This speech reports on data collected by the Early Intervention Collaborative Study (EICS), which is a longitudinal study following the development of 190 young children with disabilities (and their families) who entered 29 publicly funded early intervention programs in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the period from 1985 to 1987. The children's disabilities included Down syndrome, motor impairment, and developmental delays. Evaluation of service trends indicated: average service hours amounted to 8 hours per month; families participated in early intervention programs an average of 2 years; lower income, less well educated, single mothers received less service; the child's developmental level and diagnosis at entry were highly associated with total service hours; mothers experiencing more parenting stress and poorer teaching skills received less service than mothers with more social support; however, families with lower incomes, unmarried mothers, and families reporting more stress received more outside services (i.e., case management and financial assistance) than did other families. Possible reasons for these patterns are suggested and include the medical model training received by most early intervention staff and funding mechanisms which do not recognize less formal family services. Attached tables provide details of the study's findings. (DB)