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Sponsored by the New York State Department of Health’s Bureau of Child and Adolescent Health, Early Intervention is a program that provides various types of early intervention services to children with disabilities and developmental delays, ages birth to three years old.

Eligibility

Children are eligible for an evaluation in Early Intervention program if they are under three years old AND have or are suspected of having a disability or developmental delay.
Premature birth, Down Syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, vision and hearing impairments are all examples of physical or mental diagnoses that often lead to delays in development.
Children do not have to be U.S. citizens and there is no “income test” for the program. However, children and their families must be New York residents to be eligible for early intervention services.

Process

Referral – Parents and professionals can refer children into Early Intervention. Professionals refer children to the program when there is concern about development unless parents refuse consent.
Initial Service Coordination – Once a child is referred into Early Intervention, an initial service coordinator will be assigned to work with the child and family. The responsibility of the initial service coordinator is to help the family with all the steps leading to the first Individualized Family Service Plan. Parents will have the opportunity to ask questions and address particular concerns about their child with their initial service coordinator.
Evaluation – The evaluation team will provide a full summary and evaluation report to the family, the initial service coordinator and the Early Intervention official upon completion. The multidisciplinary evaluation includes the following services:

Medical
: health assessment by the child’s primary health care provider, including vision and hearing screening
: assessment of physical, cognitive, communicative, social-emotional and adaptive development

Social History
: discussion with parents regarding concerns about their child as well as information on their child’s behavior and traits
Individualized Family Service Plan – The Individualized Family Service Plan (“IFSP”) is the written plan for the child’s proposed early intervention services. Mandatory participants at the initial IFSP meeting include parents, Early Intervention Official, initial service coordinator and the evaluation representative. The meeting is a review of the information gathered about the child and the family’s priorities and concerns. Once everyone agrees on the measures and timelines that will be used to monitor the intervention process, the parents will sign the IFSP that grants permission to commence approved early intervention services.
Putting the IFSP into Action – An ongoing service coordinator will assume responsibility for coordinating all Early Intervention services after the initial meeting. An important goal of Early Intervention is to ensure that children receive Early Intervention services as quickly and efficiently as possible. The Early Intervention Program makes the following requirements of its participants:
: Six month reviews of the IFSP
: Annual meetings to evaluate the IFSP
: Process for changing the IFSP in-between six month reviews and annual meetings
Transition – Once your child turns three years old, s/he will be transitioned from Early Intervention into other services. Many children who participate in Early Intervention will be eligible for the Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) program for children ages three to five years old.