The Chapel Hill Training-Outreach Project (CHTOP) was established in 1969 with funding from the federal government as part of our nation's earliest attempts to provide educational services to young children with disabilities. Under the direction of Anne R. Sanford, the founder of CHTOP, the strategies and materials developed by CHTOP during these early years became known as the Chapel Hill Model. The model included assessment instruments, curricula, and strategies for parent involvement and family-centered programming. In 1983, the U.S. Department of Education's Joint Dissemination Review Panel (JDRP) validated the Chapel Hill Model unanimously for "exemplary program status."