Regional Center of the East Bay

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Regional Center of the East Bay

• Supports to Infants and Young Children with
  Special Needs
• Wanda Davis, MSW
• Director of Early Intervention Services
• Regional Center of the East Bay

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Benefits of Early Intervention

• Remediation of existing problem or prevention of
  potential occurrence
• research provides evidence that early
  intervention has positive impact
• Significant cost effectiveness when organizations
  worktogether
• Promotes inclusive communities

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Evaluation (Eligibility) Assessment (Needs)
Process
Childs evaluation for eligibility done with
parent consent by either Regional Center or Local
Education Agency If eligible If NOT eligible,
refer to
Other community resources health services,
social services, mental health, alcohol drug
programs and other agencies. For complete list,
contact Family Resource Center.
Childs assessment to determine service needs
also identify family concerns, priorities and
resources.
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Early Start Eligibility

• Established risk condition resulting in a
  developmental disability
• High Risk for Developmental delay (13 medical
  factors defined by each state).
• Developmental delay ( significant difference
  between childs age and functioning) .

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Referral Process

• Referral should be made within 48 hours of
  recognition of significant concern related to a
  childs development
• Referral should be made directly to responsible
  agency
• Refer directly to either Regional Center of the
  East Bay or to the local education agency,
  depending on the suspected cause of the delay

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Assessment process

• Parent consent required
• I.d. child/family needs
• Guides intervention
• Done by responsible agency
• Voluntary at public expense
• Generic resources first

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Regional Center Services

• Case Management and Advocacy
• Individual/Family Service Plan- Identify, Plan
• Coordination of Generic Services
• May purchase services based on policies
  established by the RCEB Board of Directors after
  all alternative funding has been explored

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RCEB Services (0 5)
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RCEB serving Dev. Disabilities
Regional Center of the East Bay is one of 21
agencies throughout California that is contracted
by the Dept. of Developmental Services to provide
services to persons with developmental
disabilities.

• A developmental disability is defined as a
  disability that occurs before the age of 18, is
  substantially disabling for an individual, and is
  expected to continue indefinitely. Developmental
  disabilities include mental retardation, cerebral
  palsy, epilepsy and autism. Also included are
  disabling conditions closely related to mental
  retardation or requiring similar treatment.

• A referral to Regional Center is necessary to
  begin the eligibility evaluation process.
  Eligibility is determined within 120 days of
  receipt of the referral by the Regional Center.

• Regional Center has multi-lingual intake and case
  managers including two delegated agencies ACMHS
  and La Famila

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School District Eligibility
A child may be eligible who has any of the
following

• Severe speech delay and/or language impairment
• Orthopedic impairment
• Cognitive impairment
• Deafness
• Low vision or blindness
• Autism
• Severe emotional disturbance
• Other disabling health impairments

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Unified School District Assessment

• Children referred to the LEA are assessed by a
  team that may include a school nurse, teacher of
  the deaf, vision specialist, audiologist,
  speech-language pathologist, school
  psychologist, adapted physical education
  specialist, occupational therapist and/or a
  physical therapist.
• Services are determined based on the findings of
  the team.

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Alameda SELPA Programs

• Parent participation model
• Services offered in home and at site
• Individual and small group services
• Serves infants with vision, hearing, and
  orthopedic impairments, and other students as
  space allows
• Referrals for assessment from physicians, parents
  and Regional Center

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California Children Services (CCS)

• Statewide program that arranges and pays for
  medical care, equipment and rehabilitation for
  eligible children and youth (under age 21) who
  have eligible medical conditions and whose
  families are unable to pay for all or part of
  their care.
• CCS determines eligibility and selects the most
  qualified professionals to treat each childs CCS
  eligible condition.

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CCS Eligibility

• Age child must be under 21 years of age
• Residence child must be a permanent California
  resident
• Family income must be less than 40K, or if
  medical care for the CCS eligible condition is
  expected to cost more than 20 of the familys
  income
• Medical conditions - only certain conditions are
  eligible for CCS
• Insurance even if a child has private
  insurance, she/he may still qualify for CCS

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What Services are Provided?

• Diagnostic services (audiology evals)
• Medically necessary treatment for the childs
  CCS-eligible condition, including equipment,
  surgical care, laboratory tests and dental
• Medically necessary physical, occupational
  therapy and medical therapy conference services
• Case management referrals, coordination with
  schools, nurses, social workers and other agencies

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How to Access CCS Services

• Physician report is made identifying suspected
  condition
• Referral made to [phone]
• Application completed by parents
• Eligibility determined
• Services determined and provided

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Eligibility

• Infants who have graduated from a California
  Children Services-approved Neonatal Intensive
  Care Unit or from a CCS-approved hospital after
  transfer from an approved NICU
• Infants at risk for developmental problems due to
  prolonged hospitalization, low birth weight,
  problems at birth, or continuing medical problems

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Child/family Supports
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Community Services

• Early Head Start
• Head Start
• Special Start
• Healthy Steps
• First Five Play groups
• Inclusion Specialists
• IPOP
• CARI Program
• Summer Pre K camp

• Harambee
• El Congreso
• JENNA
• Infant Mental Health providers
• Library toddler read
• Car Seat distribution programs
• State preschools

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Family Resource Centers

• support and information to families of children
  with special needs

• individualized peer support

• community resource information

• newsletter and community events calendar

• health care information

• support groups

• extensive website links

• educational workshops

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Communitys Role

• Prepare parent about the referral and get their
  consent to share child/family information
• Included parental contact information when
  calling and written clearly when using the
  interagency community form

• Referral should be made within 2 working days of
  recognition of potential developmental delay,
  per Early Start regulations.

• Refer directly to all potential service agencies(
  EHS,CCS,MH)

• Health review or medical record of client should
  be sent to the responsible agency to expedite
  referral.

TIPfor children less than 3yrs old with
Medi-Cal, a Treatment of Authorization Request
(TAR) can be written for speech, occupational, or
physical therapy, an audiology evaluation or
vision needs.
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Unique Needs

• Families of special needs children interact with
  a complex system of agencies, services and
  programs
• Legal mandates define services
• Eligibility requirements are confusing
• Medical needs may be supported by a variety of
  non-integrated and unfamiliar programs
• Emotional needs may be beyond those of a typical
  family. Connections to family support are
  important.

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Interagency Coordination

• Ensure familys understanding of referrals
• Share information about newly identified infants
  toddlers to ease the connections to agencies
• Coordination of tasks to avoid duplication or non
  usage of valuable resources
• Be knowledgeable

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Regional Center of the East Bay (RCEB) Early
Start Program
Assisting infants and toddlers, birth to age
three, who may be at risk for developmental
disabilities and demonstrate a need for service.
Providing evaluation and assessment, service
coordination, and community resource information.
Office Locations
CONCORD Contra Costa county office 2151 Salvio
St. Suite 365 Concord, CA 94520 925
798-3001 Over 3 call (510) 383-
OAKLAND Alameda County office 7677 Oakport St.
Suite 300 Oakland, CA 94621 510 383-1200 Early
Intervention Intake lines 510 383-1355 or
(Spanish/English line) 510 383-1327
Visit Regional Center on the web at www.rceb.org