Early Intervention Services
Early Intervention is a federally funded program to serve children who have a disability or a developmental delay and are birth to three years of age. The federal program is entitled the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The US Department of Education,Office of Special Education programs (OSEP) is responsible for funding and oversight of South Carolina’s program. The Program is entitled BabyNet and is administered by First Steps of South Carolina. BabyNet is arranged into eight different regions across the state. Each region has a Systems manager and a number of service coordinators who determine eligibility for BabyNet services. 
Link to SCDHHS-BabyNet website
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Once parents indicate interest in the program, eligibility is determined in one of two ways. A child may be eligible on the basis of a qualifying diagnosis that would indicate the probability of lifelong disabilities. A child might also be eligible on the basis of a delay in cognition, social, emotional, communication, gross motor, self-help, or fine motor abilities. When eligibility has been determined, the family is referred to an early intervention provider. Great Kids is committed to employing highly qualified interventionists. Early Intervention Services provide resources to assist families in attaining their goals for children and assist with transition to the public school system if needed. |
An IFSP is an Individualized Family Service Plan. It is a legal document that outlines the services the family will receive. The IFSP is developed by all interested parties including: the parents, the Early Interventionist (EI), therapists and anyone that the parents want to participate. As a result of this meeting the IFSP is written to include goals, frequency and duration of family training, and any other needed services that might be delivered at the present time or may be delivered in the future. The Early Interventionist (EI) then provides family training sessions based upon the family's choice of frequency and duration of sessions; in the home, daycare center, or other community setting. 
For children ages 3-6 years call DDSN
800-289-7012 |