Description
As a professional who works with young children, you know how early detection of delays and disabilities can change the course of a child's whole life. But in today's communities, many programs and providers still struggle to coordinate their screening efforts so children who need services don't slip through the cracks. Integrated, community-wide screening and early detection/child find systems are the answer—and this is the first book with the systematic, big-picture guidance and specific information you need to develop your own system or strengthen and refine your existing system.
Developed by early childhood, medical, and social service experts in screening and assessment, this groundbreaking book helps your community establish an effective early detection system that's comprehensive and low-cost; encourages close collaboration among health, social service, and educational agencies; and meets each child's whole continuum of needs, from universal screening to community services. You'll get detailed guidance on 6 key components of successful community-wide early detection:
- Program goals
- Community public awareness
- Centralized contact and referral
- Developmental-behavioral screening system
- Follow-up
- Ongoing program evaluation
You'll also discover the critical foundations and procedures for:
- connecting everyone who screens children across settings into a single unified system
- ensuring that all parts of the system align and work seamlessly together
- selecting and using the best developmental and behavioral screening measures
- monitoring your system so that all parts keep functioning smoothly and children get the services they need
- improving screening and referrals across diverse settings: early childhood education, social service, and medical home settings
- implementing a successful statewide early detection system (includes specific examples from 10 key states)
With this adaptable, integrated plan for early detection/child find, your community will ensure that delays are caught quickly and all young children and their families get the services and supports they need to thrive.
Reviews
Review: Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, September 2014
“Addresses the nuts and bolts of achieving screening success.”
Review by: Martin Stein, Professor of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego
“A terrific bookdetailed, well-researched, up-to-date, and practical for application to primary care practice.”
Review by: Paul Lipkin, Associate Professor, Pediatrics; Director, Center for Development and Learning, Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
“Explores opportunities for creating an integrated system for developmental screening involving the educational, therapeutic, and medical communities . . . fosters a collaborative effort aimed at improving the lives of the children.”
Review by: Barbara Howard, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; President, Total Child Health
“Provides a more in-depth description of screening tools, models of community systems for screening and referral and challenges to implementation than other sources have done.”
Review by: Marsha Gerdes, Senior Psychologist, PolicyLab, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
“As a comprehensive source of information for states, counties and communities who are trying to improve their Child Find efforts, this book will soon become the one guide everyone uses. Nowhere else can you find all the components critical to launching Child Find in one place.”
Review by: Mary McLean, Kellner Professor of Early Childhood Education, Department of Exceptional Education, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
“Will be the definitive resource for those engaged in early detection/Child Find and those who are preparing for this work . . . This amazing resource will no doubt impact the quality of early detection/Child Find systems across our country.”
Review by: Stephen Bagnato, Professor of Psychology & Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh Schools of Education and Medicine, author of LINKing Authentic Assessment and Early Childhood Intervention: Best Measures for Best Practices (Brookes, 2010).
“A milestone guidebook on comprehensive early detection for a new era in integrated services. [This] clear, concise, and illustrated model for early detection frameworks advances a core dimension for comprehensive developmental support systems in natural community settings.”
Review by: Daniel Kessler, Director, Children's Developmental Center, Easter Seals/Southwest Human Development, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of Arizona College of Medicine
“At a time when the need to maintain our productivity as a nation has never been so important, we are presented with a 'roadmap' prepared by experts in the field. The link between assessment and community services is critical to our future if we are to make use of our most important resource—the success of our youngest citizens.”
Table of Contents
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
I. The Need and Background
- Volume Overview and Purpose
- Early Detection of Developmental Problems in Young Children
- Current Status: Early Detection/ Child Find Activities
- Developmental-Behavioral Screening Measures
II. The Process
- A Framework for Early Detection/Child Find: A Systems Approach
- Early Detection Systems: Medical Home Settings
- Early Detection/Child Find in Education Settings
- Early Detection/Child Find: Social Service Settings
- Statewide Early Detection/Child Find Systems
- Technology-Based Early Detection/Child Find Systems
- Universal Early Detection: Reaching the Goal
References
Index