Early Intervention
(Birth-3 Years Old)
Supporting Your Family From Day 1.
Early Intervention (EI) is a statewide system that provides coordinated early intervention services to parents of eligible children under the age of three with developmental delays or disabilities. EI is grounded in the philosophy that young children learn best from familiar people in familiar settings. Every family served in EI will have a local EI team that consists of a service coordinator, service providers, and your family. Your team works with you in your home or other places you and your family spend time to develop a coordinated plan called an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). You and your team will work through your IFSP plan to use your existing supports and resources—and build upon them—to learn to enhance your child’s learning and development.
Empowering Parents. Changing Lives
Family-centered – We believe early childhood intervention services occur best in the child’s natural environment. Services are provided at home, in playgroups, a daycare setting or other location at convenient times for families.
Coaching with Compassion – Children learn best from someone they love. We support and empower parents to meet their child’s unique development needs by coaching them on ways to enhance and develop the skills of their child.
Parent Priorities – We focus on what is important to the parent or primary caregiver. The Early Intervention Team will help parents challenges they encounter during daily routines, such as bath time, mealtime and dressing.
Play – Children learn through play. We assist parents in identifying the child’s interests to create fun learning opportunities through play and other daily activities.
Plan – At the end of each visit, strategies will be discussed to identify opportunities during family activities and routines which promote the continuous development of the child.
Eligibility
Eligibility determination for services begins with our partners at Help Me Grow. If you are concerned that your child is not meeting developmental milestones, such as speech, fine motor skills or mobility, or your child has been diagnosed with a developmental disability such as Down Syndrome, Autism or a genetic condition, please contact Help Me Grow to get started. Your service coordinator from Help Me Grow will assist you through the intake process.
Make a Referral
Making a referral to Help Me Grow is the first and easy step for parents who have questions or concerns about their infant or child.
What to Expect
The Early Intervention team conducts an evaluation and guides you through how early intervention works.
Once your child is determined eligible for early childhood intervention services, your Primary Service Provider and Help Me Grow Service Coordinator will discuss with you the goals, priorities and needed support for your child. A plan and schedule will then be outlined through an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP).
At the end of scheduled visits, your Primary Service Provider will provide you continued development activities you can do with your child during family activities and routines.
Services, determined based on the specific needs of each child, may include:
Developmental screenings, assessments and evaluations
Speech-language pathology and audiology services
Occupational Therapy
Physical Therapy
Psychological Services
Vision Services
Social Work Services
SERVICE AND SUPPORTS ADMINISTRATION
Connecting you to the resources you need.
Child Service & Support Administrators (SSAs) can assist with such things as:
• Accessing community resources
• Obtaining in-home supports/respite
• Life planning (guardianship, estate planning etc.)
• Individual Education Plan (IEP) processes
• Coordinating with school personnel or other service agencies to meet the needs of the individual and family.
• Locating appropriate activities and learning opportunities
• Providing diagnosis-specific resources and education
• Planning behavioral intervention supports as needed