What Now? Refer family to their physician or a developmental - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

What Now? • Refer family to their physician or a developmental specialist • Refer to Children 1 st or Babies Can’t Wait • Age 3 – 5 years, refer to Children 1 st or Part B School Services • Over age 5, refer to school’s Special Education services

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) • Legislation that provides funding to states to ensure that children with disabilities receive services. • The Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Program (Part C) of the Act addresses early intervention services to infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities and their families.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C created in order to: – Enhance the development of infants and toddlers with disabilities – Minimize potential developmental delay – Reduce educational costs to states by minimizing the need for school-age special education services In Georgia, Part C is called Babies Can’t Wait and is implemented through the Department of Public Health. http://www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/importanceofearlyintervention.pdf

Mission for Part C Part C early intervention builds upon and provides support and resources to assist family members and caregivers to enhance children’s learning and development through everyday learning opportunities.

Major Steps in BCW I. Referral II. Intake III. Evaluation & Assessment Activities IV. Individualized Family Service Plan Activities V. Transition Activities

Eligibility - BCW • Birth to 3 years old • Reside in Georgia • Have: - Mental or physical diagnoses known to have a high incidence of developmental delay (e.g. Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, severe sensory impairment, etc.) (Category 1) or; - Significant developmental delay determined on evaluation (Category 2)

Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) • Documents and guides the early intervention process and services for children with disabilities and their families • Contains information about the services necessary to facilitate a child's development and enhance the family's capacity to facilitate the child's development.

Services Provided at No Cost to Every Family: • Child Find • Developmental Evaluation/Assessment • Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) development • Procedural Safeguards (Parent’s rights) • Service Coordination Services • Transition Planning

Services that may be necessary to meet developmental outcomes on IFSP Assistive Health Nutrition Physical Special technology services Services Therapy Instruction Audiology Medical Psychology Speech/ Services Services Language Therapy Occupational Family Nursing Social Work Vision Therapy training & Services Services counseling

Funding for Other Services • Insurance: Private or Public (e.g. Medicaid) • Family Cost Participation • BCW as payor of last resort

Primary Service Provider Model Professionals from different disciplines, in addition to the family and service coordinator

Establishing the Family as the Focus of Services Recognizes and accommodates the impact that special needs may have on the entire family system. It recognizes the strengths of the family and ensures sensitivity to the family’s emotional needs.

Transition Planning • Every child who exits the program receives transition planning and services • Can be started as early as 9 months before the 3 rd birthday • Assist families in identifying options after exiting BCW • With parental consent, share information about child with appropriate agency

Transition Activities Transition Meeting: • Meeting must be held at least 90 Days prior to child’s 3 rd birthday • Parents, Service Coordinator, IFSP/PSP members, Local School personnel, other future service providers attend • Designed to help families know what lies ahead and what they can do to make the process move smoothly

Public Health Districts

Questions?

Helpful Websites • www.health.state.ga.us/programs/childrenfirst/index.asp FAQs, Referral form www.health.state.ga.us/programs/cms/index.asp Contact list, FAQs on CMS • http://dph.georgia.gov/Babies-Cant-Wait Contact list, FAQ’s, data on BCW • http://ectacenter.org/ The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center • www.zerotothree.org National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families

Contact Information • Deborah C. Chosewood, M.S. Children 1 st Program Manager Department of Public Health Deborah.Chosewood@dph.ga.gov 404-657-3814 • Cynthia Bryant, M.Ed. Part C Coordinator Department of Public Health Cynthia.Bryant@dph.ga.gov 404-