EARLY HEAD START FACT SHEET



EARLY HEAD START FACT SHEET

Health Requirements:

← EHS children receive 11 Well Baby/Child checks from the age of 0-36 months. There is a physical form for one month through 12 months (if1-12) and one for 15 months through 4 years (ecf15-4). Well baby checks occur at 1 mo., 2 mo., 4 mo., 6 mo., 9 mo., 12 mo., 15 mo., 18 mo., 24 mo., 30 mo. and 36 mo.

← Well Baby/Child checks are due within 45 days of the child starting the EHS program. If possible get a copy of the most recent WBC done on the child for DMT to enter into the computer.

Screening Requirements:

← The Ages and Stages 3 Questionnaire is our program’s screening tool and must be completed with each child within 45 days of enrollment.

← All children enrolled in EHS must have a documented Hearing and Vision screening within 45 days of enrollment. If a well-child visit is used as documentation of the screening, it must have taken place within 45 days of enrollment. Family Engagement Specialists are trained to provide hearing and vision screenings for infants and toddlers to assure that all EHS children are properly screened within this time frame.

← The Infant/Toddler DECA is to be performed within 45 days of enrolling a child. Scoring can be done by the parent or with the parent. The CFS can determine which method would work best with each family. If scores all fall in the “typical” area, strengths can be identified and shared with parents. This can provide an opportunity to goal-set in order to build upon strengths if a parent chooses. If there are no areas of concern revisit in one year, one area of concern revisit in 3-6 months, 2-3 areas of concern revisit in 6-8 weeks. Contact Mental Health Manager if concerns remain and/or are serious in nature.

Assessment:

← Recorded, ongoing observations will provide data used to assess EHS children at three month intervals (4 times per program year) using Teaching Strategies GOLD.

← After each checkpoint period, print out a Development and Learning Report and place in the child’s file.

← After each checkpoint period share assessment information with parents in the manner most appropriate for each family. One option, the Development and Learning Report, can be used to share this information. If you choose this method, do not check the “show Objectives and Dimensions number” when you print the report for parents. You may also share assessment information with parents after each checkpoint by using the Family Conference Form under the Communication tab. This option lets you focus on specific areas to highlight growth or areas that can be a developmental focus.

Enrolled Pregnant Mothers

← Prenatal Exam Form (P/Head Start/EHS/Prenatal) is to be filled out by the health care provider at each doctor’s visit for every pregnant enrolled EHS mom and submitted to DMT.

← When an expectant mother enrolled in our EHS program has a baby, we are required to have a health care provider visit the mom and baby within 2 weeks of the delivery. We have contracts with the local health departments in your area for this to take place. Partner with mother/expectant family during home visits to assure that this 2 week post partum visit is planned for ahead of time.

← Preference is that the two week post partum visit is completed by a health professional (accompanied by the CFS whenever possible). If for whatever reason a health care professional is not available, CFS will conduct two week home visit using the EHS Post Natal Assessment at p/head start/ehs/ehs expectant/prepostnatal.

← Send verification of the 2 week post partum visit into DMT and place a copy of the verification document in the expectant mother’s file and child file once he or she is enrolled in our program.

← The Family (Partnership) Plan is used as a service guide for enrolled pregnant moms. This tool provides a framework to make sure her individual needs are met. Items to include are; identifying goals and strategies to achieve desired outcomes, determining EHS staff and parent responsibilities, and developing a timeline that includes frequency of visits.

← When enrolling a pregnant mom, she is counted as two members of the household and her name goes on the application. When the baby is born, a new application needs to be done to enroll the baby instead of the mother.

← When enrolling an unmarried teenage mom we only have to use her income on the intake form even if she is living with her parents. We can also show “No Income” when teen mom is living with her mom and dad.

Enrollment:

When enrolling an EHS child off the wait list, staff will need to look at the date

on the application to ensure that the income information is not too “old”.

• The EHS program year is from September 1 to August 31.

• An application is good to use if: You take an application on/or after September 1 and enroll the child/pregnant mom before Aug 31 of the same “program year”.

• Please Note: Any applications taken after Jan 1 are good for the remaining months till Aug 31 and also good for the next program year.

• A new application would need to be taken if: You take an application prior to Jan 1 of the current program year and do not enroll the child/pregnant mom until the next program year.

As a top priority, Family Engagement Specialists are required to ensure full enrollment in Early Head Start. Slots need to be filled within 10 working days of a drop date. Any exceptions must be brought to the attention of the PSC.

Home Visits:

EHS families receive a minimum of 48 home visits in a year. CFS does a minimum of 11 home visits per quarter with each family and the FES does an additional quarterly home visit for a total of 48 home visits per year for each family. Additional home visits will be offered to a family depending on the family’s needs.

Child Family Specialists (CFS)

➢ Home visits must take place in the home (unless there is a temporary situation where the home environment is not available).

➢ The EHS Home Visit Plan is the tool used to intentionally plan home visits that are individualized to the developmental needs of the child and includes input from parents/guardians.

➢ CFS staff provide home visits that last 1 ½ hours. Every attempt should be made to reschedule any missed visits with families within the same month so that minimum home visit frequency requirements are met.

➢ Refer to the EHS Procedure for Maintaining Optimal Attendance when questions arise regarding attendance and attendance concerns.

➢ When referring a family to a Mental Health Consultant first talk with your Program Services Coordinator to be approved.

Family Engagement Specialists (FES)

➢ The FES will visit each enrolled EHS family on their caseload a minimum of quarterly or more as needed.

➢ Home visits must take place in the home (unless there is a temporary situation where the home environment is not available).

➢ Family Engagement Specialists keep the wait list up to date.

➢ Wait list families along with enrolled families receive the EHS/HS newsletter that the team puts together on a monthly basis.

CFS receives $20 a month for curriculum needs for home visiting and FES receives $40 for each socialization or family engagement activity (i.e. parent workshop). Turn in all receipts on a weekly basis to your PSC with appropriate tracking documentation.

At the end of each program year, all drop files of EHS children are to be sent to the Traverse City office. Please follow the Drop File Procedure in the Procedure Manual (p:\hsforms\admin\procmanual\child\dropfile). Because the EHS files are so large it is required that you put the file in a large manila envelope and label with the child’s name, program name, and CFS name on the top, left, outside corner of the envelope.

Professional Development money is available to use for college classes (p/hsforms/u/training/pdffore). This form needs to be completed and submitted by September 1st. Funding award amounts will be announced in October.

Individualizing for families with attendance problems:

• First missed visit – a red flag

➢ Families need to know that they missed their opportunity to visit with us. Some form of communication between visitor and family must occur ASAP. (Leaving a note on the door, calling on the phone, or mailing a card).

• Second missed visit (within the same month)

➢ Contact the family and revisit the Letter of Understanding. Take time to problem solve in a non-judgmental way about the barriers the family has for completing visits. Explore strategies to make the visits work for them. Acknowledge there are families waiting for an opening and we need to maintain full enrollment in order to stay funded.

• Third or Fourth missed visit

➢ Same procedure as above. Make this part of the FP.

• Fifth missed visit (within a quarter)

➢ A staffing will be scheduled ASAP. Those attending this meeting will include all the HS/EHS staff involved with the family and the Program Services Coordinator. Program Managers may be requested to join as needed. The purpose of this staffing would be to share the concerns and problem surrounding the family’s lack of participation. A decision will be made by this group as to whether the family will be maintained in the program or dropped.

Disabilities:

• It is a requirement of Early Head Start that we serve children of all abilities and that children with diagnosed disabilities comprise a minimum of 10% of our total enrollment.

• If the CFS suspects that a child might have a 20% delay with speech, motor, etc., the CFS contacts Early On with the parents’ permission so that Early On can do an assessment to see if the child qualifies for services. If the child qualifies for services then Early On will initiate an IFSP within 45 days of the initial EHS referral. The children receiving Early On services can be counted in our 10% disability count. If a child is assessed at a 50% or greater delay in any developmental area, s/he will be eligible for services through the Intermediate School District (ISD).

• If a child has been referred for an ISD or Early On evaluation but found ineligible, s/he needs to have an alternate plan written when a concern remains. (An IAP format would be used within 30 days of receiving the evaluation results.)

• If the evaluation period goes beyond 60 days from initial referral, an interim IAP must be scheduled.

• Review the IAP on a quarterly basis to update goals and monitor progress.

• If a child has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), a copy must be in that child’s file and an email sent to the health coordinator that contains the child’s name and the date of the IEP/IFSP. When an IEP/IFSP is updated, a copy of the updated document must be placed in the child file and an email sent to the health coordinator that contains child’s name and date of updated IEP/IFSP.

Socializations:

• Minimum of 2 per month or 24 per year. A socialization is 90 minutes in length

• Family Engagement Specialists and Child Family Specialists plan for socializations as a team

• Community partners can be a part of the planning when possible

• Program Services Coordinators can also be used as a resource

Menus are due the 3rd Wednesday of each month to Susan Duke-Tyler.

When parents enrolled in the EHS program come to socialization or parent workshop/support group, they are given a $10 gift certificate (Kmart, Meijer, Wal-Mart, gas card) at the next Home Visit with a maximum of two per family per month.

The Family Interest Survey is completed by EHS families at enrollment and at the beginning of each program year. The information collected from EHS families and by teachers in HS classrooms using this tool will guide development and implementation of family engagement activities in the coming year.

EHS team (FES & CFS) fill out the EHS Safety/Sanitation checklist (P/Head Start/EHS/Misc/SAFCKLST) in January and June on the space/site where socializations are held most frequently and a copy goes to the Program Services Coordinator.

(The equipment safety checklist is no longer required)

Parent/Guardian Release (OM-&7), Family Interest Survey, Letter of Understanding, Child’s Health History, and the Home Safety Checklist need to be initialed and dated with each new year that the family is enrolled in the EHS program. This is done every September.

Family Engagement/Family Plans:

• FES staff are responsible for initiating the Family Engagement Process. Any partnership tool used in the family engagement process should be recorded on SS-7 Tracking and an “x” placed in the FP box. This should occur within the first 45 days of enrollment.

• Partnership tools may include Circle of Support/Family Resource Map, Partners for a Healthy Baby activities, Family Plan or any other tools that will support the goal setting process.

• Identified family goal/s and steps for completion will be reflected on either the Family Plan or Home Visit Resource Plan. FES are responsible for recording progress on Family goals quarterly at a minimum and will document status on SS-7 Tracking as met, ongoing or canceled.

Transitioning:

• Refer to EHS Transition to HS Programs (trans-ehs) when transitioning a child from EHS to HS or EHS to another preschool program.

• EHS children can be transitioned into the Head Start single session or extended day anytime during the year once the child turns 3. Enrolled EHS children can continue to be served after their 3rd birthday until transitioning is complete. An EHS child may be transitioned into a Head Start single session or extended day classroom at 2½ years old if they are 3 before November 1st of the current program year (i.e. You can enroll a child in the fall if their birthday is before November 1st of that year).

• Prior to the start of the school year, the CFS, FES and Teacher will meet to discuss/ensure a successful transition for each EHS child into the HS classroom. Information/documents to be reviewed during the transition meeting include:

o Transition Plan

o Family Plan

o Partnering with Parents Survey

o Health Requirements

o Latest GOLD assessment information

o DECA I/T

o IEP or IFSP (if one exists)

Teachers will receive copies of all documents from the FES and these can be

used as guides for the Head Start staff. Details of this meeting will be

documented by the FES on the Transition Recap form (p:hs/u/trans/trans

recap meeting). Copies will be shared according to distribution. Any

scheduling difficulties encountered will be discussed with the Program

Services Coordinator. FES will record transition meeting on Contacts, SS-7

Tracking form.

• Over Income (OI) slots cannot be shared between EHS and Traditional HS. If we have an OI EHS child transitioning to HS we cannot borrow an over income slot from EHS. In situations where we may have more OI children (EHS transitioning children and returning OI HS children) on the potential class list than over income slots actually available, staff will look at all options.

• EHS children must have a new intake done when being transitioned into the HS program. This is done at recruitment with the Recruitment and Health Specialist along with the other recruitment forms.

Policy Council:

• Each Child Family Specialist will have a parent representative elected to Policy Council.

• Family Engagement Specialists are required to attend Policy Council to represent the classroom/home visiting staff in their county.

• To help support Policy Council Representative Attendance: Two weeks prior to Policy Council- the FES will contact parent reps from their centers to verify that they can attend Policy Council that month. If the parent cannot confirm attendance by one week prior to PC, the alternate will be contacted by the FES to attend.

9/26/14 P:\Head Start\EHS\MISC\Early Head Start Fact Sheet

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