Early Intervention Resources
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State Agencies Related to Infants & Toddlers
[For a more complete listing of State Agencies, click on link above.]
Early Steps
Early Steps is administered by Children's
Medical Services (CMS) in accordance with IDEA, Part C. Early Steps
offers early intervention services for families with infants and
toddlers (birth to thirty-six months) who have developmental delays or
an established condition likely to result in a developmental
delay. Sixteen contracted local Early Steps across the state coordinate
with community agencies and other contracted providers for the delivery
of needed supports and services.
(850) 245-4218; (800) 654-4440 www.cms-kids.com/InfantHome.htm
Florida Directory of Early Childhood Services
Maintains a database which contains a
wide range of information on community services, counseling,
diagnosis/evaluation, early intervention services, education and
training, equipment, medical screening, special education services,
support groups, and therapies for children and youth birth to 21 years.
A Resource Specialist will be available to answer calls from 8:00am –
5:00pm, Monday through Friday.
(850) 487-6301; (800) 654-4440 Web:
www.centraldirectory.org
Florida KidCare
Florida KidCare is the state’s children’s health insurance program for uninsured children under age 19. It includes four different parts, or programs: MediKids, Healthy Kids, Children's Medical Services and Medicaid. When you apply for the insurance, Florida KidCare will check which program your child may be eligible for based on age and family income. For more information call 1-888-540-5437. www.floridakidcare.org
Other Resources Related to Early Intervention
Assistance With Child Health Related Costs
The United Healthcare Children's Foundation has announced that new grants are available (May 2008) to help children who need critical health care treatment, services, or equipment not covered or not fully covered by their parents' health benefit plans. http://www.uhccf.org/
National ARC Comments on IDEA Part C Regulations/ July 2007
document in Word document in Adobe pdf
Brighter Tomorrows
The purpose of this Website is to provide families with balanced and accurate information about receiving a diagnosis of Down syndrome either during their pregnancy or at birth. We began this project at the request of parents of children with Down syndrome who felt that other parents and prospective parents could be helped if physicians knew how to provide a diagnosis of Down syndrome with up-to-date, balanced information delivered in an emotionally supportive fashion. Families recognized that, in the past, they had often been given this news with limited information, balance, and little sense of hopefulness for the future. www.brightertomorrows.org
Center for Early Education & Development (CEED)
CEED's mission is to improve developmental outcomes for children through Applied Research, Training, and Outreach. Funded projects address; Social & Emotional Development and Mental Health, Early Literacy, Child Development, Policy, and Program Evaluation. http://education.umn.edu/ceed/default.html
Children's Campaign, Inc.
A nonpartisan statewide community empowerment and education project dedicated to improving the lives of children and families in Florida by educating and inspiring voters to elect public officials of any party who will make children a priority. This site provides links to sites related to legislative and children's issues. www.iamforkids.org
Children's Forum
A private, not-for-profit organization committed to enhancing and improving the quality, affordability, and availability of child care and early education through a broad array of programs, services, and publications. www.fcforum.org
Circle of Inclusion
The Circle of Inclusion Web Site is for early childhood service providers and families of young children. This web site offers demonstrations of and information about the effective practices of inclusive educational programs for children from birth through age eight. Information available in Español, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.
Early Childhood Association of Florida
The mission of the ECA is to promote the quality of life, learning and care of young children and their families through leadership, advocacy, and professional development of it's members. largest organization for early childhood professionals in the state of Florida. We have 3500 members who serve in all levels of early childhood education, working directly with thousands of families with children birth to age eight, as well as at the high school and college level training teachers. www.ecaoffl.org Choosing A Quality Pre-K Program [pdf]
Article: Family Involvement In Head Start (pdf)
Family Education.com
Parenting site with loads of tips and resources. From the navigation bar at the top select "Your Child 0-6."
Father Involvement
Over the past several years, many initiatives have been started to foster the positive involvement of fathers with their children. The National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC), a program of the Administration for Children and Families, has produced a noteworthy list of organizations and resources that speak to a diverse population of men. This website has loads of resources, articles, and links related to fathers and education, including Head Start Programs. http://nccic.org/poptopics/fatherinvolvement.html
First Words Project
A model early identification and intervention program based in the Department of Communication Disorders at Florida State University. Staffed by speech-language pathologists and interdisciplinary consultants, we are funded to evaluate the communication development of children from 6 to 24 months of age in Leon County. http://firstwords.fsu.edu/mission.html
Florida Association for Infant Mental Health
The FAIMH works to investigate what interventions are most effective, translate these research findings into public policy, integrate infant mental health programs into current programs throughout the state, build a cadre of infant mental health specialists, establish training opportunities, secure adequate on-going funding, and continue to evaluate long term effects in the community. www.faimh.org
Florida Office of Early Learning
A Program of the Agency for Workforce Innovation. Mission: To ensure that all children are emotionally, physically, socially and intellectually ready to enter school and ready to learn, fully recognizing the crucial role of parents as their child's first teacher. www.floridajobs.org/earlylearning
Florida's Transition Project for Infants, Young Children and their Families
Florida's Transition Project for Infants,
Young Children and Their Families assists local communities in
establishing trained teams to develop a seamless system of transition
among agencies providing services to young children with disabilities,
birth to six years of age, and their families.
www.floridatransitionproject.com
FSU Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy
Focuses on maternal and child health and early childhood issues, and is a unit under the administrative arm of the University's Institute for Science and Public Affairs. Our vision is that one day all children will be healthy, equipped to learn, and nurtured to develop their full potential. Our purpose is to implement this vision by investigating which interventions are most effective, translating these research findings into public policy and programs, and evaluating the impact. www.cpeip.fsu.edu Ten Components of Quality Child Care (pdf)
National Association for the
Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
Founded in 1926, NAEYC is the
world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with
nearly 100,000 members, a national network of over 300 local, state, and
regional Affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded
organizations. Dedicated to improving the well-being of all young
children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and
developmental services for all children from birth through age 8.
www.naeyc.org
National Center on Birth Defects
and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD)
NCBDDD works to improve the
health of children and adults by preventing birth defects and
developmental disabilities, promoting optimal child development, and
promoting health and wellness among children and adults living with
disabilities. This mission incorporates the mission of the former
Division of Birth Defects, Child Development, and Disability and Health
which was in the National Center for Environmental Health.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/
National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC)
The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center supports the implementation of the early childhood provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Our mission is to strengthen service systems to ensure that children with disabilities (birth through five) and their families receive and benefit from high quality, culturally appropriate, and family-centered supports and services. www.nectas.unc.edu
Positive Family Intervention Project
Collaborative effort between the University of South Florida (USF) and the Center for Autism & Related Disabilities (CARD) housed at USF's St. Petersburg campus. The project is a research study that has been designed to evaluate two approaches to parent education, both of which have been proven to be effective in improving children's behavior. Parents participating in this study will receive training and assistance in positive behavior support for their young child with a developmental disability. For more information contact Meme Hieneman, PH.D. at 727-873-4814 or go to: http://www.stpt.usf.edu/coas/pfi/index.htm
Pre-K Now
National advocacy group. Pre-K Now recognizes that pre-k advocates share a common cause but often don't have access to common resources. From state to state, pre-k challenges and solutions vary, yet the insight gained from each campaign is valuable to us all. Gathered here are facts, research, presentations, and honest dialogues about pre-k. www.preknow.org
Questions About Kids
Information series on the topics of Social and Emotional Growth, Challenging Behaviors, and Mental Health - published by CEED. Tackles common issues of concern to parents and professionals. Each issue addresses one question about young children.
http://education.umn.edu/ceed/publications/questionsaboutkids/
Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention (TACSEI)
TACSEI synthesizes and disseminates research findings on evidence-based models and practices for children and families served by IDEA. The result is that decision makers, caregivers and service providers have an enhanced awareness of, understanding of, and ability to use evidence based practices to improve the social-emotional outcomes for young children with, or at risk for, delays or disabilities. www.challengingbehavior.org
Thriving In The Detour
Creative mom makes therapy homework easier.
http://www.handsandvoices.org/articles/early_intervention/V10-1_thriving.htm
Through The Looking Glass
Nationally recognized center that has pioneered research, training, and services for families in which a child, parent or grandparent has a disability or medical issue. Our mission is "To create, demonstrate and encourage non-pathological and empowering resources and model early intervention services for families with disability issues in parent or child which integrate expertise derived from personal disability experience and disability culture." This organization offers college scholarships for students who have parents with disabilities. www.lookingglass.org
Washington Learning Systems
We are a small company working to create big changes in the lives of young children. Our evidence based programs promote early literacy, language, cognitive, and social development. Free Parent Handouts in English & Spanish. http://www.walearning.com/index.html
We are continuing to add information to this portion of the website. If you would like to suggest an article, resource, helpful website or publication, please e-mail candace@cflparents.org.
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