Steps in the Referral Process

Referrals

Anyone can refer a child to the Early Intervention Program by calling 311 and asking for the Early Intervention office in their borough. The operator taking the referral will ask for information about the child, including the caretaker’s name and address. If you refer a child in foster care to the Early Intervention Program, and the foster parent’s address is confidential, give the operator the agency’s address and contact information. An Initial Service Coordinator (ISC) will be appointed to work on the child’s case. The ISC will contact the family to get consent and to set up an appointment for evaluation.

To find out the status of a referral call 311 and ask for Early Intervention. Ask the Early Intervention worker to look up the child’s case and give you the name and telephone number of the Initial Service Coordinator.

Consent

Early Intervention is a voluntary program. The Early Intervention Program must get consent from the child’s parent before evaluating the child and before providing any services to the child. A parent can withdraw consent for Early Intervention evaluations and services at any time. The only time the child's biological parents will not be the ones to sign consent is when a surrogate parent has been appointed by the Early Intervention program. A surrogate parent may be necessary if 1) the biological parent is unknown; 2) after diligent efforts, the whereabouts of the biological parent cannot be ascertained; 3) the biological parent's rights have been terminated in Family Court; or 4) the parent voluntarily appoints a surrogate parent.

Evaluations

Early Intervention evaluations usually take place in the child’s home. Children referred for Early Intervention are evaluated by several professionals. The children receive a general health assessment, including vision and hearing screenings. This can be done by their regular doctor. Their records are reviewed (with parents' consent) by the Early Intervention evaluation team. The team also assesses the children’s strengths and weaknesses in each area of development (physical, speech, language, social-emotional, etc.).

Eligibility

Children from birth to three years of age will be eligible for Early Intervention services if they have a developmental delay or disability. A child does not have to be a U.S. citizen to be eligible for services.

A developmental delay means that a child has not attained developmental milestones expected for the child’s age in one or more of the following areas of development: cognitive, physical, communication, social-emotional, or adaptive development. The age of a child will be adjusted for prematurity. A developmental delay is defined as:

1. A 12 month delay in one functional area, or
2. A 33 % delay in one functional area or a 25% delay in each of two or more functional areas, or
3. A score of at least 2.0 standard deviations below the mean in one functional area, or 1.5 standard deviation below the mean in each of two functional areas

A disability is a physical or mental condition (such as down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, vision or hearing impairment) that has a high probability of causing a developmental delay.

IFSP Meeting

After the child has been evaluated, the Initial Service Coordinator will arrange for a meeting with the parent. At this meeting, the team will decide if the child is eligible for services. If so, they will draft an Individualized Family Service Plan. An Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is a written plan for the Early Intervention services the child will receive. It should state what services will be provided, who will provide services, when, where and how often services will be provided. The IFSP should involve the parent in the process as much possible. The IFSP meeting is usually held in the Regional Early Intervention office. The IFSP must be completed within 45 days of the initial referral unless the parent stops the process. The case will then be transferred to an Ongoing Service Coordinator (OSC), whose job is to make sure that the child receives the services in the IFSP.