20 U.S.C. § 1491h
Section 1491h · Strategic plan
Amended 1 time on record
Not later than 6 months after the date on which assistance is received by a State under this subchapter, the lead entity of the State, in conjunction with the Council, shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a strategic plan designed to achieve the purposes and policy of this subchapter.
The strategic plan shall include—
(1) a statement of the mission, purpose, and principles of the statewide system of family support for families of children with disabilities in the State;
(2) a statement of family-centered outcomes to be achieved by the statewide system of family support for families of children with disabilities;
(3) specific goals and objectives for developing and implementing, or expanding and improving, the system for providing family support services for families of children with disabilities, and for achieving the family-centered outcomes;
(4) systemic approaches for accomplishing the objectives and achieving the family-centered outcomes, including interagency coordination and cooperation, that builds upon state-of-the-art practices and research findings;
(5) a description of the specific programs, projects, and activities funded under this subchapter and the manner in which the programs, projects, and activities accomplish the objectives and achieve the family-centered outcomes;
(6) a description of an ongoing quality improvement or quality enhancement system, which utilizes information from ongoing measurements of the extent to which family-centered outcomes are achieved, to improve the system;
(7) a description of an appeals process that will be used in resolving any disputes families of children with disabilities may have regarding the determination of eligibility or the provision of family support services to the family or to the child with a disability;
(8) a description of the eligibility criteria to be used to carry out programs, projects, and activities under this subchapter that includes all eligible families;
(9) an analysis of the extent to which family support for a family of a child with a disability is defined as a benefit and not as income; and
(10) a description of the plan to conduct an annual evaluation of the statewide system of family support for families of children with disabilities, in conjunction with the Council, to improve such statewide system and to document progress as required by section 1491i of this title.
The strategic plan shall cover the period of the grant and shall be reviewed and updated on an annual basis to reflect actual experience and family satisfaction information over the preceding year and input from the Council, families of children with disabilities, and other interested parties.
Prior to developing the strategic plan, the State shall solicit input and recommendations from interested members of the public, either by holding public hearings or through an alternative method or methods determined by the lead entity in consultation with the Council. The lead entity shall also obtain the comments and recommendations of the Council. The lead entity, in conjunction with the Council, shall consider the recommendations and attempt to reach a consensus with respect to such recommendations. If the lead entity and the Council are unable to reach a consensus, the lead entity shall include a written explanation of the reason a consensus was not reached in the strategic plan.
The State shall develop a procedure for ensuring ongoing comment from the Council.
The State shall widely disseminate the strategic plan to families of children with disabilities, parent organizations, and other interested persons.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a State from using an existing statewide strategic plan or parts thereof to meet the requirements of this section as long as such plan or the applicable parts thereof are comparable to the specifications of this section.