2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
3/20/2018 | 3:45 PM - 4:45 PM | The Continued Challenge of Ensuring Comprehensive Service Coordination for Infants and Toddlers who are DHH: Recommendations from the EI SNAPSHOT Study | Capitol 6
The Continued Challenge of Ensuring Comprehensive Service Coordination for Infants and Toddlers who are DHH: Recommendations from the EI SNAPSHOT Study
From 2016-2017, NCHAM conducted the Early Intervention: Systematic Nationwide Analysis of Program Strengths, Hurdles, Opportunities, and Trends (EI SNAPSHOT) study to examine early intervention for children who are DHH. This presentation will focus findings pertaining to the challenges families face in regard to service coordination and opportunities to address those challenges.
Service coordination is defined in IDEA as an “active, ongoing process” of coordinating early intervention services and other services the family needs. However, the EI SNAPSHOT study found that service coordination is not always well understood by providers and families.
First, families reported difficulty connecting with family-to-family support systems including little or no opportunities to meet with other parents of children who are DHH. Additionally, they reported that they did not receive information about general disability-focused family-to-family support organizations nor DHH-specific groups like Hands & Voices. EI providers also reported inadequate knowledge of family-to-family support organizations and fewer than half of Part C websites – an initial source of information for families – have information about family-to-family support organizations and opportunities.
Second, many families reported a need for more intensive services from specialized providers than are available through Part C EI programs. Almost one third of families reported arranging for supplemental private EI services, and many families described their inability to find providers to address the family’s desired communication option.
Last, service coordination to help address financial and social supports needs strengthening. Almost half of families reported that their child’s hearing-related needs posed a moderate to unbearable financial burden, reflecting the need for the EI system to help families access financial resources. Although the majority of service coordinators reported that they do coordinate with other providers, about one quarter of respondents reported that coordination with relevant partners, particularly medical home providers and family support organizations, “needs more work.”
- To describe the requirements for service coordination and role of the early intervention service coordinator.
- To explore the role of the service coordinator in connecting families of children who are DHH to different types of services and supports including financial support.
- To examine the perspectives of service coordinators serving families of infants and toddlers who are DHH in regard to their knowledge and collaboration.
Presentation:
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Presenters/Authors
Diane Behl
(), NCHAM, diane.behl@usu.edu;
Diane Behl is a Senior Faculty member at the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management. She facilitates telehealth learning communities and is a co-investigator for cost-effectiveness studies. She has expertise in evaluating the effectiveness of service coordination provided via Part C Early Intervention and Maternal and Child Health programs. Diane was a primary researcher on the EI SNAPSHOT study.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Sara Doutre
(), National CMV Foundation, saradoutre@gmail.com;
Sara Doutre is a PHD student studying sociobehavioral epidemiology at Utah State University. She has an MA in education policy studies and a BS in elementary and special education. A former special education teacher, she currently consults with state departments of education and health on special education policy. Her six-year-old daughter is deaf due to congenital cytomegalovirus.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -