with a documented diagnosis that carries a high probability of delay, such as a chromosomal disorder, without needing to show the delay has appeared yet.

A third path exists when neither number is clean: the IFSP team can use informed clinical opinion, its professional judgment based on direct observation and testing, to find a child eligible even when standardized scores fall just short of the 25 percent line. That flexibility matters for a toddler whose delay is real but doesn't land neatly on one test.

The comprehensive multidisciplinary developmental evaluation that measures these domains draws on more than one professional's assessment, typically pairing a developmental specialist with a speech-language pathologist, physical therapist, or occupational therapist depending on the concerns a family raises at referral. A family can ask which domains will be tested before the appointment, which helps set expectations for how long the evaluation will take.

The 45-Day Clock, and What Happens Near a Third Birthday

Once First Connections receives a referral, Arkansas rule requires the initial IFSP meeting to happen within 45 calendar days 4Ref 4U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (2024).Part 303 (Part C) — Early Intervention Program For Infants And Toddlers With Disabilities.The federal regulatory requirement of a timely evaluation and IFSP after referral, and what early intervention services under an IFSP can include.. That timeline is the same federal floor every state's Part C system has to meet, and it starts the day the Central Intake Unit logs the referral, not the day an evaluator becomes available.

Arkansas has also written a specific exception into its own rules: if a referral reaches First Connections less than 45 days before a child's third birthday, the program is not required to complete a full comprehensive developmental evaluation and eligibility determination, since there would not be time to both evaluate and deliver services before the child ages out of Part C. A family referring a two-and-a-half-year-old should ask directly how that exception applies rather than assume the standard timeline holds.

A family that disagrees with an eligibility decision, or feels the 45-day window has passed without action, keeps the same procedural rights every Part C system provides, including the right to request mediation or a due process hearing. Once a child is enrolled, the IFSP is reviewed at least every six months, and a family can ask for an earlier review if something changes.

Why First Connections Doesn't Charge Arkansas Families Anything

Arkansas is one of the states that charges no family fee for First Connections services, regardless of a household's income or whether the family has private insurance. Evaluation, service coordination, and every service written into the IFSP come at no cost to the family. That is a deliberate design choice, not a temporary policy — many states run a sliding-scale cost-share for at least some services, and Arkansas does not.

For a family weighing whether to enroll, this removes a variable that complicates the decision in other states: there is no income test to pass and no fee schedule to review before saying yes to services. Arkansas covers First Connections through a mix of state and federal Part C funding rather than passing any share of the cost through to families, which is part of why the program can commit to charging nothing regardless of a family's circumstances.

What Services an Arkansas IFSP Can Include

An IFSP written under Part C can include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, developmental therapy, service coordination, and family training, chosen to match the specific outcomes a family and the evaluation team agree on 4Ref 4U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (2024).Part 303 (Part C) — Early Intervention Program For Infants And Toddlers With Disabilities.The federal regulatory requirement of a timely evaluation and IFSP after referral, and what early intervention services under an IFSP can include.. Speech-language pathologists play a central role for toddlers whose primary concern is communication, since they are trained to screen, assess, and treat social-communication delays that often accompany, or later prove to be, autism 5Ref 5American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2024).Autism (Practice Portal).The role of speech-language pathologists in screening, assessing, and treating social communication and language delays in young children..

Because Part C services are meant to happen in natural environments, a First Connections provider typically comes to the family's home or child-care setting rather than requiring travel to a clinic for every visit 1Ref 1U.S. Department of Education (2024).IDEA Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities (Part C).That IDEA Part C provides early intervention services to children birth through age 2 with disabilities or developmental delay and their families, delivered in natural environments.. Many providers coach the parent or caregiver directly, showing how to build a therapy goal into an everyday routine like mealtime or playtime, so the skill keeps getting practiced between visits rather than only during them.

From First Connections to Preschool: Arkansas's Part B Handoff

First Connections eligibility ends at age three. Arkansas's IFSP team schedules a transition conference in advance of that birthday to plan the move to Part B, the special-education system delivered through local school districts, where eligibility is assessed again under different criteria rather than carried over automatically 6Ref 6U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (2024).IDEA Part C: Early Learning and Early Childhood.The transition from Part C (birth-3) services toward Part B preschool special education at age 3.. Reading about how an IFSP becomes an IEP before that meeting gives a family a head start on what questions to ask. Bringing the current IFSP and recent evaluation reports to that conference generally helps the school district's team move faster, since they can build on First Connections' existing paperwork instead of starting over.

A move across state lines resets the clock, too. A family that used early intervention in Michigan, early intervention in Minnesota, early intervention in Mississippi, early intervention in Missouri, or early intervention in Montana and then relocates to Arkansas will need a fresh referral to First Connections, since eligibility standards, referral processes, and cost rules are each set by the receiving state's own IDEA Part C system 2Ref 2Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (federally funded) (2024).Part C of IDEA.That each state designates its own Part C lead agency responsible for the statewide early-intervention system, applied to Arkansas's Department of Human Services..