NEW YORK CITY EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAM

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NEW YORK CITY EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAM

• FAMILIES AS PARTNERS

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• The right children
• getting the right services -
• in the right way!

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Ongoing Quality
Improvement

• Enhancing evaluator input to the IFSP
• Improving review of IFSP plans
• Ensuring that evaluators use appropriate tools
• Decreasing time from referral to IFSP
• Assuring essential medical information

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Next Step

• Improving the WAY services are delivered
• Making sure that children and families receive
  services that incorporate best practices in the
  field of EI
• Families as Partners

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Families As Partners

• Families as Partners is an early intervention
  service model designed to enhance the childs
  development and improve child and family outcomes
  by developing and supporting partnerships between
  families and professionals.

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Families As Partners

• Two main goals of FAP
• Increase family/caregiver involvement
• Incorporate services into the natural routines of
  the child and family

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Principles underlying Families As
Partners

• The family is the childs best and most motivated
  teacher
• Children receive more help when the therapist
  uses the natural routines of the child/family

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Principles (continued)

• Developmental domains in young children overlap.
  Professional practices thus need to work in an
  integrated fashion.
• When families learn to use natural routines as
  learning opportunities, they can continue helping
  their child even after leaving EIP.

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Goals of Families as Partners

• Improve developmental outcomes for children
• Increase parent skill and confidence in improving
  their childs development
• Better use of available resources (particularly
  speech therapists)

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Approach to Authorizing Services

• Family Training session will be offered a once a
  week to every family for the first 3-6 months of
  service
• ALL services should involve the family/caregiver,
  should utilize natural routines, be authorized as
  appropriate, and be appropriately documented
• Outcomes should reflect family priorities and
  determine what services are authorized
• A transdisciplinary model should be used where
  appropriate

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Family Training

• An individual Family Training session will be
  offered to every family for the first 3-6 months
  of the IFSP
• To emphasize the need for family involvement
• To enhance the flexibility of each childs
  program
• To provide more focused family training from the
  outset of the IFSP

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Family Training (continued)

• Other services will be developed according to the
  core principle of parent involvement
• Family Training is NOT an ADD-ON service, but an
  integral part of the overall plan

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Natural Routines

• The concept of Natural Routines is not new. It is
  found in regulations as well as literature
  describing best practices.
• The therapist will teach (coach support)
  families so that they are able to use what they
  learn, in their daily life with the child, with
  minimal modification
• While the families are not therapists, they can
  take advantage of the many learning opportunities
  that occur between therapy sessions

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Outcomes

• Outcomes will be informed by family concerns
• Authorization for services will be based on
  desired child and family outcomes

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Transdisciplinary Model

• Where appropriate, a transdisciplinary model
  should be used. For example
• A teacher can work on cognitive and language
  outcomes
• It may be appropriate with infants to have one
  person (OT or PT) work on all motor issues

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Supporting the change

• Initial IFSPs will be written for 6 months
• New Forms
• IFSP forms
• Session notes
• Progress notes including a section completed by
  the parent
• Calendar for parents

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Obstacles

• Changing thinking of parents, therapists,
  providers, and EI staff
• Having enough interventionists able to implement
  Families As Partners
• Parent availability/Provider availability

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Implementing Families As Partners

• Training EIP staff and providers
• Changing how we conduct Individualized Family
  Service Plan (IFSP) meetings, and the paperwork
  that drives the process
• Start in Queens 10/1/05 Brooklyn 4/1/06
  Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island 10/1/06 dates
  are approximations

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Families As Partners
The right children getting the right services -
in the right way!