Role
of the Medical Home in Family-Centered Early Intervention
Services
There is growing evidence that early intervention services have a positive influence
on the developmental outcome of children with established disabilities as well
as those who are considered to be "at risk" of disabilities. Various
federal and state laws now mandate the establishment of community-based, coordinated,
multidisciplinary, family-centered programs that are accessible to children and
families. The medical home, in close collaboration with the family and the early
intervention team, can play a critical role in ensuring that at-risk children
receive appropriate clinical and developmental early intervention services. The
purpose of this statement is to assist the pediatric health care professional
in assuming a proactive role with the interdisciplinary team that provides early
intervention services.
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;120/5/1153
Find State EI Contacts- NECTAC
The NECTAC website provides information for early childhood programs funded under
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, including state Early Intervention
Programs for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities (Part C of IDEA), state
Preschool Grants Programs (Section 619 of Part B of IDEA), and early childhood
projects funded by the Office of Special Education Programs
TRACE (Tracking, Referral, and Assessment Center of Excellence)
Practice
Guide: A Universal Referral Form for use by Primary Referral
Sources
This TRACE Practice Guide includes a description
of the development and use of a universal referral
form for promoting referrals to early intervention and
preschool special education programs by primary referral
sources.
Early Intervention Referral Forms
PDF
PDF
Fill-in and Print
Word
Fill-in and Print
The early intervention program for Infants and Toddlers
with Disabilities (Part C of IDEA) is a federal grant program
that assists states in operating a comprehensive, coordinated,
multidisciplinary, interagency system of early intervention
services for infants and toddlers with disabilities from
birth to age 3, and their families 1
One of the goals of the the National Center of Medical Home
Initiatives is to enhance communication between primary health
care professionals and early intervention programs.
A child's primary healthcare professional's ability to
perform continuous surveillance and structured screening
within the context of a routine, well-child care visit provides
an opportunity to identify special health care needs. However,
once a child is identified with having a special health
care need, appropriate diagnosis and follow-up must readily
occur. It is in this "next step" phase that the
relationship between the medical home and an early intervention
program becomes critical as research has indicated that
care for CSHCN is often fragmented and includes a mixture
of duplication and gaps.2
Brochures
The Medical Home
and Early Intervention Programs 
Goals of this brochure are:
1) To educate pediatric clinicians about early intervention
programs funded under Part C of IDEA;
2) To educate early intervention programs about the role
of the medical home in providing comprehensive, coordinated,
collaborative care in concert with the family and other
medical and non-medical service providers;
3) To provide strategies for effective collaboration and
communication between the pediatric clinician and early
intervention programs in the provision of quality, comprehensive
care.
Periodicals/Articles
Resources
- CENTe-R:
Early Intervention Deaf/Hard of Hearing Resource
To inform and support graduate-level professionals serving
families with infants and toddlers who are deaf/hard of
hearing through web-based training that embraces trans-disciplinary
approaches and connections among ongoing learners.
- The
Center to Inform Personnel Preparation Policy and Practice
in Early Intervention and Preschool
The purpose of this project is to establish a center that
will collect, synthesize, and analyze information related
to:
certification and licensing requirements for personnel
working with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with
special needs and their families
- quality of personnel training programs
- supply and demand of professionals representing
all disciplines that provide early childhood special
education and early intervention services.
- Center
for Evidenced-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging
Behavior
The Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children
with Challenging Behavior aims to raise awareness and
implementation of positive, evidence-based practices and
to build an enhanced and more accessible database to support
those practices.
- Center
on Outcomes for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers with
Disabilities
The ECO Center seeks to promote the development and implementation
of child and family outcome measures for infants, toddlers,
and preschoolers with disabilities. These measures can
be used in local, state, and national accountability systems.
- Early
Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers
with Visual Impairments
The aim of this five-year project is to develop resources
that build the capacity of colleges and universities to
prepare personnel to serve infants and toddlers with visual
impairments/blindness (VI) and their families.
- Early
Intervention Referral Form
- National
Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC)
The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center
supports the national implementation of the early childhood
provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA). Their mission is to strengthen systems at
all levels to ensure that children (birth through five)
with disabilities and their families receive and benefit
from high quality, culturally appropriate and family
centered supports and services. Also includes a list
of Part C coordinators for each state.
- National
Early Childhood Transition Center
The primary objective of the National Early Childhood
Transition Center (NECTC) is to investigate and validate
practices and strategies that enhance the early childhood
transition process and support positive school outcomes
for children with disabilities.
- The
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities,-
Early Intervention eNews Page.
This page provides a wide range of information and sources
of assistance regarding Early Intervention, including:
resources in your state, key agencies involved with EI,
and tools and materials for parents and providers.
- Office
of Special Education Programs
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is dedicated
to improving results for infants, toddlers, children and
youth with disabilities ages birth through 21 by providing
leadership and financial support to assist states and
local districts.
- Orelena
Hawks Puckett Institute
The Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute is a not-for-profit
organization engaging in activities that enhance and promote
healthy child, parent and family functioning. Our goal
is to foster adoption of evidence-based practices that
build on the capacities and strengths of children, parents
and families, communities, and public and private organizations.
- Professional
Development in Autism Center (PDA)
The Professional Development in Autism Center (PDA) provides
training and support for school districts, families and
communities to ensure that students with ASD have access
to high quality, evidence-based educational services in
his or her local school district.
- Research
and Training Center on Early Childhood Development
The major aim of the Research and Training Center (RTC)
on Early Childhood Development is to implement a coordinated
and advanced program of applied research on knowledge
and practice that improves interventions associated with
the healthy mental, behavioral, communication, preliteracy,
social-emotional, and interpersonal development of infants,
toddlers, and preschoolers with or at risk for developmental
disabilities.
- Research
and Training Center on Service Coordination
The Research and Training Center is a national initiative
to examine the status of service coordination for children
with disabilities and their families receiving early intervention
services under Part C of IDEA.
- Tracking,
Referral and Assessment Center for Excellence (TRACE)
The major goal of TRACE is to identify and promote the
use of evidence-based practices and models for improving
child find, referral, early identification, and eligibility
determination for infants, toddlers, and young children
with developmental delays or disabilities who are eligible
for early intervention or preschool special education.
-
US Department of Education: IDEA 2004 Resources
News and information on the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA), the nation's
law that works to improve results for infants, toddlers,
children and youth with disabilities. NOTE: A
series of public meetings will be held in June and
July (2005) to take comments and suggestions about
proposed regulations to implement programs under the
recently amended IDEA. Please visit the Web site for
more information.
Tools
1. American Academy of Pediatrics. The
Medical Home and Early Intervention Brochure. Elk Grove
Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2004
2. McPherson M, Arango P, Fox H. et al.
A new definition of children with special health care needs.
Pediatrics. 1998;102:137-140
Last Updated August 8, 2008
