History of Project Find
Child find for infants and toddlers with disabilities in Michigan pre-dates the federal statute, Public Law 99-457, which initially authorized Early On. Since 1971, Michigan has been the first state to enact legislations to require that each person with disabilities, birth through age 25, be provided with special education services. While other states began to provide special education services to school-age children, Michigan was unusual in that it was a “birth mandate state;” it provided special education services for children birth to five at well. Federal legislation required then, as it does now, the administration of a child find system to identify, locate, and evaluate children who may be eligible for special education services. To address this child find mandate for special education in 1971, Michigan created Project Find.