§ 42-72.2-2. Legislative intent - Program objectives. The family support program shall:

(1) Provide information and support to all parents with infants and toddlers that promotes the growth, health, and well being of children and the strength and integrity of the family;

(2) Provide families with a systematic, ongoing process that facilitates identification of unmet health, educational, and/or social service needs;

(3) Provide families with information regarding service options, which are consistent with expressed needs, and provide assistance and support, which enables families to successfully and independently access those services;

(4) Develop a process which facilitates the prompt and effective connection between child and family needs and existing community based services;

(5) Coordinate the array of service options that are fully integrated into existing health and educational programs statewide, to minimize duplication, fragmentation, and cost;

(6) Develop a system that facilitates follow up of children and families, monitors the effectiveness of services provided, and specifically identifies gaps in existing services and the prevalence of such voids statewide;

(7) Develop a process that integrates the "child find" requirements and expectations of 20 U.S.C. § 1471 et seq., to eliminate the need for a segregated identification system for special needs children and their families; and

(8) Develop a process which effectively coordinates all existing child and family programs, specifically identifying the role and responsibility of each state human service agency in the delivery and administration of the family support program.

History of Section. (P.L. 1989, ch. 213, § 4.)