This report describes the Federal commitment to improve early intervention services that enhance development and minimize the later dependence of infants and toddlers with handicaps. It presents the results of a joint study, completed by the Department of Education (DoE) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), of early intervention services and the coordination efforts to achieve the goals of the Handicapped Infants and Toddlers Program. The report examines federal funding sources and services that provide financial assistance to states to develop and implement programs, identifies gaps in early intervention services, and describes joint activities under way among federal agencies supporting early intervention programs and future actions planned to facilitate the coordination of services. An appendix offers descriptions of 16 programs that authorize or provide early intervention services, many of them targeted to the poor or to individuals with low incomes. Other appendices list appropriations of DoE and DHHS programs contributing to early intervention for fiscal years 1987 and 1988 and reprint a memorandum of agreement for the Federal Interagency Coordinating Committee. (Four references) (JDD)