§ 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.