Collaborative Child Find and Screening Activities Within EI/ECSE Delivery Systems

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Collaborative Child Find and Screening Activities
Within EI/ECSE Delivery Systems
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Contact InformationMaryAnn DemchakNevada Dual
Sensory Impairment ProjectMail Stop
299University of Nevada, RenoReno, NV
89557(775) 784-6471mad_at_unr.eduhttp//www.unr.ed
u/educ/ndsip/
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Contact InformationAnnette CareyLow Incidence
CoordinatorBldg. 6 Room 3041900 Kanawha Blvd.
EastCharleston, WV 25305(304)
558-2696acarey_at_access.k12.wv.us
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Presentation Purpose

• The purpose of this presentation is to share
  information about EI/ECSE collaborative child
  find / screening activities in Nevada and West
  Virginia at the following levels
• State level and statewide initiatives
• District level activities
• Local or specific agency activities

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Overview of Nevada

• Total of 17 school districts statewide
• Nevada Department of Education
• Total of 3 early intervention agencies statewide
  (North, South, Rural)
• Nevada Department of Human Resources, Health
  Division, Bureau of EI Services

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Overview of Nevada

• Much of the state is rural and remote
• Frequently long distances from one family to
  another
• No teacher licensure in area of deafblindness

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Overview of West Virginia

• Total of 8 Regional Education Service Agencies
  (RESA)
• Total of 55 school districts (WVSDB is 56th)
• Part C completing its system redesign
• WV Department of Health and Human Resources,
  Office of Maternal Child and Family Health
• Summer 2004 8 Regional Administrative Units
  (single point of entry, open vendor system for
  services)
• WVSDB operates statewide outreach B 5
• INSITE
• SKIHI

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Overview of West Virginia

• Much of the state is rural and mountainous with
  only 3 considered flat
• Although close in distance, more travel time is
  often required due to the terrain
• No teacher licensure in area of deafblindness
• WV Department of Education, Office of Special
  Education and Marshall College of Graduate
  College has a collaborative agreement to support
  a personnel preparation program both Visual
  Impairments and Deaf/Hard of Hearing

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Overview Activities Aimed at State Initiatives

• Establish relationships with state-level Part C
  and Part B (ages 3-5) personnel
• Active committee member on state-level committees
• Embed deafblind project into EI/ECSE initiatives
• Newborn hearing screening activities

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West Virginia State Initiatives

• Established relationship between project director
  and Part C CSPD coordinator
• Serve as Sensory Consultant for Part C
• Member of Part C workgroup for system redesign
• Member, WV Early Transition Steering Committee
  (membership includes state representatives for
  all early childhood initiatives)

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West Virginia State Initiatives

• Member Newborn Hearing Screening Advisory
• Part C Sponsors Deafblind Conference
• Childrens Vision Rehabilitation Project
• Provides comprehensive visual access evaluations
  Medical, Low Vision, OT, O M, AT, Educational
  
• Coordination between Part C, SKIHI, INSITE
• Census Coordination
• Parent Advisors

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West Virginia State Initiatives

• Part C support of CVI Mentorship Project
• Annual Project presentation on sensory
  impairments and early communication
• Gizmo (AT Camp Birth 8)
• Celebrating Connections (Early Childhood
  Conference 1,800)
• PATHs (Partners in Assistive Technology
  Conference)
• Early Childhood Focus Committee for VI D/HH

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Nevada State Initiatives

• Established relationships with both Parts B C
  CSPD coordinators
• Chair, Nevadas Special Education Advisory
  Committee
• Member, Part C workgroup OSEP Continuous
  Improvement Monitoring Process
• Member, task force for passage of newborn hearing
  screening law

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Nevada State Initiatives

• Project display and/or presentations on sensory
  impairments
• Nevada Association for Education of Young
  Children
• Department of Education megaconference
• Annual speech pathologist / audiologist
  conference
• Co-sponsor of INSITE training
• Project information and training on sensory
  impairments to Nevadas PTI

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Overview School District Level Activities

• Training initiatives
• Dissemination of technical assistance documents
  and project information
• Developing relationships with key personnel in
  school districts
• Available for TA for children with only one
  sensory impairment

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Nevada District Level Activities

• Statewide screening project of students
  identified as hearing impaired (included
  preschoolers)
• Dissemination of screening posters, screening
  brochures, and project brochures to school
  district child find coordinators
• Brochures in English and Spanish

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Nevada District Level Activities

• Letters regarding project to district
• School psychologists
• School nurses public health nurses
• Tribal health clinics
• Speech pathologists audiologists
• VI HI teachers
• Members of state AT consortium
• Relationships with key school district personnel
  school nurse, administrators

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Nevada District Level Activities

• Attendance at special education administrator
  meetings
• Collaborative activities with state Assistive
  Technology project
• Mailings to all consortium members
• Regular participation in consortium meetings
• Assist in providing training at consortium
  meetings
• Project overviews at consortium meetings

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Nevada District Level Activities

• Provision of TA (e.g., telephone, print
  materials, videos) to districts upon request for
  children who are only VI or HI (NOT on-site TA)

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West Virginia DistrictLevel Activities

• Compulsory pre-enrollment screening for hearing,
  vision, and speech and language
• Dissemination of fall Welcome Letter to EI,
  Families, and Teachers (includes project
  brochure, needs assessment and resources such as
  DB-LINK)
• Coordination of TA through
• Marshall University Graduate College personnel
  preparation programs
• VI and D/HH
• CVRP

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West Virginia DistrictLevel Activities

• Low Incidence Coordinator
• Database of all special education teachers by
  area of assignment (2nd month report)
• Attendance at special education administrator and
  leadership conferences
• Involved in monitor and compliance activities
• Maintain relationship with teachers of vi and
  d/hh
• Provision of TA
• Conference Coordinator RESA VII

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Overview Other Local ActivitiesEI Agencies and
Other Agencies

• Training initiatives
• Dissemination of TA documents
• Available for TA for children with only one
  sensory impairment
• Parent training activities

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Overview Other Local ActivitiesEI Agencies and
Other Agencies

• Developing relationships with personnel at early
  intervention agencies
• Attending EI agency staff meetings
• Committee memberships

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West Virginia Local InitiativesEI Agencies

• Presentation Impact of Sensory Impairment on
  Child Development and Learning
• Child Connection
• Agencies
• Relocation of families
• Available for TA for child with only a vision or
  hearing impairment
• Phone TA if not deafblind
• Connecting to Resources

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West Virginia Local InitiativesOther Agencies

• FY 2005 BEST Training (birth 3)
• Part C, Parent Advisors and Families
• Part C is providing the funding
• Series of trainings on various issues related to
  deafblindness
• Developed relationship with EI providers
• Deafblind Projects AT Mentor

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West Virginia Local InitiativesOther Agencies

• Disseminate project brochures and census
  information to Regional Administrative Units
  (RAUs)
• Part C Trails Van and RAUs
• Information Resource Packets
• Toys and AT

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Nevada Local InitiativesEI Agencies

• Series of trainings on various issues related to
  deafblindness for EI agency staff
• Developed relationships at each EI agency with
  development specialists with expertise in vision
  or hearing impairments
• Annual project overview presentation to each EI
  agency
• Dissemination of screening posters, screening
  brochures, and project brochures to agency
  directors

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Nevada Local InitiativesOther Agencies

• Member, Mental Health / Disabilities Advisory
  Committee for Head Start
• Training on sensory impairments for Head Start
  teachers and assistants
• Project info to all Head Start agencies

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What Else Has Worked?

• Relationship of other job responsibilities to
  child find and screening activities

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Nevada

• Information in teacher preparation classes
• Intro courses
• Various courses in severe disabilities
• Collaboration with Audiology professor in School
  of Medicine

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West Virginia

• Two Cycles ago began system analysis approach to
• Increase child find
• Decrease age of identification
• On-going attempt to embed projects activities in
  both the system and training initiatives of Part
  C
• Today, few stand aloneactivities

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West Virginia

• Not a stagnant approach
• Focus on all kids, birth 21, who have sensory
  impairments (Low-incidence coordinator)
• Hosting VI seminars through Office of Special
  Education, birth-3 providers invited
• Educational Interpreter Conference offered a
  pre-conference on language development for Part C
  and SKIHI

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West Virginia

• Membership on select committee
• WV Assistive Technology
• DD Council
• Early Childhood
• WV Newborn Screening Advisory
• Gizmo
• Part C/ Deafblind Projects relationship has
  changed from cooperation to coordination to
  collaboration

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West Virginia

• During the grant competition, WV was faced with
  an increasing child count, increased planned
  activities and a decrease in available funds.
• Part C increased there financial support for many
  of our activities
• Summer Institute
• BEST Training
• Family Weekend
• CVI Mentorship Project

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Summary

• Process that began 2 or 3 funding cycles ago
• Reaching as many people as possible in all
  activities is an underlying philosophy / practice
  for both projects
• On-going nature of many of our activities