Professional Child Services
During the development of the child/family’s Individualized Family Services Plan (IFSP), the team has discussions with the family to assist them in indentifying the outcomes they would like to include in the IFSP that relate to their priorities, concerns and needs. These outcomes reflect the discussions about the child’s participation in family/community activities that are a part of the family’s everyday life. Once the outcomes have been developed, services and supports provided by AzEIP necessary to achieve the outcomes are identified by the team, as well as, other services/supports already in place or needed by other than AzEIP providers. A Team Lead will be identified to provide on-going services, with the support of the rest of the team members at weekly team meetings and joint home visits.
The Core Team at HCEI, consists of:
- Service Coordinator (SC): A SC is assigned to each family at the time of referral. The SC assists the family through the screening, evaluation and, if eligible, development of the initial IFSP. From this point on, the role of the SC is to assist the family in securing and coordinating all services and supports that the team has identified as needed to aid the family in enhancing their child’s development during everyday routines. The SC will review the IFSP with the family every 6 months or sooner, if needed, and will also assist the family with transition out of AzEIP by the age of three.
- Developmental Special Instructor (DSI): A DSI has expertise in early childhood development across all domains and works with the family/care giver and other team members acting as Team Leads to address activities that enhance a child’s play skills, social/emotional development, interactions with others, problem solving, cognitive development, as well as walking, talking, etc .
- Physical Therapist (PT): A PT works with the family and other team members acting as Team Leads to provide support in the area of gross motor development (rolling over, sitting, walking etc) as the family addresses the child’s ability to participate in daily routines. The PT provides coaching regarding strategies/techniques to address normalizing muscle tone, improving strength, improving the quality of a child’s movement skills, improving/developing functional movement skills, as these issues relate to the child’s participation in daily care and home routines as well as family activities outside the home.
- Occupational Therapist (OT): An OT works with family and other team members acting as Team Leads, to provide support in the area of fine motor development (using hands, feeding, dressing, etc) as well as addressing sensory issues that may be interfering with the child’s participation in everyday activities and family routines. The OT can coach the family and fellow team members in the area of a child’s ability to pay attention, calm themselves, and coordinate their bodies to carry out daily living activities.
- Speech Therapist (ST): A ST coaches the family and other team members acting as Team Leads in identifying different strategies to enhance and improve their child’s feeding, understanding of language, and use of language as it relates to the family’s priorities and needs and the child’s participation in daily activities/routines.