How does eligibility work in New York Early Intervention?

A child is eligible through a diagnosed condition with a high probability of delay, or through a documented developmental delay that meets New York's thresholds. The written determination is part of the child's record.

New York eligibility has two routes. A listed diagnosed condition with a high probability of developmental delay confers eligibility without a score-based delay finding. A developmental delay confers eligibility when qualified personnel document a delay that meets the state rule: a 12-month delay in one domain, a 33 percent delay in one domain, a 25 percent delay in each of two domains, or the standard-deviation thresholds in 10 NYCRR 69-4.23.

The written determination of eligibility becomes part of the child's Early Intervention record and is a prerequisite for writing the Individualized Family Service Plan. Ineligible is a real outcome. It is not the same as a family declining services, and it is not the same as a later discharge from an eligible case.

Tiny records the determination the municipality already made. The product does not invent a parallel eligibility decision. When the source is silent, the record stays silent rather than filling a guess.