This report describes several aspects of families' experiences in beginning early intervention services using data from the National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study (NEILS). Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, NEILS is following a nationally representative sample of 3,338 infants and toddlers and their families from the time they enter early intervention services until the children complete kindergarten. The report describes the timing of concerns, diagnosis, and entry into early intervention services, as well as parent perceptions of the identification process, the professionals with whom they interacted, and the resulting plan for goals and services. The findings indicate that the process of entering early intervention services is working well for many families. There also is evidence, however, to suggest that the process does not work equally well for all families and that how well it works is related to characteristics of the child and family. The general findings are summarized first, followed by the findings related to differences among families with different kinds of children and different demographic characteristics. Appended are the methodology and additional data tables.(Contains 3 tables, 12 figures, and 25 references.) (Author)