§ 2554. Local early intervention coordinating councils. 1. A local early intervention coordinating council shall be established in each municipality. The council shall consist of members appointed by the early intervention official. At least four members of each council shall be parents of infants or toddlers with disabilities or of children aged three through twelve with disabilities. Each council shall also include at least three public or private providers of early intervention services, at least one child care provider or representative of child care providers, the chief executive officers or their designees of the municipality's departments of social services, health and mental hygiene, a representative from the local developmental disabilities services office and a representative from one or more committees on preschool special education of local school districts in the municipality. A local body which has been previously constituted may serve this purpose if it has the appropriate members. The commissioner, in his or her discretion, may waive one or more of the foregoing membership composition requirements in those municipalities where such requirements cannot reasonably be met. 2. The local early intervention coordinating council shall meet, in open forum, at least four times a year for its first two years of existence. 3. The council shall advise the early intervention official regarding:(a) the planning for, delivery and assessment of the early intervention services for eligible children and their families, including the transition from early intervention services to services and programs under section forty-four hundred ten of the education law and other early childhood programs;
(b) the identification of service delivery reforms needed to promote the availability of early intervention services within natural environments;
(c) the coordination of public and private agencies; and
(d) such other matters relating to early intervention policies and procedures within the municipality as are brought to its attention by parents, providers, public agencies or others. 4. The council will report annually to the early intervention official on the adequacy of the early intervention system to ensure the availability of family centered, coordinated services; and interface with other existing planning bodies that serve like populations.
