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The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) provides leadership and financial support to assist states, local districts, institutions of higher education, and families.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) authorizes formula grants to states and discretionary grants to higher-education institutions and other nonprofit organizations to support research, demonstrations, technical assistance and dissemination, technology and personnel development, and parent-training and information centers.

Visit our IDEA Statute/Regulations and Policy Support pages for more specific, searchable IDEA law and policy information.

Overview

The IDEA requires states and other public agencies to implement programs designed to improve results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities and their families. OSEP reviews and approves state plans and monitors the IDEA Part B and C formula grant programs to ensure consistency with federal requirements including by providing policy guidance and information organized by topic area. For additional formula grant related information including announcements, content on monthly technical assistance calls, other events, and topic-specific resources refer to the Monitoring and State Improvement Planning page at the OSEP IDEAs That Work website.

State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report

States must submit a State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) by February of each year. The submission uses the previous year’s performance data. For example, states’ federal fiscal year 2018 APR, due February 2020, reported on school year 2018-19 performance. States started submitting the SPP/APR electronically through the EDFacts Metadata and Process System (EMAPS) in February 2020.

Part B

Part C

Grants

OSEP administers three formula grant programs authorized by the IDEA. These formula grants are awarded to states annually to support early-intervention services for:

  1. infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families,
  2. preschool children ages three through five, and
  3. special education for children and youth with disabilities.

Part C Checklist

  • Grants Part C — Extension Checklist: PDF
  • Grants Part C — Methods Checklist: Word | PDF
  • Grants Part C — Section II.A. Checklist: Word | PDF
  • Grants Part C — System of Payments Checklist: Word | PDF
  • Grants Part C — Transition Checklist: Word | PDF

Differentiated Monitoring and Support

OSEP provides differentiated monitoring and support to states as part of its results driven accountability system. Under the results driven accountability system, OSEP’s differentiated monitoring and support focuses on both compliance and improving results for children with disabilities. OSEP differentiates its approach for each state based on the state’s unique strengths, progress, challenges, and needs.

General Resources

Fiscal

General Supervision

Dispute Resolution

Monitoring Schedule

Phase 2 engagement month/year identified for each Cohort in the table below.

 TEAM A TEAM B TEAM C TEAM D
Cohort 1 2022–2023 AR-C 05/2022 AR-B 11/2022 MI-C 05/2022 SC-B 11/2022 AK-B 06/2022 NY-C 12/2022 MT-C 06/2022 MT-B 06/2023
KY-C 05/2023 KY-B 11/2023 NV-B 11/2023 NV-C 11/2023 ID-B 10/2023 ID-C 10/2023 CO-C 11/2023 CO-B 12/2023
–
Cohort 2 2024–2025 IA-B 08/2024 IA-C 08/2024 AS-B 09/2023 AS-C 09/2023 KS-B 09/2024 KS-C 09/2024 IN-B 08/2024 IN-C 08/2024
OR-B 10/2024 OR-C 10/2024 ME-B 09/2024 ME-C 09/2024 NE-B 10/2024 NE-C 10/2024 MS-B 10/2024 MS-C 10/2024
ND-B 01/2025 ND-C 01/2025 TN-B 10/2024 TN-C 10/2024 UT-B 11/2024 UT-C 11/2024 LA-B 12/2024 LA-C 12/2024
–
Cohort 3 2025–2026 RI-B RI-C FSM NH-B NH-C GA-B GA-C
MO-B MO-C MH DE-B DE-C PR-B PR-C
PA-B PA-C PW MA-B MA-C CA-B CA-C
WA-B WA-C

Fiscal

Congress appropriates IDEA funds intended to support early intervention, special education, and related services for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and their families.

OSEP-funded Technical Assistance Centers

OSEP-funded Technical Assistance Centers work with states on implementation of  fiscal requirements and processes: 

Fiscal Resources

Fiscal Implementation Team

OSEP’s Fiscal Implementation Team (FIT) supports states, through monitoring, technical assistance, and dissemination of guidance, in the use of IDEA funds consistent with federal statutes and regulations. FIT members working with state educational agencies and lead agencies in support of IDEA Part B and Part C grant programs are:

OSEP Team States/Entities OSEP Audit Facilitator OSEP Fiscal Accountability Facilitator
Team A Alabama,  Arkansas, District of Columbia, Iowa, Kentucky,  Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Wyoming Susan Murray Jennifer Finch
Team B American Samoa,  Connecticut, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam,  Maine,  Marshall Islands, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma,  South Carolina, Washington Charles Kniseley Alecia Walters
Team C Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas,  Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,  Utah,  Virgin Islands Susan Kauffman Laura Duos
Team D Bureau of Indian Education,  California,  Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota,  Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin Lynne Fairfax Danny Rice

Matthew Schneer, Associate Division Director/FIT Facilitator

In addition to adhering to IDEA requirements, including fiscal requirements, recipients of IDEA formula grant awards must also follow provisions under the Uniform Guidance, EDGAR, GEPA, and other applicable Federal regulations.

IDEA Fiscal Requirements

IDEA authorizes formula grants to states for three programs: The Grants to States program and the Preschool Grants program are authorized by Part B, and the Early Intervention program for infants and toddlers is authorized under Part C. All three of these programs authorize ED to award formula grants to states that establish eligibility.

Assistance Listing Numbers (ALN) for IDEA Grants:

  • Part B Grants to States (611): 027
  • Part B Preschool Grants (619): 173
  • Part C Grants: 181

Part B

Part C

Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200)

Establishes uniform administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit requirements for Federal awards to non-Federal entities.

Uniform Guidance Subpart A

General Provisions — Subpart B

Pre-Federal Award Requirements and Contents of Federal Awards — Subpart C

Post Federal Award Requirements — Subpart D

Cost Principles — 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart E

Audit Requirements — 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F

Appendix XI, Compliance Supplement

Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) consists of administrative regulations governing Department of Education grant programs found in parts 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 82, 84, 86, 97, 98 and 99 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The information below references some key provisions of Part 76, for State-Administered programs, applicable to IDEA Part B and Part C grants. States are also referred to the link for Part 81, the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), which addresses key enforcement provisions.

Part 76—State-Administered Program

Part 81—General Education Provisions Act — Enforcement

Other EDGAR Sections of Interest

Excess costs under Part B of IDEA are defined here and the specifics of calculations are further described in Appendix A of the Part B regulations.

Excess Costs Resources:

Fiscal Monitoring activities are currently part of OSEP’s system of differentiated monitoring and support to states, known as DMS 2.0 Fiscal monitoring protocols for Part B and Part C State systems are posted on the DMS 2.0 site. From 2011–2016, OSEP monitored states’ procedures for ensuring compliance with the fiscal requirements of Part B of the IDEA and related statutes and regulations. In 2016, OSEP began providing DMS to states as part of its Results Driven Accountability (RDA) system. Reports from those monitoring activities, including fiscal monitoring, are available here. For information about requirements for State Educational Agency and Lead Agency monitoring of their state’s Part B and Part C programs, refer to key fiscal requirements under IDEA, Uniform Guidance, and EDGAR.

Both Part B and Part C of IDEA include requirements for maintenance of effort (MOE). Part B has provisions to address MOE both at the state level (sometimes described as a requirement to help provide a year-to-year level of financial consistency/protection for schools and school districts), and at the LEA level (sometimes described as providing that same kind of consistency for children and youth with disabilities who are in need of special education and related services.) Part C’s MOE requirement is at the state level.

Part B Maintenance of State financial support (MFS)

Under the MFS requirement, a state must not reduce the amount of state financial support for special education and related services for children with disabilities, or otherwise made available because of the excess costs of educating those children, below the amount of that support for the preceding fiscal year. The Department is authorized to waive the MFS requirement for a state, for one fiscal year at a time, if the Department determines that doing so would be equitable due to an exceptional or uncontrollable circumstance, such as a natural disaster or a precipitous and unforeseen decline in the financial resources of a state. 34 C.F.R. § 300.163.

Part B MFS Resources:

Part B LEA MOE

The purpose of the LEA MOE requirement is to ensure that LEAs provide the financial support necessary to make a free appropriate public education available to eligible children with disabilities. Under this requirement, an LEA may not reduce the amount of local, or state and local, funds that it spends for the education of children with disabilities below the amount it spent for the preceding fiscal year using both the eligibility standard (34 C.F.R. §300.203(a)) and the compliance standard (34 C.F.R. §300.203(b)).

Part B LEA MOE Resources:

Part C State MOE

The purpose of the IDEA Part C MOE requirement is to ensure that Federal IDEA Part C funds are used to supplement and not supplant State and local funds for early intervention services, consistent with the payor of last resort requirements in IDEA section 640 and legislative intent under IDEA Part C that Federal funds for early intervention be used as “glue money” maximizing the use of other available funding resources, as required by IDEA section 635(a)(10)(B). In calculating the level of effort (total amount of State and local funds actually expended for early intervention services), States must include all State and local public funds actually expended on services required under IDEA Part C, including evaluations, assessments and service coordination services. States may not include in this calculation the Federal portion of Medicaid (Title XIX of the Social Security Act) or Tricare, reimbursements from private insurance, or program income from family fees under a system of payments adopted under section 632(4)(B) of IDEA and 34 CFR 303.520 and 303.521. Under 34 CFR 303.225(a)(2) States must provide an assurance in their annual IDEA Part C application that IDEA Part C will be used so as to supplement the level of State and local funds expended for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families and in no case to supplant those State and local funds. The total amount of State and local funds budgeted for expenditures in the current fiscal year for early intervention services for children eligible under this part and their families must be at least equal to the total amount of State and local funds actually expended for early intervention services for these children and their families in the most recent preceding fiscal year for which the information is available. To be in compliance with current 34 CFR 303.225(b), a State must also expend at least as much for early intervention for these children and their families as they did in the prior year.

Part C MOE resources:

There are certain categories of direct costs for which SEAs and state LAs must obtain OSEP’s approval prior to using Federal IDEA funds. The three common categories for which states must seek prior approval are:

  1. Equipment expenditures with a per unit cost of $5,000 or more;
  2. Participant Support Costs such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (not state employees) when such costs exceed $5,000 per individual participant in the activity; and
  3. Revision of cost items within budget and program plans, including transfers among direct cost categories in which the cumulative amount exceeds or is expected to exceed ten percent of the current total approved budget.

Each of these categories is affected by and subject to requirements under both IDEA and the Uniform Guidance, as well as standing ED guidance. Policy Support #22-03, “Guidance for Common Prior Approval Requests under IDEA Parts B and C,” provides a summary of the approval process and requirements for these three common categories. The guidance also reminds SEAs and State LAs of applicable prior approvals granted through OSERS and includes links to previous guidance documents on the subject. LEAs and State LA should review the guidance and submit prior approval requests through the OSEP State Lead.

Discretionary Grantees

OSEP IDEAs That Work

OSEP, directly and through its partners and grantees, develops a wide range of evidence-based products, publications, and resources to assist states, local district personnel, and families to improve results for students with disabilities. For additional information about OSEP discretionary grant recipients, visit the Resource Centers’ page or OSEP IDEAs That Work. OSEP IDEAs That Work provides centralized access to information from research-to-practice initiatives funded by OSEP that address the provisions of the IDEA and the Every Students Succeeds Act. This site includes resources, links, and other important information relevant to OSEP’s research-to-practice efforts.

Discretionary Grant Opportunities

OSEP offers a variety of discretionary grants through a competitive process. Visit our Discretionary Grants page for more information. For additional information about OSEP discretionary grant recipients, visit the OSEP’s Discretionary Grants Public Database.

IDEA Topic Areas

OSEP, along with other Department offices, Federal agencies, and OSEP discretionary funded-grant recipients, provide numerous IDEA-topic area resources. For Federal resources for IDEA stakeholders on college- and career-readiness standards, tool kits, topic issues in education, intervention IDEA briefs, and a resource library, visit OSEP IDEAs That Work. For more specific resources on a variety of IDEA topics, visit the Topic Areas resource page. This resource page includes information and resources from the Department, other Federal agencies, and Federally-funded technical assistance centers.

Severe Discrepancy, Screening

Related Resources

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