A Functional Analysis of the Evolution of Public Policy for Handicapped Young Children

Abstract

Public policy governing early intervention programs for very young handicapped and at-risk children in Massachusetts underwent major changes between 1980 and 1984. Using a case study format this paper notes the statewide constraints on policy, administration, and finances that impaired early intervention service delivery prior to 1984. The process of policy change and formation is analyzed by focusing on the principal catalysts for change: key individuals and constituency groups, critical documents and research studies, and important political and economic events. These factors and others that were critical to the transformation of early intervention policy are viewed in terms of four functional stages: issue definition, proposal formulation, support mobilization, and decision enactment. The potential effects of the policy changes are addressed, and the generalizable features of the analytic framework are discussed.