EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, INC. Presentation to the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council – Child Development Screening Initiative Task Force Meeting March 23, 2012

BRIEF HISTORY OF ECC  Began as a grass roots volunteer organization in 1983  Created in anticipation of Part C Legislation - early intervention has always been fundamental to the mission  Rich history of community partnerships and collaboration  Recognized as one of Tampa Bay’s strongest leaders in training, advocacy, and key services for early childhood including screening, short term case management and child care training and mental health consultation

HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENING IN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY  Community screenings began in 1986 as collaborative effort between the ECC, FDLRS and community organizations  Only 23 children were screened in first year but the model was developed and key partnerships were formed  After a couple of years of quarterly screening events, the system grew rapidly so monthly screenings were soon scheduled

HISTORY (CONT’D)  1990: Funding from the Children’s Board of Hills. Co. allowed for hiring a “Screening Coordinator”  1996: Florida Dept. of Education deemed the ECC community screenings a “Best Practice”  1998: A Family Support Coordinator is hired (case mgr.)  2002: The monthly screenings added a Social-Emotional station using the ASQ-SE ( ECC also becomes the chair for the county’s Infant Mental Health committee )  2011: ECC presented with the “Spirit of Humanity” award by the DeBartolo Family Foundation

CURRENT MODEL - DESIGN  Minimum of 12 On Site Screenings per year ( one per month )  Screen on average children per month  Partner with faith-based organizations who allow us to utilize their facility at little to no cost  Over 30 different organizations commit staff to support each month’s screening ( sign MOUs )  50 + Professionals / month plus volunteers work the screenings  Free service for families ( estimated value of over $1,800 )  Scheduled by appointments but we do triage screenings for “Walk In” families

CURRENT MODEL – PLANNING & OVERSIGHT  ECC manages and coordinates monthly screenings in conjunction with FDLRS and a Screening Oversight Committee  Pre-screening meetings held to review screening site, staffing patterns and discuss potential challenges  Post-screening meeting held to review the event and assess overall success with the purpose of CQI

CURRENT MODEL – STATIONS / DOMAINS SCREENED  Bi-lingual Registration ( assigned Facilitators )  Height & Weight  Speech / Language /Articulation  Vision  Hearing  Overall Development (Cognitive / Fine / Gross Motor)  Social-Emotional (Behavior)

CURRENT MODEL – STATIONS CONT’D  Exit: Results of screening explained to parents Referral Options [ Child Find & Early Steps on site for Intake] Parent Satisfaction Survey Community Resources [ Health Dept., Head Start, Family Resource Centers, KidCare, Literacy Programs ] **Oftentimes, family support issues are also identified and addressed in the Exit Station

CURRENT MODEL – SCREENING INSTRUMENTS  Battelle Developmental Inventory (BDI) – 0-3  Brigance Screener – 3-5 Overall  Suresight Vision Screener – Vision  Ages & Stages – SE – Social / Emotional

KEY SCREENING PARTNERS  Hillsborough County Public Schools / FDLRS/Child Find: - FDLRS assists the screening with in kind support; assists with on site coordination, overall development, SP / Language & ‘Exit’ station  Hillsborough County Public Schools: conducts hearing screening through mobile hearing unit  USF Dept. of Communication Sciences & Disorders: - provides practicum students to provide speech / language screening

KEY PARTNERS – CONT’D  Prevent Blindness Florida: provide vision screens  Healthy Start Coalition: assists with cognitive and overall screening for 0-3 / 3-5  USF Bay Area Early Steps: provide staffing support for 0-3 as well as conduct intakes for children referred to and eligible for Early Steps  Head Start / Early Head Start: provide staffing for height/weight station; do intakes an appropriate  Faith-based organizations : Contingent of churches on rotating schedule for monthly screening events

CURRENT MODEL – RECORDS / DATABASE  Screening intake staff have access to CHRIS, allowing staff to verify during phone triage that a child is not already receiving services through Child Find or School Readiness  ECC hosts an online screening appointment book which allows for live scheduling by multiple screeners  ECC internal database allows for additional outcome reporting to funders, tracking trends, referral sources, and other information related to developmental screening that we are not able to capture or track through CHRIS.

KEY STATISTICS - % OF CHILDREN REFERRED ON AND WHERE Referral SourceAvg % Referred Child Find38.11% Speech Only14.15% Head Start6.13% Early Steps4.25% Community15.28% Other (info only) 29.43% *most children referred for assessment also receive referral to community resources. **Less than 15 children B – 3yrs are scheduled for any given screening event.

FUNDING  Children’s Board of Hillsborough County is primary funding source  Hillsborough County Public Schools (FDLRS) supports the screening through staffing, in kind dollars and supplemental dollars  The ECC has received approximately $20,000 to augment developmental screenings over the last three years through grants and/or awards

REPLICATION OF MODEL  2008: Leon County  2012: Jefferson County

KEYS TO SUCCESS  Key partners in place especially Part B and Part C systems  Managing entity to house data, organize screening activities, massage community collaborations and ensure screenings occur  Community Buy In ( Commitment)  Funding  Recognition of Partners

Q & A

STEPHEN C. MARTAUS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, INC.