On July 1, 2023, OTR’s Michelle Kaiser, Massachusetts, will celebrate the one year anniversary of her new business, Early Intervention Professionals, LLC. Early Intervention Professionals, LLC contracts with the Colorado Department of Human Services/Colorado Early Intervention to assess whether a child from birth to age 3 has developmental delays sufficient to qualify for early intervention therapy services We provide services. .

Kaiser wants to share the mission of her business and its history with communities in northeastern Colorado, but more importantly, how families can find resources and help when there are concerns about a child’s development. Is it possible to connect?

First, a brief description of how Early Intervention Professionals, LLC was born. Kaiser has contracted with Eastern Colorado Services to provide early intervention occupational therapy for 26 years. Early intervention services are provided in homes, child care facilities and community settings for children with developmental delays or who have a clearly eligible diagnosis.

Early intervention services had to be delivered via telemedicine as pandemic shutdowns began in March 2020. EARLY INTERVENTION Colorado wanted to keep relationships going and support families with young children during this incredibly stressful time, and it did so virtually until restrictions were lifted.

“Children and their relationships with their families are the foundation of all other development. There’s the advantage of it being a learning curve for sure, but in the end I felt more comfortable and effective using this platform,” Kaiser said.

She didn’t realize it at the time, but developing the skills to connect with her family via Zoom would lay the foundation for her new business.

In addition to providing early intervention services through Eastern Colorado Services to eligible children in this program, Mr. Kaiser also worked concurrently on the Child Find program for 19 years in the RE-1 Valley School District. In this position, she completed the evaluation of her children under the age of 3. Child Find is responsible for conducting assessments as a multidisciplinary team to determine if a child has significant delays enough to qualify for early intervention and preschool support.

In February 2022, the Colorado Department of Human Services, which oversees early intervention in Colorado, implemented a plan coordinated with the Colorado Department of Education in SB-21-275. This state bill transferred the responsibility for discovery (eligibility) evaluation of children from birth to her age 3 from her CDE to Early Intervention Colorado. Birth to Three evaluations will no longer be done through the local school district or her BOCES. Instead, beginning July 1, 2022, child discovery assessments for children from birth to her age 3 will be completed statewide by her EI Colorado.

When the request for proposals was released seeking entities to conduct the three assessments in Colorado, Kaiser said he wanted to stay involved in the process.

“We wanted families in northeastern Colorado to be valued by people who live locally and are familiar with the state’s unique culture, values, and resources,” she said.

Early Intervention Professionals, LLC signs contract with Colorado Department of Human Services to provide eligibility assessments for eight northeastern Colorado counties: Kit Carson, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, and Yuma Did.

Assessments are performed virtually using standardized assessment tools. Hybrid and face-to-face assessments can also be conducted if desired. Today, Kaiser’s firm includes Flagler-based speech pathologist Morgan Hickey, CCC-SLP, Stirling-based early childhood special educator ECSE, Luella Thiessen, and Smart Co., Ltd., which provides interpreting support. Contracted with Translations LLC. Over the past year the team has conducted 125 assessments.

“This number is lower than we had expected and we believe this may be partly due to changes that have occurred in the evaluation process. Human relationships are essential to how we connect to resources.”We want to tell the eight counties that the evaluations are done by local evaluators who know their communities well,” said Kaiser, adding, “The team is working to ensure that parents are experts in their children.” It’s a home and we recognize that parents have strengths to build on.”

At the end of the assessment, team members make sure the family knows the next steps in the child’s development. The assessment team will share with families whether their child is eligible for early intervention services through Eastern Colorado Services (ECS), and ECS’s supportive and knowledgeable services coordinator will contact them to provide early intervention services. Guaranteed to guide you through the process of initiating intervention. If another resource is recommended, an early intervention specialist will follow up to ensure families are connected. The process of making referrals for evaluation is very simple.

What can you do when you have concerns about your child’s development? Of course, if you have any concerns about your child, talking to your doctor is a good place to start. However, what many people don’t know is that you can do a free evaluation referral yourself. No formal referral from a doctor or additional documentation is required.

You can be self-referential and know your child better than anyone else, so you need to trust yourself.go to www.eicolorado.org Click “Refer A Child” or scan the QR code. The website also provides information on how children qualify, what early intervention is, and more.

Early Intervention Professionals, LLC has a website. www.early-intervention-professionals.com, has a quarterly newsletter and a dedicated page where you can find activities your family can participate in for each of the eight counties. You can learn more about what to expect with both early intervention services and assessments by signing up to our email list and visiting our blog. There are also testimonials from parents about the evaluation process.

“I want families to know that I am an early interventionist who cares about their footsteps. , we are honored to be able to guide families in Yuma County through their developmental assessments with the same care,” said Kaiser.

If you are concerned about your child’s development, please use our free service. On the EI website, www.eicolorado.org, links are provided to make referrals, information on how children qualify, what early intervention is, and more. You can also contact Eastern Colorado Services – Vicki Folkerts, Early Intervention Coordinator/Part C Coordinator at 970-526-3623, ext. 970-526-3623. 303. Michelle can be reached at 970-520-3625 or Michelle@early-intervention-professionals.com.

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