"When I was new to the job, I pounded the pavement to talk with special education directors in school systems. I had to be a real go-getter and negotiate for what I knew our Head Start children needed. It was a little rocky at first, but in the end, I developed strong relationships with the schools."  – Head Start disability services coordinator

This chapter is about building partnerships to support children with disabilities and their families. As the disability services coordinator, you’ll learn how to create these partnerships and use formal agreements to keep them strong. 

Your job includes working closely with local agencies under IDEA Parts C and B, as well as with community groups and other partners. When your program builds strong partnerships, systems, and services, you’re more likely to have a coordinated approach that meets the needs of children with disabilities and their families.

Key Ideas

• Many partners help support children with disabilities, so it’s important to work well together.
• An MOU is a formal agreement that defines how partners will work together.
• MOUs should respect children and families. They should consider various experiences and languages.
• When partners communicate and collaborate, families get clear information, providers learn from each other, and children receive better services. 

Partnerships for Children with Disabilities 

Head Start programs work with many community partners to support children and families. The rules for partnerships are in the Performance Standards at Family and Community Engagement Program Services, 45 CFR §1302 Subpart E.

Programs may create joint agreements, procedures, or contracts with partners to:

• Provide services at the Head Start site or in the community.
• Help families connect with local resources.

Partners may include:

• Health care providers
• Family support services
• Housing and legal aid organizations
• Libraries and children’s museums
• Agencies that support families experiencing homelessness
• Publicly funded preschools
• State or local Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS)
• State education data systems

Head Start programs must also follow rules in Additional Services for Children with Disabilities, 45 CFR §1302 Subpart F. These rules require programs to create MOUs with their local IDEA Parts C and B agencies.

These MOUs help programs:

• Identify children who may qualify for IDEA services based on screening, evaluation, or Child Find efforts.
• Improve services for children with disabilities, including referrals, evaluations, service coordination, and learning in the least restrictive environment (LRE).
• Support smooth transitions from:
  • Part C (infants and toddlers) to Part B (preschoolers)
  • Head Start Preschool to kindergarten
• Help develop or review IFSPs (for infants and toddlers) or IEPs (for preschoolers) if the family asks.

Under Transition Services, 45 CFR §1302 Subpart G, Head Start programs must work closely with:

• Early Head Start and Head Start Preschool teams
• Local education agencies (LEAs)
• State education departments
• Families
• Kindergarten teachers

These partnerships help all children move smoothly into new settings — especially children with an IFSP or IEP, who may need extra support.

What’s in a formal partnership?

An MOU is a written agreement between a Head Start program and a government agency; these are often called interagency MOUs. They are not legally binding, but they are helpful.

MOUs aren't new to school districts. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, all Title I schools must have agreements with Head Start programs. This federal rule helps ensure that children, including children with disabilities, receive higher quality learning experiences and a smooth transition from Head Start Preschool to kindergarten.

An MOU: 

• Defines each partner’s roles and responsibilities.
• Sets shared goals.
• Outlines how partners will communicate and coordinate.
• Includes timelines and deadlines.
• May include funding details and confidentiality rules.

All partners sign the MOU. The Head Start director signs for your program. As the DSC, you help shape the MOU to make sure it supports children with disabilities and their families. Other staff — like the health manager, mental health consultant, education manager, and professional development coordinator, may also give input.

What MOUs Often Cover

• Sharing screening results.
• Setting up referral procedures.
• Coordinating evaluations (e.g., timing, location, and staff).
• Assigning specialists.
• Allowing staff to visit each other’s programs.
• Providing translation services for families.
• Planning transitions for children with IFSPs and IEPs.
• Scheduling meetings and inviting the right people, including staff and families.
• Offering joint training for Head Start staff, special educators, and early intervention providers.
• Planning for additional services, like:
  • Summer programs for children entering kindergarten
  • Special education teachers modeling strategies in Head Start programs
• Meeting Head Start Program Performance Standards and IDEA requirements. For example:
  • Keeping family and child information private, including what information is shared, when, and with whom.
  • Getting parental consent for referrals and service plans and planning for situations when families don’t give consent or can’t attend meetings.

Not All Collaborations Are in MOUs 

Some partnerships happen naturally through a child’s IFSP or IEP. For example:

• A speech therapist and physical therapist may work together in the classroom.
• This gives program staff a chance to learn from specialists — and vice versa.
• It’s professional development in action!

You can form other partnerships beyond the IDEA agencies and early intervention and special education providers. Maybe the public library wants to set up story times for toddlers. Perhaps the natural history museum offers workshops for preschoolers and their families. As the DSC, you are a strong advocate for including children with disabilities in community-based learning.

State-level Agreements

Some states have agreements between their Part C and Part B agencies and Head Start programs. These may include extra details for your local MOUs. Contact your Head Start Collaboration Office to learn more.

What is your role in building partnerships?

Creating strong partnerships takes time, especially when people come from different systems.

As the DSC, you are the main contact for community partners who support children with disabilities and their families. Each partner has its own way of working, so it’s important to clearly define everyone’s roles and responsibilities together. 

Who You Work With

Your program must have written agreements with two key partners:

• The local school district, aka local education agency (LEA) for services for preschoolers with disabilities.
• The IDEA Part C agency in your area for services for infants and toddlers.

The Part C agency might be:

• A state health department
• A family or social services agency
• A rehabilitation agency
• A community agency like Easter Seals or United Cerebral Palsy that supports children under age 3 and their families.

Planning for Partnerships

As the DSC, you want to work with agencies that:

• Provide services in natural settings for infants and toddlers.
• Support learning in the LRE for children age 3 and older.
• Understand each other’s roles and avoid repeating services.
• Communicate regularly and share data.
• Solve problems together.
• Ask families what they need and include them in meetings.
• Help track children’s progress toward IFSP, IEP, or 504 Plan goals.
• Support smooth transitions between programs and schools.
• Meet families’ language needs with translation and interpretation.
• Respect families’ experiences and values.

Because you work with many people inside and outside your program, you have lots of chances to build strong partnerships.

Reviewing and Revising Partnerships

Partnership agreements can change. You can update them as needed. New partners may join your program, and agencies like your LEAs may change how they work. For example:

• If more families speak a new language, your MOU with the LEA may need to include translation services for IFSP or IEP meetings.
• If a local hospital closes, your MOU with the Part C agency or medical clinics may need to reflect new health risks, like low birth weight.

How to Review Collaborations

Work with your disabilities team and program leaders to review partnerships each year. Include others who support disability services, like:

• The HMHSAC
• Managers
• Family advocates
• Transportation staff

To understand how well your partnerships are working:

• Add questions to your program’s self-assessment.
• Talk with your management team and community partners.
• Ask families for feedback.
• Use your community assessment to find new potential partners.

Keep the Focus on Children and Families

Once you know your program’s strengths and challenges, work with managers to update the MOU. Be patient. Some agencies may have more layers of approval than Head Start requirements. But remember you’re doing this for children with disabilities and their families. You are their voice in these important partnerships.

Tips to Improve Your Partnerships and Collaborations

• Update or create MOUs. Work with early intervention and special education partners to identify what’s working and what’s not. Make a list of ideas to improve.
  • See Appendix A for a sample MOU.
• Review how you communicate. Look for both formal and informal ways your team, families, and partners share information. Update them if needed.
• Keep messages to families clear and consistent. Make sure all community partners give families the same information. This helps reduce confusion and stress.
• Promote teamwork for all children. Offer joint training for staff and partners. Provide coaching to improve teaching and home visiting practices. Help families ask for more support when needed.
• Share data safely. Make sure your MOUs protect child records. Review how you collect and share data and improve your process, if needed.
• Understand health partnerships. Ask the health care provider how your program works with community services to serve children with disabilities and special health care needs.
• Encourage community involvement. Remind others why early intervention and disability services matter. Use your Head Start program to lead the way in creating learning environments that serve children with and without disabilities together.

People Who Can Help You

• Local Part B and Part C local agency staff
• Community partners
• Program management
• Program staff in health, mental health, nutrition, transportation, and other service areas
• Program staff in professional development, finance, and data management
• Families
• State IDEA agencies
• Head Start Collaboration Office 

Questions to Ask Your Team

• Do we include all early intervention and special education partners in our MOUs?
• Do we have written agreements with other community organizations that provide disability services, such as mental health clinics?
• Do we partner with community programs that serve children with and without disabilities together, such as recreation centers and libraries?
• How do we share information and data amongst our partners?
• How do we engage families in planning and carrying out partnerships?
• How do our partnerships support a coordinated approach for children with disabilities?
• How often do we review and update our MOUs?
• Are we duplicating services or funding? If so, how can we fix that?

Scenario: Strengthening Transitions Through Partnership

Sequoia Head Start and the Mt. Thomas school district have worked well together for years. They’ve had the same MOU in place, and many Head Start children go on to attend the local elementary school. The principal has created a welcoming environment and encourages families to get involved in school activities. Overall, the partnership is strong.

But Lydia, the DSC at Sequoia Head Start, hears concerns from families. Some parents say the school isn’t doing enough to support children with disabilities during the transition to kindergarten. They feel the teachers don’t individualize learning the way Head Start Preschool teachers did. Large-group activities are hard for their children, and they prefer small-group learning. Families also want their children with disabilities to have chances to make friends with children without disabilities.

To learn more, Lydia surveys parents of recent Head Start Preschool graduates. The results show mixed feedback:

• Families are happy with adaptive equipment, transportation, and health services.
• They like the school’s friendly environment.
• They are unhappy with the “pull-out” model. They want children with and without disabilities to learn together in the same classroom.

Lydia brings everyone together for a team meeting. She invites the Head Start director, school staff, the principal, teachers, and families. She shares the survey results. Everyone agrees that things need to improve. They decide to start with staff development.

A group of teachers and special educators begins meeting regularly to study how to teach children with and without disabilities together. They want to learn how to better individualize instruction in kindergarten. Head Start coaches visit kindergarten classrooms to model teaching strategies. Both teams plan monthly training sessions focused on individualization. They’re excited to learn from each other.

Lydia updates the MOU to include these new professional development efforts. Both the school district and Head Start staff agree that the revised MOU is stronger and better supports children with disabilities.