NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee will change into the primary state to increase early intervention companies to infants and kids with developmental delays or disabilities till they attain college age, the state Division of Mental and Developmental Disabilities introduced this month.

The Tennessee Early Intervention System will give eligible households the choice to obtain companies till the start of the college yr following the kid’s fifth birthday. It’s the highest age vary allowed for early intervention companies by way of the federal People with Disabilities Schooling Act.

“We’ve seen kids throughout Tennessee make unimaginable strides of their growth by way of early intervention companies,” Brad Turner, Division of Mental and Developmental Disabilities commissioner, stated in a information launch. “We’re thrilled we will proceed to guide the nation and take this chance to present households the help they should assist their kids develop and put together for varsity.”

The Tennessee Early Intervention System is a voluntary program that gives remedy and different companies without charge to infants and younger kids with developmental delays or disabilities. It offered companies to almost 18,000 kids in fiscal yr 2023.

Final yr, the Division of Mental and Developmental Disabilities gave households the choice to increase companies till the beginning of the college yr following a baby’s fourth birthday. The most recent federal approval extends the size of time for a further yr.

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