Washington's Infant Toddler Early Intervention Program Study: December 1, 1999

This report presents information on infants and toddlers, age's birth to three, who were enrolled in Washington State public services for children with developmental delays or disabilities on December 1, 1999. An estimated 2.5% of children under the age of three in the state of Washington have developmental delays or disabilities. The 1999 rate of enrollment in services in Washington (2.3%) was similar to the rate found in the National Health Interview Survey for children with limitations in some daily activity (2.3%). The enrollment rate (3.4%) for Medicaid-eligible children, with family incomes up to 200% of the FPL, was greater than that for non-Medicaid children (1.4%). The enrollment rate for children of mothers with no prenatal care (4.7%) was over two times higher than that for children of mothers who received first trimester prenatal care (2.1%). Characteristics of infants at birth that were associated with high enrollment rates include low birth weight (10.6%), preterm birth (5.9%), and Apgar score less than 8 (9.6%). Children of mothers with diagnosed substance abuse had an enrollment rate of more than three times that for all other Medicaid children in Washington (9.5% versus 3.0%).