Recent federal legislation (PL 99-457) has authorized special services for handicapped infants, toddlers, and their families. School districts, their personnel, and in particular school psychologists must be prepared to facilitate the education and general developmental needs of a young age group with which they may be unfamiliar. Data on 437 children referred for services between 1988 and 1989 were collected and analyzed. Descriptive statistics were computed representing the pattern of service delivery provided to young children over a 2-year period. The findings provide a realistic view of the type and intensity of services often needed by this age group, the frequency of specific handicapping conditions, and the types of recommendations made.
The usefulness of the information to future planning related to both the evaluation process and service delivery is discussed.
Public Law 99-457, the Federal Preschool Program, represents the federal government's commitment to provide early intervention services for all eligible infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their families. Part B extends all rights and privileges of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (PL 94-142) to handicapped children between the ages of 3 and 5 , while Part H authorizes the establishment of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary early intervention system for infants, toddlers, and their families from birth to age 2. The law is based in part on the premise that early intervention will represent long-term savings to the nation by promoting child and family development, minimizing the likelihood of institutionalization, and supporting families of children with special needs (Gallagher, 1989). Services that may be provided include not only special education activities but also, where appropriate, "family training, counseling, speech pathology and audiology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychological services, limited medical and health services, screening and assessment services, and special instruction" (Garwood & Sheehan, 1989, p. 2).
This federal mandate, formally enacted in July 1990, requires school districts to provide evaluation and educational services for an age group they have not previously served. In addition, the inclusion of psychological services and family training as viable services for young children and their families may create new demands for school districts and personnel. Although individual states determine the agencies that will coordinate the array of other needed services, it is likely that school personnel such as school psychologists will be expected to be aware of and assist in coordinating the services provided. In particular, the combined educational and mental health background of school psychologists may place them in a unique position to facilitate such efforts as well as provide specific site-based psychological services.
However, the unique behavioral and developmental characteristics of infants and preschoolers make working with this young age group challenging and require a set of techniques, skills, and instrumentation to which many school psychologists have not been exposed. It will be important that school psychologists have a clear idea of the Requests for reprints should be sent to Maryann Santos de Barona, Division of Psychology in Education, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-0611.
'Regular field clinics were conducted in rural school districts to accommodate children unable to travel to the central evaluation site.