National Portrait of Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Underutilization of Services

Abstract

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, states are designing and implementing comprehensive multidisciplinary early intervention services for families with young children with disabilities. It is the intent of the legislation that early intervention services reach populations that have been typically underserved. To understand ways in which services may promote utilization among typically underserved populations, it is necessary to examine the factors that have been associated with underutilization and their prevalence in the population of families with young children. In addition to a conceptual model of underutilization, we present statistics generated from the March 1991 Current Population Survey on the sociodemographic characteristics of families with children under 5 years of age. We also suggest four types of policies that may facilitate the participation of families who are likely to underutilize services.