Enrollment Process & Timeline
Your child has been referred to A Step Ahead to determine if they qualify for early support services. Below is a description of the eligibility and enrollment process. Please reach out to your Family Resource Coordinator (FRC) with any questions.
Intake (First Appointment)
Your FRC begins the process of gathering medical, developmental background information and your priorities and concerns. Your child will then be scheduled for further evaluation to determine eligibility for program.
Evaluation (Second appointment)
At the evaluation, a team of professionals will evaluate your child in some or all five areas:
Cognitive: Learning, thinking, playing, problem solving
Communication: Understanding what others say; expressing thoughts in gestures, sounds, words
Motor: Coordinating movements; manipulating toys, sitting, crawling, walking
Social/Emotional: Getting along w/others, self-soothing and participating in routines
Adaptive: Calming, feeding, sleeping and dressing
At the end of the evaluation, we will discuss your child’s eligibility for early support services.
Children are eligible if they show a 25% delay in any area of development or a standard score of 77 orless.
Some children are eligible because they have a diagnosis that has a high probability of resulting in adevelopmental delay.
If your child is not eligible, you will be provided suggestions and community referrals.
Results Meeting and Enrollment (3rd appointment)
IFSP must be completed 45 days from referral
At this meeting, we will share the results of the evaluation and develop goals/outcomes you hope your child will achieve in the coming year. From this information, we will determine which therapy and/or educational services will best help you reach those goals. All this information will be put together to create an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP).
Services
Once the Individualized Family Service Plan is completed, services for your child will begin within 30 days.
Early Support is a family centered program and we want you to be an active participant in your child’s services.
Services might include: physical therapy, speech therapy, feeding therapy, occupational therapy, early education
Therapists and educators provide family members with strategies and activities to do during your child’s daily routines. They will also share information about child development and support you as your child’s primary teacher.