Section 2554. Local early intervention coordinating councils

1. A local
  early intervention coordinating council shall  be  established  in  each
  municipality.  The  council  shall  consist  of members appointed by the
  early intervention official. At least four members of each council shall
  be parents of infants or toddlers with disabilities or of children  aged
  three  through twelve with disabilities. Each council shall also include
  at least  three  public  or  private  providers  of  early  intervention
  services,  at  least  one child care provider or representative of child
  care providers, the chief executive officers or their designees  of  the
  municipality's   departments  of  social  services,  health  and  mental
  hygiene, a representative  from  the  local  developmental  disabilities
  services  office  and  a  representative  from one or more committees on
  preschool  special  education  of  local   school   districts   in   the
  municipality.  A  local  body  which has been previously constituted may
  serve this purpose if it has the appropriate members.  The commissioner,
  in his or her discretion,  may  waive  one  or  more  of  the  foregoing
  membership  composition  requirements in those municipalities where such
  requirements cannot reasonably be met.
    2. The local early intervention coordinating council  shall  meet,  in
  open  forum,  at  least  four  times  a  year for its first two years of
  existence.
    3. The council shall advise the early intervention official regarding:
    (a)  the  planning  for,  delivery  and  assessment   of   the   early
  intervention   services   for  eligible  children  and  their  families,
  including the transition from early intervention  services  to  services
  and  programs  under section forty-four hundred ten of the education law
  and other early childhood programs;
    (b) the identification of service delivery reforms needed  to  promote
  the   availability   of   early  intervention  services  within  natural
  environments;
    (c) the coordination of public and private agencies; and
    (d) such other matters relating to  early  intervention  policies  and
  procedures  within  the  municipality as are brought to its attention by
  parents, providers, public agencies or others.
    4. The council will report annually to the early intervention official
  on  the  adequacy  of  the  early  intervention  system  to  ensure  the
  availability  of  family  centered,  coordinated services; and interface
  with other existing planning bodies that serve like populations.